Dishwasher Eco setting

[allwornout0]

I have a Neff dishwasher with an Eco setting, I've never used this setting before but was wondering what actually makes it eco?
Does it just save water/electricity? or is there something obvious that i'm missing?
I would really like to save on my energy bills, would using this setting help?

lower temperature.

I think it uses a lower temperature but runs for longer so uses less electricity.

I did find that it wasn't good enough for cooked on grub eg roasting tins, casseroles, but fine for crockery cutlery and glasses.

Our Hotpoint halves the volume of water and reduces the time a bit. It's for when it's a half load. Can you google the instruction manual for your make and model? Should explain all the settings.

My old Bosch had the same cycle. It reduces the wash temperature and water intake but extends the length of the cycle to accommodate. It does still rinse at 65 though, I think.

It is less water and less heat over a longer period. When my Neff dishwasher broke the first thing the engineer asked me if I always used the eco setting as it is common for breaking whatever element heats the dishwasher with so little water in hard water areas like London.

I use it and understand it reduces electricity by about 30%. Takes hours though and only on overnight or first thing in the morning

Ours sets to 'eco' by default and as I love to cook and there are frequently heavily dirty/fatty pans and crockery in there, I make sure I set it to something more effective! DH is Scottish economical and ALWAYS puts it on the eco setting. Drives me mad when I have to put lots of stuff back in the next load as it doesn't wash properly.

Eco is fine for people who keep their dishes immaculate while eating, but not for a foodie family!

Thank you all, you've all been very helpful.
I'm in 2 minds now about using it, like the idea of it saving about 30% in electricity but a bit concerned with what londonfeather said about it causing NEFF dishwashers to breakdown.

I can't wrap my head around how it is economical when it runs for so much longer. my hot water comes from a hot water tank so I can't see how it would heat it much higher.
I have a bosch with more settings than I know what to do with :(, even though I've read the manual (and have a university degree) I just don't get it.

In the instructions for our dishwasher it states that you need to use the hottest wash about once a month to give it a good clean.

I just use a 29min wash on my dishwasher, occasionally I do a hit wash with some dishwasher cleaner. I figure than 29min is more convenient and far less time (which must equate to energy useage!)

OP live dangerously, press that button and see if it works for you...
We have a beko and always run it on eco (with half a tablet only!) unless someone has a tummy bug. We cook loads and it takes the burnt on grease etc in its stride.

Ps trinity quick washes are generally more wasteful of both water and energy- it's the old rule, you can have two out of fast, cheap and good, not all three...

I thought eco settings were designed by the manufacturer purely to give the machine a better energy rating when tested. I have always found them pretty rubbish at actually cleaning and everything comes out soaking.

We have a Neff dishwasher. The length of the eco programme was enough to put me off ever using it!

I'll continue to go for fast and good then! It's the speed that attracts me most to the quick wash, and it works!

Pretty much the same as "eco" settings on washing machines.

They run at a lower temperature and in some cases (but not a lot of) less water, however, to compensate, they have to run for (a lot) longer - as if temperature or water is reduced, time must be increased to compensate cleaning; what is taken away is "made up" elsewhere.

This is not to be confused with "half load" or "quick wash" cycles, these are in no way "eco". In fact, they probably use more resources as they're trying to achieve the same level of cleaning in a much shorter time vs a standard wash (but there is a limit, of course), your dirtiest dishes/clothing are NOT going to come clean in a fast time.

The normal cycles are not designed to be lengthy just to annoy, its just simple physics. Eg if you were handwashing dishes, your toughest baked on casserole dishes are going to need more elbow grease or soaking time to clean vs a coffee cup.

My Miele tells me how much water & electricity it uses after every cycle.

Eco is 900w & 9l water. 3hr 20m

Normal is 1.5kw & 17l water. 2hrs.

Our eco cycle takes forever and doesn't get things clean.

We recently had the dishwasher man out as we were having problems with ours. He said it's best to use the hottest cycle unless you have something delicate that can't be washed very hot. In any event you should put it on an empty hot wash with a cleaner every 3 months and use a descaler also if in a bard water area.

I was once told by a lovely chap who came to fix our dishwasher not to bother with eco settings on the dishwasher or washing machine. Apparently running at a lower temperature for longer often doesn't result in the massive saving you think it will, and if you have to put half the stuff back in it results in no saving at all.

If you're wanting to reduce the energy bills associated with your dishwasher / washing machine, you might be better off focusing on completely filling it before running it. I'm definitely guilty of putting half a load on before bed for convenience.

Our Bosch has an Eco setting which seems to just mean that it doesn't dry at all, although it id difficult to distinguish the end result from the usual one as none of our cycles seem to dry.