Living in New York City has plenty of advantages- but one of the downsides is that many apartments don’t come with a dishwasher. Often, there isn’t enough space, but even in the rare instance where there is, renters don’t want to shell out lots of money. That’s why we suggest looking for alternatives- and we don’t just mean eating out at restaurants every night.
We’ve seen a couple of smaller dishwashers before, called countertop models. The Danby DDW611WLED is larger than some, able to fit six place settings, and uses less water than most dishwashers could dream of- under four gallons during a normal cycle. We often set it to the heavier setting, but there are also four others to choose from (light, speed, soak, and a gentler one for glass). Bigger dishwashers might do a better job- especially of drying or rinsing- but this one works more than acceptably for regular use.
Setup on these isn’t bad- you have to connect to your kitchen tap, via the included hose and threaded connector, and make sure that your water is set to the hottest setting. If it isn’t, or if your water is not scalding hot out of the tap, this model can’t adjust the temperature, which means that your dishes might not get quite as spotless. It can be a bit of a puzzle to figure out how to fit everything in (we’ve actually attached a picture from the manual above to give you a clue), but that’s the price you pay for a compact model that can actually fit under most countertops. It’s pretty heavy though- about fifty pounds- so moving it regularly might not be advisable.
Heavier loads take over an hour and a half, while even the speedy setting runs for 45 minutes. Again: speed is not the primary function advantage. The unit is also fairly load, though certainly no worse than most other dishwashers that we’ve used. The filter is pretty easy to clean, and doesn’t need to be checked regularly, and it is critical that any countertop dishwasher is level. We liked the look and feel of this one, and at $229 or so, it’s a decent bargain for a unit that works pretty well and manages to fit a whole lot of space into a small unit. Perfect for apartment dwellers and students, the Danby Counter-top Dishwasher is available online and in stores.