A 45 or 60 cm dishwasher: getting the width right

Choosing the width of a dishwasher looks like a question of centimetres, but it is really a question of household rhythm: how many of you there are, how often you cook and whether you are willing to wait until the machine is full. Here are both options without dogma — each one has situations where it wins.

What a full-size machine gives you

Sixty centimetres means more place settings per cycle, wider baskets and room for the awkward items: oven trays, stock pots, baking dishes. The practical consequence is that the machine runs less often, and a single wash uses less water and electricity than two narrow cycles would. If you are a family and you cook at home every day, full size is almost always the easier life.

When slimline is the smarter choice

Forty-five centimetres is, in effect, fifteen centimetres of kitchen left over for a drawer or a tall unit. For one or two people, or for a kitchen where cooking is rare, a slimline machine is enough and spends less of its life half empty. It is also often the only option in a small kitchen where every module counts.

There is a third option that gets mentioned less often: a compact countertop machine for a few place settings. It needs no housing and no conventional drain connection, which makes it a rescue for a rented kitchen or a summer house. You pay for it in worktop space, and a full-size oven tray will never fit inside. If you are considering one, count what you actually wash at once: for two plates and a few cups it copes, for Sunday lunch it does not. Bear in mind too that water is often poured in by hand, unless the model connects to the mains.

What to check besides the width

• the housing: height under the worktop, depth once the hoses are behind it, and the plinth space;
• the type of installation — fully integrated behind a door, semi-integrated with the controls on show, or freestanding;
• whether your glasses fit the upper basket and your largest pan fits the lower one;
• whether there is a third level for cutlery, which takes some height from the upper basket;
• the length of the inlet and drain hoses measured to the real connection point;
• whether you want leak protection, and where the stop valve will sit so it can actually be reached.

Programmes and time

Do not judge by the number of programmes: everyday life uses two or three. Look instead at the eco programme, which washes slowly but uses the least, and at the quick one that saves you when the plates are needed in an hour. A delayed start is useful where the night tariff is cheaper, and a half-load function helps when the machine is large but the load often is not.

The rule is simple: size the machine to the dishes that genuinely accumulate in a day, not to the largest dinner of the year. If a full load is reached daily, take sixty. If the machine would stand waiting two days to fill, a slimline one will be both more hygienic and more convenient.