[jeffrey]

From the September 22 Money Saving Challenge:

<i>The first step is to make sure that you always wash a full load of dishes. Heating hot water accounts for 80% of the energy used in automatic dishwashers. Since most dishwashers don't have controls to adjust for load size, you can cut the cost of running it by up to 50% just by making sure you only run the dishwasher when it's full. Running a half-filled dishwasher two times will use twice as much energy as running a single full load.

While most dishwashers don't have an adjustment for load size, many do have a number of different settings you can choose from. Many have an "economy" or "energy saving" setting. This turns off the heat during the drying cycle. You may also have a choice between an "air-dry" and "heat-dry" setting. Choosing the air dry setting will use 15% to 50% less energy than the heat-dry setting.

If your dishwasher doesn't have an energy saving or air-dry setting, simply turn the dishwasher off after the final rinse and open the door. It will take some time for the dishes to dry, but they will do so without using any extra energy...<i>