OK so I can't use my Kitchen door, but at least I have clean dishes!
Written: Apr 05 '03 (Updated May 02 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
|
|
| Style: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Keeps me from going out to eat so much
Cons: Doesn’t load itself and blew the wiring in my kitchen
The Bottom Line: SAVING MONEY, Keeping my sink clean of yucky dirty dishes and pots, what a great idea this was
|
|
|
| jckatz's Full Review: Kenmore 17439 Built-in Dishwasher |
I am single and I am male that means that when I eat my dishes tend to end up in the sink. When I want to eat at home I have too choices
1. Wash the required number of pots, dishes, and utensils.
2. Go to a fast food restaurant,
I tended to choose OPTION A (just kidding 1)
BACK TRACK
Every time I move I learn something new. When I lived in New York I learned to check for water pressure in the shower (I spent a year living with shampoo in my hair). In Pittsburgh I learned not to living with a roommate that was a Mama’s boy. In Green Bay I learned that I really don’t like Phish. (I am going to get hate mail for that one)
And in Springfield, IL I learned I need a dishwasher.
Springfield was the first time I didn’t just arrive in the city and need a room right away, I drove down stayed in a hotel for a couple of days and went apartment shopping. I created an Excel spreadsheet off all the important information,
COST, estimated utilities, amenities, pets, distance from work, up-keep.
In the end I found 3 places of equal rating and I picked the one I am currently living in. What I didn’t keep track of was Dishwashers. I thought this one had one but when I moved it, NOPE.
No problem I know how to clean dishes, its even better for the environment.
BIG MISTAKE
I slowly purchased dishes 1 or two at a time at Goodwill, I bought pots at K-Mart, but they where always dirty and sitting in the sink and I never ate at home. Worse I was gaining weight as I went to the YMCA 3 times a week. This was not working out so well.
My parents told me about a portable dishwasher they owned in Grad school. I had never heard of anything like this but over Thanksgiving break we stopped off at Sears on State Street in Chicago. My grandmother loved my parents’ George Foreman Grill and we bought her one for home.
While my grandmother was checking out the George Foremans I was checking out the dishwashers. For $400 and no payments until Thanksgiving of 2003 I could have a dishwasher in Springfield. SOLD!!!!!!
DELIVERY
OK I live a 4th floor walk up. Portables are only portable when on wheels, in the boxed to deliver state they are EXTREMELY HEAVY. For a mere $50 more I go delivery.
Installation
Can we say EASY.
Step One attached the special faucet adapter to faucet. This item allows the hose to attach to your sink to use. Don’t worry you can still get water from your tap even when the dishwasher is running (I would not advice using water from the faucet when the dishwasher is draining on the other hand). YUK.
Well that’s are there is to installation.
Using the Dishwasher
Using the dishwasher is easy. When the dishwasher is loaded, add detergent (I use the new fangled tablets with the Jet blue included). Then close door pick settings. Turn the hot water on, let it warm up, turn it off and attach hose. Turn back on (your sink will not drip and no water will come out). Then plug unit and turn knob to wash cycle.
In short the only difference between using the portable and the installed dishwashers is the hose and the plugging it in. The cleaning and the settings are all just like the one my parents own.
Settings
This unit is completely tricked out.
• POT PANS mode (works great on soiled pots and pans and casseroles)
• NORMAL WASH mode (good if you don’t have pots that need scrubbing)
• WATER MISER mode (This is if you stuff is pre-rinsed YEAH RIGHT! It was the required first run, after that I never used it again)
• LIGHT WASH mode (china, I own Goodwill plates never used it)
It also has
• HI TEMP WASH this will heat the water to 140ºF
• AIR DRY for drying stuff with out the heat, I don’t pay utilities so I never used this. I love the feeling of hot dry dishes
PORTABILITY
The unit has wheels and rolls very nicely but, it is still very heavy and they is a inch difference between the wood floor of my dinning room and the linoleum of my kitchen. They are separated by a brass looking divider. My dishwasher requires a lot of dishing to get over that divider. So lazy as I am it tends to stay in the kitchen taking up a lot of space.
FUNCTIONALITY
This unit comes complete with a wood work table on the top. Since my kitchen is small and space is very limited I tend to use the top as a work space for cooking. So while the unit does block my back door a little (I can still get in and out, I just can’t open the door all the way), I find it more practical and easier just to keep it where it is. Near the sink and near the dirty pots and plates.
When I have company come over I clean the top and roll it into the close (my closet used to have a trundle bed so it fits in there with out any problem.
POWER FAILURE
The unit requires a lot of electricity, and I don’t have much in my kitchen just one outlet this outlet when I moved in had my refrigerator plug into it. I later added my microwave, my George Forman grill, my can opener, my clock radio, and my dishwasher (thank goodness for $8 surge protectors from K-mart). I had no problem using my dishwasher with this set-up until one day when I was defrosting chicken in the microwave while heating up the George, and getting some dishes clean for dinner. I might have also been listening to NPR while do all this. Needless to say, something blew. Since the lights still worked it wasn’t the fuse. My apartment still has GLASS FUSE thingies. So I plugged in the Microwave directly into the outlet, it worked fine. OPPPS
I went to Lowes told them the problem I figured I blew my outlet, easy fix $0.40 cents later I had a new outlet. This is when I learned my wires are covered in CLOTH not plastic. This did not solve the problem, time to call the landlord. I rolled the Dishwasher away, and hid it. I didn’t tell him HOW THIS happened just that it did.
It took him 3 hours before he gave up. 2 days later I got home and it was working. I don’t know what happened but since then I plug my dishwasher into an outlet in another room using the extension cord I purchased to keep my refrigerator from defrosting while my kitchen power was out.
YES I DO SAVE MONEY
I almost never eat dinner out now, I figure I am saving around $75 a month because of this purchase. That is taking into account increased grocery costs. If you don’t own a dishwasher and you want one this unit is a GREAT investment.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 400
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jckatz
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Joe Katz
Location: chicago
Reviews written: 153
Trusted by: 73 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.