Amazingly quiet
Written: Oct 22 '05
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Pros: Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet. Clean styling. Plastic on the lower rack.
Cons: taunting from friends who saw service history in Consumer Reports
buying rinse aid
The Bottom Line: Great dishwasher -- it's quiet, it handles plastic on the lower rack, and we're much more willing to throw absolutely everything into the dishwasher.
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| bowdidge's Full Review: Bosch SHY66C05 Stainless Steel 24 in. Built-in Dis... |
We've owned our Bosch SHY66C05 dishwasher for about 4 months now, and we've found it to be a great dishwasher. We bought it at Sears for $1169. (Actually, we bought the model 56, and got the model 66 when the dishwasher turned out to be DOA -see below.) We're a couple with no kids and an open-plan house; we love how quiet it is, and find it does a great job on daily loads with a mix of dishes, cups, and whatever cooking utensils we can wedge in.
Our old 20 year old dishwasher was really noisy -- in our open-plan house, we couldn't watch TV in the living room while it was running. When we tiled the whole house, we knew the noise problems were only going to get worse, so getting a quieter dishwasher was a priority. The Bosch when running is a bit quieter than our refrigerator. I'm finally willing to run the dishwasher at the same time that I'm working in the kitchen. We can even talk on the phone *next to the dishwasher* when the dishwasher is running. This alone makes it worth the price. The LED time readout on the dishwasher (the main difference between this and the 56) is helpful to hint when the dishwasher's running and whether we need to start unloading.
Others have mentioned the need to clean the screens at the bottom of the dishwasher occasionally. We haven't minded, and we hardly ever find any food in these. The lack of the disposal to grind up the food bits makes this dishwasher so quiet that I'd deal with the screens even if we had to clean them every time. We're using Cascade Complete detergent, so that may be helping break down food. We've had no complaints about its cleaning quality. Buying rinse aid for it (to help drying) is my only annoyance.
So far, I feel like the dishwasher holds a bit less than our old one. I'm not sure if this is because of the rack design, because of smaller racks for the extra soundproofing, or if we're just not loading it as well as we could. The upper racks don't seem quite as convenient for our normal mix of coffee cups, large glasses, and random cooking utensils. On the lower rack, we usually keep the silverware basket together and in one corner, and again it feels like things aren't quite fitting in as tightly. We like the 66's easily movable upper rack, though to be truthful we haven't had to change rack positions yet.
The simple lines of the dishwasher were an advantage in our kitchen. We've got an '80's kitchen; the original appliances were almond with chrome, and the original dishwasher had a panel insert to match the European cabinets and their beige/almond fine basketweave pattern. The old insert wasn't large enough for any new dishwasher, so we were going to have to go with a stock color. Going to stainless steel (and to a plain front) meant that the dishwasher fit in well with the existing appliances.
This dishwasher's changed how we use our dishwasher. We're willing to run the dishwasher while in the kitchen. We're willing to throw in wine glasses and our cooking utensils -- ladles, big spoons, etc. We're doing much less by hand, and we're able to wash things we never could before. We love knowing we can fill the lower rack with Tupperware (after doing a major cleaning-out of the fridge) because we know the plastic won't melt on the lower rack. Yes, we do this much more often than I'd like to admit.
We originally bought the Bosch model 56 from Sears because it was on the shortest backorder. When it arrived, it ran exactly once, and then stopped working (after the installer left.) It would fill with water and drain, but never run. The cause was a detached hose that had flooded the base pan and caused the main pump to shut off. (Guess I should be grateful for the built-in pan at the bottom!) The Sears repairman reconnected the hose, reassembled the dishwasher, pushed it back into its space... and found it still wouldn't run. He declared that the pump motor was probably dead and we'd have to schedule a two-man repair crew to fix it... or I could go back to Sears and demand the "no questions asked" replacement. The Sears salesman had no problem doing the replacement, found the model 66 (at the same price) had better availabilility, and got that one delivered. I was *very* happy at how painless it was to deal with the DOA unit.
We were looking at other premium dishwashers -- Kitchenaid, GE, etc. We liked Bosch because its strange features -- the lack of disposal and lack of a heating element on the bottom -- matched our two big needs for quiet and ability to deal with plastic. It didn't help that Kitchenaid -- the other brand we were strongly considering -- wouldn't rate their dishwashers loudness in dB. Without a way to compare it against the Boschs, we had to assume that they just weren't going to be as quiet. Sorry, Kitchenaid, "quieter" doesn't make me trust you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1169
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bowdidge
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Reviews written: 4
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