Quiet, good cleaning, flexible, dependable
Written: Dec 21 '05
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Pros: Very quiet, loading flexibility, quiet, tall tub, and quiet
Cons: Expensive, drying time, needs constant rinse agent, installation clearance issues
The Bottom Line: Quiet, does a good job cleaning, quiet, looks good, quiet, good value compared to Bosch, not inexpensive, slow drying, but definitely is quiet.
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| gust334's Full Review: Kenmore 16302 24 in. Built-in Dishwasher |
Our old dishwasher was so loud we could hear it from upstairs, so loud that we avoided doing dishes at all except when the sink was full. So, our primary concern was to locate a quiet dishwasher that performed reasonably well.
We looked extensively at various Bosch models; the variations with subtle differences in racks, controls, etc were bewildering. However, opinions here and elsewhere as well as a leading consumer magazine made it clear that they were the leader in quiet operation.
Therefore, when looking at Bosch at the local Sears store, we were surprised to find this Kenmore Elite model that looked just like some of the Bosch models inside. Its feature set was item for item the same, and they had one hooked up and running and it was just as quiet in the store as the Bosch. All that, and it was about $100 less expensive than the closest matching Bosch model, and we liked the styling of this one better. Still, this is not an inexpensive dishwasher.
Note that listening in the store is really no match for hearing it at home. There is so much noise in the store, you can't really tell which ones are noisy and which ones are quiet. Places like this web site are really the only way to get that sort of research, and it was very helpful for us. It also helps to find friends that recently replaced dishwashers and listen to theirs.
A short conversation with a nearby sales rep confirmed our suspicions; he claimed these are made for Sears by Bosch, and use the same technology. We were hooked, so we ordered one in white exterior (they stocked only stainless).
Two weeks later it arrived, and we picked it up and took it home.
Installation took much longer than expected, but that was due to a local installation problem and not the dishwasher design. The electric for our old dishwasher came in from below, and there was a junction box right in the middle of the space. The old dishwasher wasted the bottom two inches of space so it slid in above the junction; the new one had a flat bottom, so it required a lot of reworking the space.
Also, in the process of sliding the new Kenmore into the space, I ended up denting the very end of the copper water line. I suppose a professional installer wouldn't have made this mistake. The tall internal tub means that all the hook ups need to be really low, which adds to the difficulty somewhat. You have to be able to get your fingers right up against the floor while using wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.
In operation, this thing is really quiet.
You start the cycle by tapping one of the buttons. A disturbing handful of seconds later, it starts pulling in water, which is probably the loudest part of the cycle, and even that is very quiet. We have found we get the best results by running the hot tap until the water is fully hot before starting the dishwasher.
While sudsing, you really have to concentrate to hear it. There is a gentle whooshing sound, but you don't hear water. It is possible to hear dishes clanking together if you've loaded something incorrectly, but generally that doesn't happen.
The upper rack has its own wash arm, which gets water from the back panel. Therefore, there is no wash tower from below that needs to perforate the bottom rack; as a result, you get the whole area of the bottom rack to place items to clean.
Because the heating element is not exposed, you can put plastic anywhere in the dishwasher. No more "top rack only", which makes it easy. Just load anything anywhere.
The top rack adjusts up and down. When dropped, it allows our dinner plates in the top rack, and/or stemware. When raised, salad plates still fit. The top rack features 4 sets of tines on the right half that can be folded down or tilted (right back, right front, center right back, center right front). There are also two gridded panels at the far right, front and back, that can be used as a knife or utensil rack and have notches for stemware. They could also be used for shallow coffee cups. The top rack can also be removed entirely, but then you need to install a small spray head on the water inlet on the back panel.
The top rack has fixed separators on the left that work well for plates or shallow bowls. They are somewhat wasteful of space because they aren't really useable for anything else, like glasses, mugs, or deep bowls.
The dishwasher cavity is shallower than the one it replaced. The racks are much more roughly square, whereas the old dishwasher had significantly more depth, perhaps 2 or 3 inches. This results in having less capacity to load items than the old one.
The dishwasher cavity is a couple of inches taller than the one it replaced. You might think this should allow more flexibility or more load capacity, but it doesn't work that way. The arm under the upper rack needs room to turn, so any gain you have from the deeper cavity is offset by the lack of being able to put stuff all the way up to the upper rack. Several times we've had to re-run a load because we put a serving spoon or something else with a long handle vertically in the flatware rack, and it blocked the upper arm from turning.
This thing is really quiet.
There are a bunch of modes that you can run. We haven't noticed any difference in noise between the modes. Now we always use the scrub setting, which is the longest cycle but also uses the hottest water, and we get consistently clean dishes.
Drying time is a downside. Because the heating element is not exposed, drying is performed by "condensation", which takes a really long time. After the dishwasher runs, we must leave the door closed for at least an hour. During this time, water vapor in the washer condenses on the cooler side metal panels and drips to the bottom. The drain pump runs intermittently during this time. If you open the door too early, the heat differential is lost and everything stays wet.
I suspect running the scrub setting improves drying performance because everything starts hotter, but I don't know that I could prove it.
This thing is really quiet when the drain pump runs, too. All you can hear is the water in the drain.
Another drying issue is that we have to use rinse agent, and plenty of it. With the old one, we could use it when we noticed spotting, but we didn't generally use it all the time. With the new Kenmore, you need to have sufficient rinse agent in every load, without fail. And, the reservoir in the door is not really that big, which means we have to remember to refill it every couple of loads.
The rinse agent door has a window with a pattern of lines in it; if you can see the lines, you need to add rinse agent. If the lines are covered, so are you.
Did I mention this thing is quiet?
Plastic items don't dry as well as metal or dishware, mostly because they don't retain enough heat to vaporize the water on them. Or maybe they dry too quickly and cool, and therefore water condenses on them. We're not sure of the mechanism, but plastic food containers are very likely to come out of the wash with droplets still on them.
The display proudly indicates "Sanitized" when the scrub cycle finishes. I suppose it might be, but as soon as you open the door I'm sure the contents lose that status. However, the dishwasher isn't smart enough to know that the door opened, and continues to display "Sanitized" even after you empty it and put the next load in. It doesn't reset the indicator until you start the next cycle. We think that's pretty dumb.
It has modes to only run the top rack, and special china modes, etc. We don't really use any of those.
The front half of the bottom rack has fixed tines in two rows. The back half can be folded down in 4 sections, far back left and right, near back left and right. There is nothing else special about the bottom rack. I wish the bottom rack had a finer grid, as we have had odd-shaped items fall over and lodge within the large grids and stop the lower wash arm. A set of fold down panels, like the upper rack right side, would be welcome. I think one of the highest-end Bosch models calls this a "mezzanine".
The upper rack has a smaller grid, so you can put smaller items up there without them falling through. Although falling through might block a wash arm, it isn't as critical in this washer as the old one. There's no risk of melting or fire because nothing but water can come in contact with the heater.
The flatware baskets have grids that can be folded down to the side, or flat across the top of the baskets. They can be used to keep small items in place, and/or they can be used to keep flatware from nesting together. Unfortunately for us, our current flatware JUST DOESN'T make it into the grid; the handles are too wide. We just use the old trick of one up, one down, in each pocket to prevent nesting.
The flatware baskets can be joined together, or used separately. The bottom rack's tine spacing is exactly right for the flatware basket to be placed along either front or back row, or they can be split and placed almost anywhere in the dishwasher. The flatware basket in our old dishwasher could only be placed front center, so this is a welcome change.
The overwhelming reason we replaced the old one was for the noise. This Kenmore cleans about as well as the old dishwasher; we made up some special baked-on gunk for the last load of the old dishwasher and the first load of the new one, and they really did about the same on that torture test. For non-baked on or dried-on waste, this one seems to do a little better than the old one. We spend less time worrying about clearing the waste off plates before loading them, although we still scrape off the larger waste before loading.
There is a timer so that you can delay the starting of the dishwasher. If the old one had a timer, we might have been tempted to set it to run late at night, or perhaps early next morning. That way, the noise wouldn't have interrupted conversation or TV. The new Kenmore is so quiet, we can sit after dinner at the kitchen table and talk while it is running. As a result, we've never bothered to use the timer.
There is a filter bucket, low front and center in the bottom of the dishwasher, which collects large debris that did not liquefy in the hot water. We check it once a month, but I think we've only found material there once in four months.
Leveling the dishwasher was amazingly easy; there is a slotted adjustment screw up front that is linked to the rear feet, and each front foot is independently adjustable. The trim wings on both sides make for a snug fit in the counter. The top anchors were easy to use, except that the old dishwasher tore chunks out of the countertop right where this one wanted to attach too.
When the unit's wings are properly aligned with the cabinets, the control panel protrudes slightly farther (1/4 inch) than our counter top. Maybe we just have a really shallow counter top; I'm not sure what the usual setback is from the face frame to the edge.
Installation was slightly more complex than a conventional dishwasher due to the routing of the electrical and plumbing through dedicated channels at the bottom. Most people opt for professional installation. If there had not previously been a dishwasher installed, I certainly would have had someone else do it.
You don't need any extraordinary tools or skills to install this Kenmore versus any other dishwasher. However, it isn't like plugging in a microwave. There's hardwired electric and plumbing to deal with, which can result in injury, death, and property damage if you mess it up.
In summary, we are very satisfied with this new Kenmore. We've used it for about five months now and it performs like the day it was installed. And it remains just as quiet as we remember it, which makes it well worth the price premium.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 780
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Epinions.com ID:
gust334
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Reviews written: 3
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