3 ms·
Dishwashers aren't very solar-friendly if you don't have net-metering. They typically have a very powerful 2.5 kilowatt heater they run in bursts - for like 5
by londons_explore 3y ago
Dishwashers aren't very solar-friendly if you don't have net-metering.
They typically have a very powerful 2.5 kilowatt heater they run in bursts - for like 5 mins when prewashing, for like 10 mins when starting the main wash, and like 10 mins again when drying.
In between those times, the machine uses only ~60 watts for pumps.
I have often pondered what a world of machines designed to meet solar output looked like - and for a dishwasher it would involve the heater being modulated to match the solar output (and knowing that sometimes the wash cycle would take longer if a cloud was overhead so heating was delayed by a half hour).
- nicoburns 3y agoI guess you could also use a small battery to help smooth things out.
- londons_explore 3y agoThe money efficiency isn't great - if you had control of the design of the dishwasher, simply having a hot block of concrete inside that you heated when there was spare energy would work out far cheaper. Concrete costs far fewer $$$'s than batteries do, per kwh of heat stored, it also doesn't require inverters, balancing or safety systems, ad lasts millions of cycles rather than thousands.
- usrusr 3y agoHow expensive would it be, transportation included, compared to an insulated water container of comparable heat capacity?
- goodpoint 3y agoOr maybe store hot water and heat it up at the best time...?
- marcosdumay 3y agoThe water is too hot to store safely. You can still slowly heat it up to 70 or 80°C and just add some extra heat on use, but that will still leave a lot of immediate power to deal with.
- notatoad 3y agoI can't imagine a scenario where you've got a large enough solar system that you'd want to be running a dishwasher off it, and you don't already have some battery storage elsewhere in that system.
- solraph 3y agoWaves from Australia However, since my array is currently 4.4kw at 3 in the afternoon, a 2.5kw burst isn't a problem.
- usrusr 3y agoJust have more dishwashers, and use them as storage cabinets: pick from a clean cabinet if you need tableware, deposit in a dirty cabinet when you are done and if you have at least three of them the transition is free to take a lot of time.
- pdntspa 3y agoThat sort of thing seems solvable with batteries used as a a capacitor, rather than trying to reprogram the dishwasher logic