My 5-year old, $1,200 KitchenAid dishwasher is leaking again because its third replacement motor is failing.

Rather than re-up the insurance for $300 and spend months waiting for KitchenAid to grudgingly install a new $600 motor, I decided just to replace the entire washer.

So here are some of the fun facts I learned about where dishwashers are heading because of ever-tightening government (i.e., EPA) appliance “energy efficiency” standards:

  1. Dishwasher life expectancy has decreased from about 8-10 years to 5-6 years.
  2. Food grinders are being eliminated. So you pretty much have to rinse your dishes clean before they go in the dishwasher.
  3. Heat drying is being eliminated. So if you want dry dishes either dry them yourself or run a load overnight and hope that when you empty the washer in the morning the load is dry.
  4. Prices are going up because of the energy-saving features no one is demanding other than the EPA.

Keep in mind that the government has already ruined dishwasher detergent by removing phosphates from products available in retail stores.

Although I have figured out ways around the detergent problem — you can either buy commercial dishwasher detergent (which contains phosphates) or add a teaspoon of commercially available sodium triphosphate with your normal detergent — the fact remains that the government is ruining one of the great time- and money-saving conveniences of the 20th century for no good reason.

Steve Milloy publishes JunkScience.com (@JunkScience)