CAN YOU FIT A DISHWASHER IN YOUR TINY HOUSE OR RV?
Our house may be tiny, but we have plenty of room for everything we need, and room left over for some of the things things we want. It's all about priorities.
Maybe we don't need a dishwasher, but ...
Who am I kidding? I NEED IT. We both hate hand-washing dishes. Using a dishwasher saves a surprising amount of water -- we have to fill our water tank about half as often when we can use the dishwasher. It's a place to put dirty dishes instead of filling up precious kitchen sink or counter space. And the dishwasher doubles as safe storage while we're moving.
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Dishwasher in an Airstream
The model we're using in our Airstream is a Fisher and Paykel dish drawer. At 27" wide and 20" tall, it fits perfectly below our RV range, which is the shorter 17" Atwood model.
The Fisher & Paykel dishwasher has a single rack, so we have about as much space as the bottom drawer of a typical household dishwasher. The drawer has an option to automatically lock shut when closed, so we don't have to worry about securing it when traveling—a feature specifically designed for boats and RVs.
Our dishwasher takes a lot of electricity compared to our other appliances. But the 30 minute quick wash cycle will usually do the job just fine, and it can be powered with reasonable sized house battery. We've consistently been able to run it on a sunny day with our four 100 watt solar panels and our small 100 amp-hour AGM battery. We once ran two fast-wash cycles in a row at a highway rest area, and still had plenty of battery power left.
There are several other options for compact dishwashers aside from the Fisher and Paykel Dishdrawer. The VESTA built-in RV dishwasher is a compact single-level model with a stainless flip-down door. Furrion makes an 18" counter-height dishwasher for the RV industry, and there are quite a few vendors who offer slim counter-height household model dishwashers for larger tiny homes.
