Covered Patio Kitchen Build

[Wort]

I'm in the design phase now, we're considering an outdoor dishwasher.

We are building it under a covered patio. We rarely see freezing temps here, but it will get cold a few nights out of the year where we get frost. We also see many 100°F days here, but I wouldn't run it during the day, mornings or evenings only.

I'm guessing the heat is not an issue with dishwashers, it's really the cold when it gets below freezing.

I've seen there are 2 outdoor units out there for about $4k, I'm not going to spend that kind of money.

Has anyone ever used a standard dishwasher outdoors?

 

[duraleigh]

I'm not going to spend that kind of money

Then the question is moot. Put in a normal dishwasher and see how you do with it. Probably last 15 years.

 

[BoDarville]

This is similar to putting a TV outdoors and deciding whether you should get an expensive dedicated outdoor unit or a much cheaper indoor unit that may not last as long outdoors. Simply need to make some assumptions and determine how many standard dishwashers you would need to go through to equal the cost of a dedicated outdoor unit. For example, if you spent $500 on a standard dishwasher and got 15 years out of it, it would take you 120 years to go through 8 of them to equal the cost of the $4K dedicated outdoor unit. You can play around with numbers and assumptions a bit, but I still think the best option is going with the standard dishwasher - especially in your climate.