We created dishwashers to make our lives easier, and if there is one thing the tiny house lifestyle is known for, it’s simplicity! But having the wrong dishwasher can make your life anything but simple. That’s why today, we’re doing a deep dive to find the best tiny house dishwashers out there!
Best small dishwashers 2024
#1 Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series Dishwasher
#2 hOmeLabs Compact Countertop Dishwasher
#3 Fisher & Paykel DD24DCTW7 Single Drawer Dishwasher
#4 Farberware FDW05ASBWHA Complete Portable Countertop Dishwasher
#5 EdgeStar DWP62SV Portable Countertop Dishwasher
In our research, we’ve polled forums, called friends, and read the manuals to give you the information you need to find the right fit. So whether you are looking for a dishwasher that can make cleaning up a little easier or help you host a tiny house dinner party for ten(!), we’ve got you covered. Just be sure to read on to the end because, apparently, the future is here- you won’t believe what these dishwashers can do!
Think Tiny Home First, Then Dishwasher.
Buying a dishwasher for a tiny home comes with its own set of considerations! Of course, you’ll want to think about the usual things like price and how effective it is, but there’s even more to it when you’re choosing a dishwasher for a small dwelling.
First of all, you’ll want to consider the size. If you plan to put the unit in a small RV, it might be better to go with a countertop model. But if you live in a four hundred square foot tiny house on wheels, then we say knock yourself out with the fanciest apartment-style unit that fits your budget!
When it comes to tiny home dishwashers, you’ll want to consider how much noise a unit will make and how many amps of power it will draw. Most tiny homes only have thirty to fifty amps of power available, so it’s important to be judicious on that last one. You don’t want to be forced to unplug the refrigerator whenever you need to do a load of dishes!
Our research has led us to choose the five best options that collectively address a wide variety of needs. Because your situation and preferences are unique to you, narrowing down the options any further will require your input. So keep reading to find your perfect tiny home dishwasher!
#1 Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series Dishwasher
- Racks are adjustable.
- Sensors detect and prevent leaks.
- Very quiet.
If you have one of those luxury tiny house mini-mansions we’ve seen on HGTV, you might as well have a fabulous dishwasher to go with it!
At a slim eighteen inches, the Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series dishwasher is known as an apartment-sized version. It might be smaller, but trust us, it gets the job done better than many of the regular-sized versions on the market! It’s also quiet, which is convenient for small space living. How quiet, you ask? Forty-four decibels, which is the approximate noise level of a library!
Is it possible to be a little bit in love with a dishwasher? Not to be weird, but we kind of are. The Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series dishwasher comes standard with a third rack that allows for loading flexibility, and that’s just the beginning! It also includes AquaStop® Plus sensors to detect and prevent leaks. Tiny house or not, it only takes a small leak to create a big problem, so it’s nice to know that this dishwasher is looking out for us!
By this point, our feelings about this dishwasher are clear, but everything comes with a downside, and here at tinylivinglife.com, we promise to always be transparent. So are you ready to hear the disadvantages?
The most common complaint about the Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series is that it doesn’t leave the dishes bone dry. Bosch uses a condensation dryer in this model, which is great for energy efficiency, but it may mean you need to grab a towel if you like to put dishes away right when a cycle ends.
Speaking of energy, it’s worth noting that even with the energy conservation, this unit still pulls twelve amps. This shouldn’t be an issue if your tiny house has access to fifty amp power, but if you’re running on thirty, you might need to turn off the A/C before doing a load of dishes. Just something to keep in mind!
The other drawback of the Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series is the price tag. It might be worth the $1,557 if you’re building your tiny forever home, but if you’re going tiny on a budget, there could be a better option. No worries, though; we’ve got more great dishwashers headed your way at a fraction of the cost!
#2 hOmeLabs Compact Countertop Dishwasher
- Only uses 2.7 amps of power
- Comes in a sleek, white casing
- Simple to use control panel
The hOmeLabs Compact Countertop dishwasher comes in at a much more budget-friendly $360! This unit easily steals second place because it works so well- but that’s not the only thing it has going for it!
This model only uses 2.7 amps, so you can still get help doing the dishes even if you have limited power. In fact, the amp-draw with the hOmeLabs is so low that you can probably do dishes while blow-drying your hair and making margaritas in the blender. Just be sure to invite us over if you do all three; we want to be there for that party!
The hOmeLabs Compact Countertop dishwasher comes in a sleek, white casing that will brighten up your tiny home. And that’s a good thing because light colors make tiny homes feel roomier!
We love this model, but if there is one thing we’re not crazy about, it’s the fifty-five-decibel noise rating. Of course, we’ll take it if it means getting help cleaning the kitchen, but we do wish it was a touch quieter. Before you get too down about the noise, though, you should know that it happens for a good reason. This dishwasher has a filter/disposal system that breaks up food remnants to keep them from clogging the system. And we’ll take a system that works over one that’s quiet any day!
The hOmeLabs Compact Countertop dishwasher is just like the name suggests: it’s a countertop dishwasher. That means it won’t be hard-plumbed into your tiny house like the Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series would be. That’s not really positive or negative in our minds, but we wanted to be sure to tell you about it. Also, don’t forget that you’ll need an adaptor to connect this dishwasher to your faucet. Keep in mind that fancy faucets might not play well with adaptors!
#3 Fisher & Paykel DD24DCTW7 Single Drawer Dishwasher
- Raised up, very accessible.
- Convenient shape for flexible placement.
- Sleek looks.
When it comes to tiny home dishwashers, our third choice is the Fisher & Paykel DD24DCTW7! We first heard whispers of its quality in tiny house internet forums, and our research only brought about more good news!
This unit comes in a unique ‘drawer’ configuration which has multiple benefits! The fact that it’s raised up makes it a better option for anyone with mobility issues because it won’t require bending down to load it. It’s also a particularly great model for tiny homes because its shape allows it to be placed conveniently over the wheel well. If you haven’t built your tiny house yet, you will soon find that the wheel well can provide building challenges. Never fear, though; that’s why you have us to guide your tiny living journey!
The Fisher & Paykel DD24DCTW7 is a quiet, forty-four-decibel situation. It also holds seven place settings and offers fifteen different wash cycles. So what are the downsides? In three words: price and amperage.
Don’t get us wrong, this is a beautiful, effective, and quiet dishwasher, but it does come with a $1,200 price tag. Is it worth it? Definitely, if you have the budget. Even with the budget, though, you’ll still want to be mindful of your power usage. This unit pulls fifteen amps when in use, so make sure you have it to spare before you install one!
#4 Farberware FDW05ASBWHA Complete Portable Countertop Dishwasher
- Sanitizing feature.
- Can wash fruits and veggies.
- Five programs.
- Compact design.
- doesn’t require hooking up to your faucet
Remember how at the beginning of this article, we told you that the future of dishwashers had arrived? Well, that’s largely thanks to the Farberware FDW05ASBWHA Complete Portable Countertop Dishwasher!
Sure, this thing does the dishes (including twelve-inch plates!), but it also has a sanitizing feature that allows you to clean baby bottles and any other important items to the nth degree. Want to know what else it can do? It can wash fruits and vegetables. Right?! We couldn’t believe it either. We’re kind of glad, though; salad without pesticides is a much cuter way to go.
Another thing we like about the Farberware FDW05ASBWHA is how it functions. Unlike most countertop models, the Farberware FDW05ASBWHA doesn’t require hooking up to your faucet. You can if you want to, but if you’d prefer to skip the hassle, simply pour water into the built-in holding tank, and you’re good to go!
The Farberware FDW05ASBWHA has a lot of benefits, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The main downside of this unit is that it makes a noisy sixty-two decibels of sound. That’s two points above the sound level of a normal conversation. It might not seem like a lot, but remember that one notices sound much more acutely in a small space!
#5 EdgeStar DWP62SV Portable Countertop Dishwasher
- Easy to install.
- Stainless steel interior.
- Compact Countertop Design.
Alright, that brings us to number five on our list of the best tiny home dishwashers! The EdgeStar DWP62SV might be fifth, but don’t think for a second that it’s anything less than great!
We’ll begin with the fact that it’s easy to install, and users can do so via their faucet or by plumbing the unit directly into their water line if they so choose. One of these units will cost about $369, which is on point for the quality, and replacement parts are available! This means any repairs can be done in a way that saves waste while increasing your skill sets. How tiny-house-lifestyle is that?!
This unit is a little noisy (just over fifty-two decibels), but you’ll forgive it when you see the easy-to-maintain stainless steel interior. And while we love that the EdgeStar DWP62SV can do six sets of dishes at a time, it does function a little better if you rinse dishes prior to washing and add a rinse-aid to the cycle. Honestly, though, the extra considerations are minor, and we’ve heard great things about their customer service, which more than makes up for it. It might be fifth on the list, but hey, this is one heck of a great list!
Tiny House Dishwasher Buying Guide.
Now that you’ve gotten the breakdown of the best tiny house dishwashers on the market, how do you choose the one that’s right for you?
Well, we’d recommend you start with the factors that tend to be finite: feasibility and price. If you have the space and the budget, we’d tell you to go big or go home with a built-in apartment-sized unit! The Bosch SPX68B55UC 800 Series is a great option, and it will allow you to do ten sets of dishes at a time! So go ahead, throw that crazy tiny house dinner party!
Once you’ve addressed feasibility and price constraints, it’s time to move on to your personal preferences. Do you value quietness? Or are you more concerned with not overloading your tiny home circuit breaker? Are you looking for a unit with a sanitizing option or one that handles food particles like a pro? Remember that the list we’ve compiled is the best of the best, so there’s no bad option, just the one meant for you!
If you are a dishwasher enthusiast (do those exist?), you may have noticed that there are two types of small-space dishwashers that didn’t make our list: agitators and apartment-sized portable units.
Agitators are little devices that churn a sink of soapy water into a makeshift dishwasher. They are a good idea in theory, but we just couldn’t find one we were crazy about. Unfortunately, they have a long history of breaking and a poor track record of being repairable. Both things make them non-eco-friendly and, therefore, not in alignment with the tiny house lifestyle.
The apartment-sized portable units also didn’t resonate with our tiny home ways, but for a different reason. Anyone who’s lived tiny will tell you that thou must limit thy Rubix-cubing.
If you’re new to the tiny home world, Rubix-cubing is when you have to transition parts of your house to make them functional. An example would be a dining room table that must be pulled out from behind a couch. Sometimes it must be done, but Rubix-cubing is to be avoided wherever possible. And since doing the dishes is enough of a chore, we didn’t want to add any Rubix-cubing to the mix!
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That’s all we have to say on this subject for today, but don’t worry; we’ll be back soon with more tiny home product comparisons and buying guides! Going tiny is a journey, but here at tinylivinglife.com, we’d never let you do it alone! We’ll see you soon!
