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Tuesday, March 19th
Miele is a European company that started out in 1899 with eleven employees and minimal equipment. Their one engineer and one businessman started by making cream separators. Only four short years later, they made Model A washing machines which were innovative in their design, and they kept working to improve an already excellent product. In 1912, they made motorcars, but kept making and innovating washing machines. As you can see, Miele has been doing high-quality appliance innovations for over 100 years.
Unique drying system
Outside air enters the system, steam is attracted to the colder side, and then dissipates as water. The two highest models allow two ports for even faster drying. All but the lowest model will allow the door to pop open at the end of this drying cycle encouraging the steam to escape, The hot, steamy air gets out and it's not trapped in the humid tub for a longer drying time.
Leak protection
Most dishwashers today have some sort of leak protection, to prevent water from leaking from the appliance all over the floor, causing not only a mess, but damage to the floor. Miele is no exception.
Camouflage?
The dishwasher fits flush with the cabinets so you don't notice a protruding appliance. In addition, many are panel-ready, meaning you can talk with your kitchen designer or cabinet supplier and get a cabinet-door-like panel to place over the front of the appliance, making the appliance virtually indistinguishable from your cabinetry.
Super quiet
No noisy models here. The "loudest" Miele is at 44 decibels, when the average, standard dishwasher is at 52 decibels. Miele's noise levels go from quiet to even more quiet at 38 decibels - that of a refrigerator hum. The industry states that quiet dishwashers' levels are 44 decibels, so all Miele's are at the quiet level or more.
Three racks + wash arms
It's nice to line up your silverware on the top, third rack of your dishwasher, knowing that none of the tines touch and your spoons won't be "spooning," with little to no space between them for water to clean them. All models include this feature - Miele doesn't include a silverware basket - allowing more room for dishes on the bottom rack. Better Miele models' third rack has sections that slide side-to-side, for more stemware to fit. The more upgraded models have this sliding feature and also have other 3D features to fit those hard-to-place utensils or glassware. And, even the third rack has its own wash arm to get special cleaning attention.
They're smart
The top two series allow you to control your appliance from your smart device. You can turn the machine on or off, and you can know which cycle it's in, change cycles, and see the time remaining as well. Remember, it's pretty quiet, and you may not hear the difference between the washing and drying cycles, so receiving wash cycle information via your smart device can be quite helpful.
Look Ma, no handle!
The top series is super sleek - so much so that there's no bar handle or pocket handle at all. Knock twice, and the door opens.
Cost
Auto-measures the detergent
Place up to 20 loads' worth of detergent into the reservoir, and the dishwasher will know how much to dispense each time. So it's okay if you forgot the detergent - Miele won't forget. Customers say they like this feature, not only for the convenience, but because the right amount of detergent gets dispensed at the right time, allowing for much cleaner dishes.
Our favorite Miele
The G5056VISFP is a good, lower-end model, front pocket handle, 44 decibels, and has a QuickIntenseWash feature, so a load can be completely finished in 58 minutes. At a little over $1,000, that's a mid-level model for many makers, but it's the entry level for Miele. In general, upgraded features with other brands are considered standard with Miele.
Where can you find them?
If you go to your local appliance store, you more than likely won't see Miele on display. You might be able to order one from them, but you might not see it in person to open the door, open with the knock-knock feature, play with the 3D/sliding third rack, or look at the 20-load detergent dispenser. You can order Miele dishwashers online and through some appliance stores, so they are attainable, but you'll have to call around to see who not only sells them but also has them on display.
No returns?!
Miele documents to the seller that they sell premium products, and therefore, there are no returns. Depending on where you buy yours, however, you may have a retailer return policy to take advantage of if you need it.
Warranty
Miele states repeatedly on their warranty card that their products are of top quality and so are their parts. They assure the customer that parts will be available to the purchaser for five years. The card says that there is a limited warranty, but after hunting through their site to determine if they actually do warranty their product, the information is difficult to find. It seems the customer gets more assurance than warranty from Miele. Not sure if that's good or bad, but it seems to work for Miele and their typically satisfied customers.
Futuristic and fancy, but expensive
Miele has very good quality dishwashers with not only excellent and innovative cleaning and drying features, but unique and futuristic features as well. If you purchase a Miele, you may have the fanciest - and quietest - dishwasher on the block... but you might either have to search for it or buy it sight unseen. In addition, you'll pay for what you get. We believe that if a Miele dishwasher is within your budget, that's great. But if your wallet is nudging you to find a more affordable dishwasher with excellent features, you may want to look to our other very highly-rated dishwashers before making your final decision.
Most of us don't think too much about our dishwasher. We load the dishes, it cleans, we empty. But when the dishes aren't coming out as clean as they should, it's taking more rinsing to get all the food off, you're drying your dishes by hand because the machine doesn't, or if the coating on the tines is chipping off, you might start thinking about replacing your appliance for one that holds up and maybe has some nice features that you deserve.
Did you know there are three types of dishwashers? There's built-in, countertop, and drawer. Built-in dishwashers are the traditional dishwashers most of us have had in our homes. They are full-sized or even narrow and apartment-sized, and are slid in below the counter. Counter-top dishwashers can be found in Europe and are just that - they are small and fit on the counter. The drawer models are shallow and fit below the counter. Because they are the most common type, we will look at only the built-in models.
Think about what you want in your new appliance. You'll obviously want a dishwasher that does a good job of washing your dishes. There are a lot of fun features you can have, such as a third rack, lights, and smart capabilities, but if the machine doesn't do a good job of actually washing your dishes, what's the point of any of the bells and whistles?
So once you choose a brand that you like, you can select your wish list features such as the third, top rack; a quick-wash cycle; a delay start; self-cleaning filters - yes, you should know if you need to clean your filters for maintenance, which is typical; food pulverizers; interior components made of stainless steel to promote longevity; child locks; sanitizer settings; sustainable materials; special jets under the silverware caddy; and smart capabilities, so you can control the dishwasher from your phone or smart home system.
And that's just the beginning. Here are several other criteria to keep in mind as you shop for your new kitchen appliance:
To help you make this important purchasing decision, Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated today's most popular dishwasher brands. If you're done spending too much time pre-washing your dishes, continually re-arranging them because the rack and tine design is poor, drying them after the dishwasher supposedly dried them, or re-washing after the clumps of old food just don't come off after a full cycle, do consider a new dishwasher. You can save a lot of time by not pre-washing, post-washing, and drying. And with all that extra time, you could relax reading a book or watching your favorite show while a super quiet dishwasher does all the work while making virtually no noise.
Select any 2 Dishwashers to compare them head to head