They are a bit more than a susan, but it’s a solution if you want to move the D/W.
Frankly, I wouldn’t worry too much about the proximity to the fridge. If you have a cabinet surround, that is going to provide some level of insulation.
What’s going to be supporting the countertop on the dishwasher end? I think you’ll have to build a support for it, which can be just a thin board like this (just an example, yours will surely be better looking). That should help insulate it from the fridge a little, especially if you make it a couple inches thick or somehow build it with insulation in mind.
missed the edit… Here is how countertop’s often end when there’s something other than a cabinet on the end. With a one inch board and a 3/4 inch overhang on the countertop, plus whatever insulation the appliances have, I can’t imagine the DW affecting the fridge.
Fubaya mentioned what I was going to. There is going to be a vertical piece separating the DW from the Fridge, holding up the countertop, and trimming out the space. I wouldn’t expect the Fridge area to be noticeably affected by the DW.
That said, the link in the OP has the author all a-twitter over his electric usage, when it appears he’s running his DW on full heat. If you want to heat the water and heat dry your dishes, that’s cool, but you can’t turn around and complain because your DW’s heating element might make your Fridge run harder. You want to save money? Step one, use the Energy Saver function on your DW. Step two, unnecessary because you’ve just saved 50x the energy you “lost” with your kitchen layout problem.
OK, thanks everyone. There will be countertop support (especially since we’re thinking of concrete counters) on the end run. I think I’m going to stick with the layout I want and not worry about it.
With a solid divider between the 2 there should be no problem. Yes you may use a bit more power, but all in all not much more I would vote for a buck or two per year if that much.
[QUOTE=Renee]
I strongly prefer this layout because it allows me to be chopping vegetables or whatever while tending to already-cooking stuff. But if I put the DW to the left of the sink, it will be in my prep area, and if my husband wants to put something in or get something out, he’s in my way.
[/QUOTE]
IMHO This is the reason you decide the format, not the power consumption. Till you posted this I wondered why placing your DW on the left gave you less work space, but now it makes sense. It is very well planned that you can work unobstructed and allow your husband access to the DW. This seems to may your kitchen work more enjoyable which is very important.
I do want to mention that there is something in the kitchen called the work triangle which are the paths from Fridge to sink to stove, and noticed that the DW will be in the path to/from the fridge. I don’t know if there is anything that can be done to remedy that, but just wanted to point that out.
But with all that said, have you considered moving the fridge instead - that seems to be in a less then desirable spot.
Looking at your design the fridge will be blocking the view out the what I assume are doors from much of the kitchen area and serve to close the kitchen off visually. I would suggest trying different permutations with the fridge where the stove is which should provide a much more open feel to the kitchen. Perhaps the stove can be catty cornered (would require a different type of stovetop and place for a separate oven to do this) and the sink moved over closer to there the fridge is. This will allow you un-husbanded access to the fridge, sink, stove and counter work space. Also allow you better access to the window while in that workspace.
Here is a thread on gardenweb where we evaluated the other layout options I came up with, kanicbird. I’m kind of a kitchen nut, and have spent more time thinking about this than is probably healthy, but cooking is one of my favorite hobbies so it really matters to me.
I understand. I made my own kitchen design, tearing out walls and placing windows and the like and it worked great and making the kitchen so much better to use - then I moved out - things happen. My suggestion is decide what you need and go for it, it’s worth it.
You have set some great criteria like the island for company/parties and wanting to preserve a working area with minimal interference.
I personally like some of the designs with the fridge on the other wall with a small counter near the door as I like a open kitchen design (so you want counter space n either side of the fridge). For me the openness was important, it may not be so much for you.
I would also consider for myself in your situation more/bigger windows so I could look out while using the prep area as it seems like you spend quite a bit of time there and it’s nice to be able to see further, again opening it up, and providing more natural light. In my own case I placed a window over the stove, as that’s where I spent most of my kitchen time. I put a ‘pop up’ vent instead of the conventional stove ‘hood’ so it was more open - though looking back it was something I almost never used, like I also almost never use the hood vent I have now and perhaps could have went without as it did require a very complex and expensive layout.
If you’re really worried about the fridge, and it looks like you’re open to moving the window, move it over a few inches to the left and put a narrow cabinet between the D/W and fridge for tray storage.
Also, it looks like you probably measured your fridge, but in case you didn’t… those stand alone types can stick out a lot. Be sure you know just how much space you’re leaving yourself between the fridge and the island. Remember, the fridge isn’t going to touch the wall.
All said, I agree that your preferred layout is the best of those in that link.
Yeah but it does get them clean. And not rinsing doesn’t. Actually experiments.
Same type and brand of dishwasher here and I very rarely have to rinse a dish after running it and very rarely rinse before. I run mine about 2-3 times a week also.
For those who do prefer not to put unrinsed dishes in the dishwasher, I find that a “wet scrape” generally works at least as well as water-intensive rinsing:
Put a cup or so of lukewarm water in a bowl or pot in the sink, dip a sponge/scrubbie in the water and quickly pass it over the dish surfaces.
Food pieces, smears of sauce, etc., get scraped off into the sink and a nearly-clean dish goes into the dishwasher. The dishes won’t get smelly if they have to sit a day or two before you run the dishwasher, they will wash up clean even with energy-saver/cold-water settings, and you haven’t wasted a lot of water or energy pre-washing them.
I find that even if you don’t scrape them they don’t get smelly either, mainly because the gunk will dry and not allow stuff to grow on them. Though if you leave them too long in the sink, damp and piled ontop of each other they can start to get stinky.