# Why does our dishwasher have a delay timer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918 "2005-04-24T22:43:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/1 "2005-04-24T22:43:59Z")
We cannot imagine a use for this. What are we gonna do — load the dishes, drop in the soap pouch, close it and go, “Okay, we want you to start in twenty minutes.”? Does anyone here have such a delay timer and use it? If so, why? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/2 "2005-04-24T22:54:51Z")
I’d guess it’s for Sabbath use - but can you unload a dishwasher on the Sabbath? ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/3 "2005-04-24T22:56:36Z")
So you can set it and go to bed; after you’re asleep, the dishwasher starts. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/4 "2005-04-24T22:57:13Z")
So you can wash your dishes later at night, when you won’t be near the kitchen, or if you live somewhere with rolling blackouts or rate differences based on peak hours for electric usage. I don’t use the delay timer on ours, but I can see the uses for it. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/5 "2005-04-24T23:19:11Z")
Sabbath, noise, off-peak use of hot water are all reasons for a delay timer. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/6 "2005-04-24T23:31:58Z")
We used to use the delay a lot when we lived in a very small apartment, where the living room was right next to the kitchen. It got old listening to the dishwasher while we were trying to watch movies, so we set it to come on after we went to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/7 "2005-04-24T23:42:30Z")
Off-peak use for water and electricity would be my guess. Have it run while you’re at work if the noise bothers you. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/8 "2005-04-25T00:20:56Z")
I used the delay at night… finish the dinner dishes, eveyone bathes or showers and goes to bed, then the dishes get washed. Our house is an older one where you could rob someone’s hot water if you run the dish or clothes washer while they are showering. ---
**Author:** ![RFBluesValentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@RFBluesValentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RFBluesValentine)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/9 "2005-04-25T01:11:54Z")
I imagine it’d be handy to use in the mornings, after using the hot water in the shower – particularly if there’s a few people who need morning showers. You could set the delay to go off after the water heats up, run out the door, and come home to nice clean dishes. I’m so smart. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/10 "2005-04-25T01:30:48Z")
We use ours all the time. The dishwasher is annoying, much better to let it run when we’re asleep. Also, setting it later means we don’t have to remember to start it after we take showers - which we’d never do. There are plenty of features we never use, but that one we do. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/11 "2005-04-25T01:50:02Z")
In addition to some of the reasons already given, one additional use of the delay we employ is to reduce forgetfulness of running it. Load the dishwasher up after dinner, close it, set the timer. If someone generates some dirty dishes during the evening, they dump them in the machine and close it again. No worries about “Am I the last one, should I run it or maybe someone else later … ?” After everyone has gone to bed, it runs itself. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/12 "2005-04-25T02:14:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > In addition to some of the reasons already given, one additional use of the delay we employ is to reduce forgetfulness of running it. Load the dishwasher up after dinner, close it, set the timer. If someone generates some dirty dishes during the evening, they dump them in the machine and close it again. > > No worries about “Am I the last one, should I run it or maybe someone else later … ?” > > After everyone has gone to bed, it runs itself. EXACTLY. Until I read **ftg’s** post, I thought I was the only forgetful one around here. Our dishwasher is not all that noisy, but I am forgetful and we have the occasional late night snackers scurrying about. I use the delay timer just about every single time. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/13 "2005-04-25T05:22:48Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > We used to use the delay a lot when we lived in a very small apartment, where the living room was right next to the kitchen. It got old listening to the dishwasher while we were trying to watch movies, so we set it to come on after we went to bed. Word of warning! A woman at work always did that - have it turn off after she and hubby and her two girls went to bed. One night, she turned it on earlier in the evening and they were all watching television in the next room and Lisa smelled something burning and went to the kitchen and her dishwasher had started a fire! Practical woman that she is, she grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out, but it destroyed the dishwasher and burned all the wood under her sink. The kicker is, her dishwasher was only two years old, and not the cheapest model on the market! I have a timer on my new dishwasher, but ever since hearing her story, I only turn it on when I am nearby. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/14 "2005-04-25T06:08:53Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > The kicker is, her dishwasher was only two years old, and not the cheapest model on the market! Did she tell you what brand it was? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/15 "2005-04-25T11:47:31Z")
I thought it might be useful for unattended washing, but there’s no way we’d leave a major appliance running when we’re not there or we’re asleep. We’ve had a dryer burn up before, and it’s just not a chance we’re willing to take. I suppose that’s why we couldn’t see any use for it. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/16 "2005-04-25T11:52:59Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I thought it might be useful for unattended washing, but there’s no way we’d leave a major appliance running when we’re not there or we’re asleep. We’ve had a dryer burn up before, and it’s just not a chance we’re willing to take. I suppose that’s why we couldn’t see any use for it. Well, that just sounds paranoid. We never DON’T use ours. We fill it up for the last time after supper. Set it for 2:00 am. We don’t hear it when we’re in the living room and it uses utilities during non-peak hours which is supposedly some kind of savings. Probably about a buck a year. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/17 "2005-04-25T12:24:54Z")
I set the delay timer on the dishwasher to come on after I’ve gone to bed too. The dishwasher is real quiet, which is good cause my bedroom is just off the kitchen. It’s supposed to, as others have said, be at a time of off peak demand for energy so I think that’s good. FTR, I would **never, never, never** leave my house with any major appliance running or set to run. Well, except for the AC/Heat which I guess could be a major appliance. Heck, I check to make sure the stove and oven are off before I leave the house even if I haven’t turned em on. Why, yes, I am a little nuts about it, thanks for asking. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/18 "2005-04-25T12:38:01Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Well, that just sounds paranoid. Not really. I’ve had a washing machine spring a leak and the dishwasher let loose while we were at home. Both would have caused MAJOR water damage, both being upstairs over the _finished_ basement. Check the hoses regular like. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/19 "2005-04-25T12:39:30Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I thought it might be useful for unattended washing, but there’s no way we’d leave a major appliance running when we’re not there or we’re asleep. We’ve had a dryer burn up before, and it’s just not a chance we’re willing to take. I suppose that’s why we couldn’t see any use for it. Yes, never, ever leave a dryer running when you’re away. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918/20 "2005-04-25T12:53:32Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > We cannot imagine a use for this. What are we gonna do — load the dishes, drop in the soap pouch, close it and go, “Okay, we want you to start in twenty minutes.”? Does anyone here have such a delay timer and use it? If so, why? I use mine all the time. 1: I do the dishes in the morning after I go to work so I don’t have to listen to the fucking thing 2: I allow the hot water to regenerate after our morning baths. Otherwise, not so clean dishes [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-our-dishwasher-have-a-delay-timer/300918.md?page=2)