We moved in to a new house last year and bought furniture, curtains, carpets, appliances, etc. We got a dishwasher in a sale at the Co-op but it was too big for the space under the hob and went back to the shop. Bad measuring on my part.
Visits and phone calls to electrical shops to find a replacement drew a blank so I searched for a freestanding dishwasher on the internet. Eventually I came across a site called searchappliance which allows searches by width, height and depth.
Our problem dimension was width. The Co-op Zanussi had been the right height and width but stood out from the work surface by about one inch. It looked awful.
Searchappliance came up with a few possibilities with a depth of 55cm but all except one were mini-dishwashers which sit on a work surface rather than under it. The exception was a front-loading dishwasher made by Haier priced at a remarkable £209.
Haier was not a familiar name so I clicked through to their website. I was surprised to find a leading Chinese manufacturer established in 1984 with German knowhow. They have since expanded into Europe and are one of the top businesses in mainland China. Chinese dishwashers? Why not.
I ordered a Haier WQP6-2 via the searchappliance website (no delivery charge) and it arrived within four days. After unpacking, I pushed it into the space under the hob with baited breath. It was a few centimetres too short and a few centimetres too narrow but the depth was perfect. It looked better than the Zanussi. Problem solved. So how well does the Haier perform?
Pretty well, actually. The machine, which only comes in white, has six place settings. This is half the capacity of most family dishwashers because you have to compensate for its smaller size, not a problem for us as a three-strong household.
There are two racks, the lower one for plates and cutlery and the upper one for cups and glasses. You can fit in around five saucers and five plates and eight cups/mugs at a squeeze. The machine has three basic wash programmes, including standard and intense washes and rinse. Dishes are dried. There is also a half load facility which saves on water and a delay timer button so you can set it to wash overnight.
This model has a B energy efficiency rating - the second highest - and is fairly quiet. You can comfortably listen to the radio in the kitchen when it is in operation.
The only drawback is a faulty lock on the compartment for the dishwasher tablet/liquid. It often comes undone during washing cycles. No great worries because dishes still come out sparkling clean. It just means some of the tablet is not fully dissolved and a blue smudge is left in the compartment.
Apart from that we are pleased with our Chinese dishwasher. Dishes, cups, glasses and cutlery come out spotless. Definitely worth a look if you want a value dishwasher of unusual size.
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