Bosch SGI45E16GB, a lifesaving device (Bosch SGI45E16GB Dishwasher)

Member Name: littlexen

Product:	Bosch SGI45E16GB Dishwasher
Date:	06/06/07 (1050 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: washes without fail, low maintenance, huge capacity, adjustable shelves, multi - programmes

Disadvantages: expensive and noisy

When I moved into my first house and had to finally start doing all of my own washing, cooking and cleaning the first thing that gave way was my desire to leave my hands soaking in water for 30 minutes every day while I washed up dishes and pots, something I have to admit is something of a compulsion. I cannot leave even one glass in the washing up bowl, it has to be empty otherwise I cannot settle or relax. As a way of keeping me away from the kitchen sink my husband returned from ordering a washing machine with a delivery docket for the Bosch SGI45E16GB and a very smug grin on his face. While I was happy at the thought I was not impressed in the slightest that he had paid a total of £350 for an appliance that would take up lots of room in the kitchen and increase our electricity usage at a time when we had just moved into our first home and weren’t that flush with spare cash for luxury items.

Thankfully the gentlemen who delivered the dishwasher installed it for us so there was no getting our hands dirty, a good job really as neither of us are the most able when it comes to doing anything remotely manual and the poor delivery man seemed to struggle for what seemed hours, but in reality was only 20 minutes. This was due mainly to the position in our kitchen and the fact that the water and waste pipe had to be extended. The pipes that come as standard are no longer than 50cm so buyers will experience this problem on a regular basis I would imagine unless the dishwasher is positioned next to the sink.

Once it has been installed I was very happy with my silver dishwasher, it looked lovely even though bigger than my washing machine. The manufacturers published dimensions for the dishwasher are 81cm high, 60cm wide and 57cm deep. The true size I can only attempt to convey to you here, but trust me, it is large and the swing down door activated by a grip lock does need a large amount of room to be fully opened. In a nutshell, if you have a small or narrow kitchen, this is not for you at all.

In terms of features and capacity the Bosch SGI45E16GB is way ahead of any other dishwasher in its class, not only does it have an energy rating of A which means that it doesn’t use as much electricity as other models we haven’t seen any real difference in our electricity bills which is reassuring and allayed some of my concerns. As far as the programmes go there are a varied selection of washes, heat settings and delay options all of which are very easy to set using the interface panel and LCD display. There is the option of setting it either to half or full load which cuts down on the time taken for a wash and the 3 heat settings depending on how stubborn you think the pots and pans will be to wash. We only use the 40-degree heat setting, as we do not allow any real time between eating, loading the dishwasher and setting it off.

The amount of noise produced by the washer is irritating to be honest and frankly on the loud side in comparison to my washing machine. As the kitchen is not positioned below our bedroom, we use the delay start option so that it is operating while we are in bed so that it works and is noisy overnight and the pots and pans are dry and ready to be unloaded first thing in the morning. The manufacturers specifications state that it produces noise at 54 decibels and this for me would be too loud and a real problem if I had to sit in the room next door and concentrate whilst it was cleaning. Thankfully it has the option to program it to start while we are either asleep or out of the house.

The pots, pans and glasses are all washed by a rotating spray located at the base of the unit and the washer liquid is placed in a small sealed of compartment which is easy to reach and fairly easy to clean out once it becomes full of gunk, and boy does it gunk up quickly. Cleaning is quite simple and a quick wipe down inside once a week is all that is needed.

Inside there are three main baskets. The top basket is primarily used for cups and glasses. It can hold approximately 10-12 mugs and 6 glasses at once and they are all held in place thanks to grooves in the base of the basket. If attempting to wash long stemmed glasses they don’t always fit, but the top basket can be lowered by approximately 10cm to resolve the problem. The second shelf has grooves allowing plates and breakfast bowls to be stood on their sides to save on space. The third basket incorporates a cutlery basket and has rods to keep pots and pans in position when the washer is in action.

As far as the quality of the cleaning is concerned I have never had to manually wash pots and dishes since the dishwasher was installed and there have been no maintenance problems. It has an enormous capacity, cleans brilliantly and isn’t a drain on our electricity which makes this a fantastic luxury item that stops me fretting about having dirty dishes to wash up.

Summary: Not a life saving device but handy to have at home

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