Without specific/anal details....yes.

Most have available "short cycle" or equiv....still more than an hour. All "normal" cycles are now longer than your, perhaps, previous experience. 2 - 2 1/2 hours is quite normal these days. Your machine likely has a little light that indicates "sensing"...meaning your machine is deciding for itself exactly how long it will run. Your input not solicited.

Motivation is 1) reducing water use and water-heating use via using less water and 2) encouraging you to run fuller loads and run overnight when gas and electric grids have lower demand. They want you to save it up all day and turn it on before you go to bed....so you won't care how long it takes.

PS: Yup...new paradigm...and there's more coming. Wait just a couple of years.

Not all, but many do have cycles that runupwards of two hours.. Some run close to three hours. Some (like my 2 year old Bosch 500 series) run roughly 1 hour and 30 to 40 minutes (there is a turbidity sensor that can set its cylce time longer or shorter.) . The "short" cycle runs 30 minutes but does not do much to dry the dishes.

Yes, you can do a load of dishes in the same time as a load of laundry. Technology, it must be better. Oh how I miss the eighties ;).

All kidding aside. I have no idea what's better or worse but miss the 30 minute wash cycles on both dishes and clothes.

JWVideo- I also have a 2 yr old Bosch 500 series- and my cycles are always right around 140 minutes! Is there a setting I can change to shorten it up a bit? I set it on auto and sanitary. Without the sanitary setting it's even longer

Is this the result of some new government regulation to save the planet? Sure, they may use less water, but they using more electricity by running longer. Plus the electronics are destined to fail sooner, resulting in more dishwashers in the landfill.
The DW in my rental is a 10 year old Hotpoint with the manual dial. Loud as heck but gets the job done in under 45 minutes. I thought I'd never miss it when we move out, but now I am reconsidering that I see what the options are for new appliances.

but they using more electricity by running longer. This is a common misconception. One reason these new units have to run longer is they have smaller pumps, spraying water with less volume and force (which is also a contributing factor to running *quieter*). Smaller pump motors = less electric current draw.

More or less, yes. But I couldn't care less as I turn it on before we go to bed. Also, there are short cycles on many of the machines.

The energy consumption is less with no heated drying and so is the water usage. This is seen as responsible -- consider the drought in the west.

I personally hated the loud 80s GE we had. All those dishwashers overheated everything. Couldn't wait to get rid of it. Even my 10 y.o. Miele puts those to shame performance wise.

Our Miele runs about 140 min for regular cycle.

I find they are really gentle on dishes and glassware.

My understanding is that the long dishwasher cycle times have to do with getting an energy-star rating. The long cycles mean that the energy use/hr is lower.

"Do all dishwashers run for two hours now?"

Nope. But you have to be willing to pay for it. We splurged and installed a Miele Professional when we did a whole house remodel. The "ProSpeed" cycle clocks in at under 20 minutes, the "Universal" (Normal) at around 42 minutes and "Pots/Pans" under an hour.

This machine is ideal for people who have to process a lot of dishware( we do) and want clean "the first time" dishes. The machine also has a sanitize cycle thats heats the final rinse water to 185 degrees to meet NSF guidelines for restaurant/commercial sanitation. We use that cycle when we include the dog's dish in with our wash load.

One option is to go to used appliance stores and get a refurbished old generation one. We have a few such places in our local communities. The old dishwashers were easy to service unless rust or broken racks or interiors happened. Pumps, seals and timers were all replaceable. I know because I was a poor do-it -yourselfer. Back then repair part stores were also common. Not now, but shops have access to the parts or aftermarket equivalents, I'm sure.

Our new house came with a 70's or 80's era dishwasher. Loud as heck, doesn't clean very well, but at least it's done in 1/2 hour. The door has no counter balance and will take your knees off if you're not careful. Best thing is it has 3 party modes.

Our bosch runs 2 hours and 41 min. for the auto wash with sanitize. It is not actually "running" all that time. Much of that time is condensation drying.

Our Bosch 800Plus model shows 2hrs/36min on the screen when I begin an "Auto" cycle. Sometimes it adjusts itself (that turbidity sensor) and finishes up in less time; just depends on the load. That includes "drying" time.

I ran the Express cycle and it had 1hr/00min on the screen when it began. I think it took that long, too.

Thanks for this post. I have a Kitchen Aid, very quiet, very efficient, but runs long! Also, my new Kitchen Aid oven takes forever to shut off! The fan just keeps on going. I don't get any reason for that. What is it saving? Cooking is done!!

Suzi

desertdance - it's saving you from a costly repair :-). It's the cooling fan that runs after you shut off the oven - it's keeping the electronics from overheating.

illinigirl --
"...my cycles are always right around 140 minutes! Is there a setting I can change to shorten it up a bit?"

I have never changed any settings on my SHE55M12UC and the manual says that normal cycle times should run 105 to 120 minutes if your incoming water is at 120F

The first thing I would check would be the incoming water temperature. There's a generic energy saving rule of thumb to run your water heater at 120F (generally, the lowest setting.) But, if the water heater is any distance from the DW, the incoming temp might be significantly lower. When you get long cycle times, the manual suggests:

"If . . . the run time seems exceptionally long, it may be due to cold incoming water. Before starting the dishwasher, open the hot water faucet at the sink nearest the dishwasher. run the water until it runs hot, then turn off the water and start the dishwasher."

In my house, the water heater is the basement beneath the kitchen, maybe 8 feet from the the DW, The hot water is very hot, especially in wintertime (when I'm also feeding a radiant heating system and trying to keep up with the weeks of subzero weather we get here), That very hot water is probably responsible for the sub 100-minute cycle times I sometimes see.

From reading my owner's manual, I can see three other possible culprits for your long cycle times.

First, there is the "Extra Dry Heat" function. (Some Bosch models have it, some do not.) The manual says: "With this option you can raise the temperature of the rinse water and increase the drying time which will result in improved drying." But that seems to add at least 10 minutes to the cycle time. Here are the steps given in my owner's manual for enabling and disabling this feature.

"Press and hold the left âÂÂCancel Drainâ button, then press and hold the on/off button. When the LED display shows a âÂÂ00â or a âÂÂ01â release both buttons. To enable the additional Drying Heat, press the left âÂÂCancel Drainâ button until the LED display shows a âÂÂ01âÂÂ. To disable the additional Drying Heat, press the left âÂÂCancel Drainâ button until the LED display shows a âÂÂ00âÂÂ. Press the on/off button to save the setting"

THe second thing that can add cyle time (again, adding 10 minutes or so) is activating the ECO option.

The only other thing I can think of that might add to cycle time is the so-called "OPTIDRYâ¢" function, This senses when the rinse agent level is low and automatically increases the drying time to copensate. If your rinse-aid levels are good, then I suppose it is possible that you might have a faulty Optidry sensor.

Or, maybe your BOsch DW's manual says you are supposed to have 140 minute cycle times?

This post was edited by JWVideo on Tue, Mar 25, 14 at 14:08

Here's something I don't understand on my new Miele: Every time I press "on" and before I press "start," the time display reads a slightly different time. Hmm. Is it watching to see what we put in there? I wonder what else it sees?

fogbound
The Miele remembers the last few washes and shows an average time of completion for the cycle you selected. This is why it can change by a few minutes.

@desertdance - weissman is right about that fan cooling the electronics panel. I leave my oven door open to help it cool off faster, so that we don't have to listen to that fan. Argh!