I would never get the dishdrawer. It's a great concept, but doesn't deliver. It doesn't clean very well, is not easy to load, and doesn't hold very much. One drawer holds much less than half of a regular dishwasher. I originally had 2 top-only drawers. Fortunately, the store only had 1 in stock, so I only installed (and paid for) 1. After living with it for quite some time and becoming increasingly frustrated, I reconfigured the space where the missing one was supposed to go and installed a KitchenAid. It cleans great and holds a lot.

I'm an early adopter of the dish drawer and on my third (in 3 houses). They work fine and aren't hard to load once you learn how to do it. They are often installed incorrectly which may account for some people's bad experiences.

I wouldn't mix dishwashers though, unless you have a particular need for small DW loads that can only be accommodated by having one a drawer style.

It will complicate life needlessly. :)

2x Miele.

Family of 6 here - why two dishwashers? One works great, run once a day with occasional second load in evening for pots and pans with a " big meal".

Buy new dishware if capacity is an issue.

I would definitely get 2 dishwashers. I almost did 2 for a family of 4 but couldn't fit it nicely in the new kitchen. Also considered the dish drawer but didn't - too many mixed reviews.

I've been in a kitchen with a dw and dish drawer set up. Busy house with 4 kids. I helped out in the kitchen and it was my first experience with the dish drawers. I didn't find them easy to load but that could simply be a matter of practice. What did strike me is how awfully loud they were. But they weren't new at the time.

I think it really depends on how the house works because with that set up there are 3 places to get things mixed up vs two. Who keeps track of which drawer is clean vs dirty, what goes into the drawers vs the dw etc.

It also depends on the kids in a way as well.

With 2 dws, it's more straight forward, more gets washed and put away at once. Since a Miele will take longer to fill with dirty than a drawer, there will be less putting away in the end.

Also, dds don't have the super best record re repairs. How difficult would that service be?

I ask because just yesterday, I had a Miele service call that was same day and outstanding. It's true that a good deal of that has to do with where you live and there is a lot of product in my area. So I get their factory techs who really know what they are doing and make the extended warranty feel like money well spent.

But that's on newer appliances. My DW is 11 and has never had a service call. Puhtuh, puhtuh (to keep it trouble free).

Looks like two Mieles it is. That's how I was leaning anyway, for all the reasons stated above. I must say, the dishdrawers are a very appealing concept. Maybe they will be all they are cracked up to be by the time I need to replace one of the Mieles. 20 years, right? Right? ;-)

laundryvet, for our family of 7 I always find myself wishing for a second DW! I would just love to be able to end the day with all the dishes done. My kids take their lunches to school in reusable contaners. I also use the DW for our cookware, so that may have something to do with it. I use two Le Creusets most days, plus the usual saute pans, pasta pots, etc. Also, I am a daily green juicer, so there are lots of juicer pieces/parts to wash at the end of the day.
I am so glad to be finished with all this war- rooming! Thank you, Gardenwebbers!

Kiwigem,

Fisher & Paykel DishDrawers have been on the market since 1997 (development began in 1986)... already nearly 20 years. They've had three major revisions in mechanical design and several minor revisions. Current models are the 7th generation. Also introduction of the TallTub models in 2008 and 36" wide model in 2010.

To be sure, they are not suitable for every household or usage situation ... but of course neither are they as horrible as is sometimes claimed. There is a learning curve on loading but current models have much more versatile racking than early units (height-adjustable shelves, tines that fold down and even adjust for spacing).

My unit is 11 years old, no repairs. I routinely run baked-on casseroles without scraping to perfect results. Couple days ago I ran a 13"x9" aluminum cake pan face-down, it was flipped up vertical by the strong spray.

Regards to capacity, all this fit in one drawer --

Loaded.

That's great input, dadoes. Thanks!! I am always so blown away when people take the time to include photos. Thanks so much!

I loved the concept of the dish drawers and hated the execution. So while I'd still prefer not to have to bend down to load my [regular] Bosch, I'm glad to have a dishwasher that holds so much more (much more than twice the capacity of the dish drawers), cleans so much better, and is so much quieter. Maybe the newer ones are better (mine was installed in 2006). Good choice on the Mieles I think.

My vote was 2 Mieles, but you've already made your decision. Congrats on a decision made!

For all those who want a direct comparison of the DishDrawer and KitchenAid:

It's not that the DishDrawers are hard to load or that there's a
"learning curve". They are just very INCONVENIENT to load, unless you are in the habit of leaving all your dirty dishes out on the counter until you have enough to completely fill the dishwasher in one go. Otherwise, you will be constantly taking dishes out to rearrange them as you put new ones in, due to the fold-down racks (you can't access underneath those racks unless you take out what's on them so you can fold them back up, then put the dirty dishes back in after you fold them back down).

Here is a shot of the "cleaned" dishes after I ran the DishDrawer. Notice the tomato sauce in the plastic container (which was essentially baked on by the dishwasher):

{{gwi:2134087}}

Here's a closeup of a "cleaned" cereal bowl, that has dried bits of cereal on it:

{{gwi:2134088}}

Here's the inside of a "cleaned" tea mug:

{{gwi:2134089}}

And here's a "cleaned" glass bowl that had (and still has) olive oil in it:

{{gwi:2134090}}

Now for the winning shot. I put all those supposedly "cleaned" dishes in my regular KitchenAid dishwasher and ran it through a cycle. I really had doubts that the tomato sauce container would come clean. But as you can see, every dish came out sparkling.

{{gwi:2134091}}

The little glass bowl is so clean, you can barely see it on the rack. I used the same detergent in both dishwashers, and did not soak any of the dishes before washing them.

Catbuilder, you are making some obvious loading mistakes. I can't see what's going on under the tomato-stained container. The mug and small bowl with olive bits, of course, can't receive water spray as blocked by the items you have under the shelves. You'd do better to place the mugs under the side shelves and the round plastic bowl and rectangular container on the shelves. Water can spray up from around/between the smaller mugs better than through the larger bowl and container.

I don't have cleaning failures as you show ... but then, I load properly.

A dishdrawer won't get things cleaner than a Miele or be as quiet--but it's really not fair to load it like that for a comparison!

There's a picture of almost exactly that in my manual with a big X through it. =D

Well,l that's one of my points. You can't really use the top racks, because everything on them is blocked by the things underneath. Neither the round bowl nor the rectangular container would fit on the top rack. And even if they did, they would be blocked by the things below. Now, to clarify, there was absolutely nothing underneath the tomato sauce container, the blue mug, or the cereal bowl. The rectangular plastic container was on the bottom, directly in the line of the spray. It came out coated with oil. So why are these things not clean?
It looks like Dadoes rinses everything before loading, and actually has a plate resting on top of a bowl. Those dishes loaded that way in my F-P would not get clean.

Those dishes loaded that way in my F-P would not get clean.

Mine either (the one I used to have and am glad I no longer have)

how about a regular miele and then a commercial high speed miele? the commercial has a fast cycle (when hooked to 240v. it would be more than enough capacity and quick turnaround

never been a fan of dish drawers

I do not pre-rinse anything. Scrape to a degree, yes ... usually.

Example of microwave oatmeal (with raspberry jam) boilover (this picture dates to July 2011, taken to make a point to someone on another discussion board).

my oatmeal bowls looked more like catbuilder's even when on the bottom rack, facing in the right direction, not blocking the spray arm, and not overcrowded. dadoes, I'm glad you like yours - I think they're phenomenal ergonomically-speaking, but it would take a LOT to persuade me to get them again (vs. the Bosch I have now, which is much quieter, cleans much better, holds much more and I don't have to be nearly as particular about how I load it)

As I stated above, DishDrawers do not fit every usage situation.

However, when I can routinely get perfect cleaning results and other people don't ... who is doing something wrong?

I'll post a pic next time I have a heavy-soiled dish from baked chicken, if I remember.

when I can routinely get perfect cleaning results and other people don't ... who is doing something wrong

I'm sure we are doing something wrong, but that's the point for me at least, I don't want to have to design the Empire State Building every time I load the dishwasher. In my current Bosch, I can put anything anywhere and it all gets clean.

No problems with our dish drawers here either, dishes super clean. Easy to load, will never go back to a regular dishwasher.

I know a large household that has *three* dishwashers - a Miele, a F&P double drawer, and a F&P single tall drawer. Some frequently-used kitchenware simply gets shutlled between the three F&P drawers, never needing to be unloaded and put back into the cabinets - instead she just sets the table using dishware from whichever F&P drawer cleaned them last. Overflow items, specialty items, cookware, and anything else gets washed in the Miele. It's a very convenient setup.

I would go with the Miele and double-Dishdrawer setup for max versatility. I think F&P's rack layout is superb - very flexible with much of the rack configtured to hold either glasses or plates equally well, and with enough height in the deep top drawer to stack full-height glasses double-decker (whereas in most dishwashers the fold-down cup shelves can only hold, well, cups or short glasses). There are four of these folding cup/glass shelves, two each on the left and right, and all four are height-adjustable so they'll fit your glasses perfectly. The space between the rows of tines can be adjusted to fit either flat plates or thicker bowls, another good design.

I'd spring for one of the higher-end Mieles if you can afford it (not easy I know) for their more versatile bottom rack which again is equally adept at holding plates, bowls, or glassware/stemware - so much better than the usual inflexible grid of pegs that most dishwashers have for a bottom rack. (I'm looking at you, KitchenAid).

Why bother with kitchen cabinets at all? Just install dishwashers LOL