Miele Dishwasher decibel level

[dpastor]

I am very concerned with getting a quiet dishwasher. I am deciding between a Bosch and a Miele. Don't want to pay more than $1500 - so will not consider top of the line Mieles. Bosch lists the decibel level, so I can compare to other brands. But Miele has their own acoustic "rating" which seems quasi meaningless when comparing against non-Miele brands. How can I get the decibel level of Miele dishwashers?

[cassoulady]

We have a Miele- I think it is about ten years old. It is SO Quiet. when guests come over they never think it is running. I often open it while it is still running because I think it finished. Also the flatware rack gets thins much cleaner than the baskets, IMO.

[Katwel]

I have a Miele from 2001, it was before the new silverware tray was placed on top............. I have an open kitchen dinning room and most of the time I have to check that I did actually turn on the dishwasher........the only real sound I do hear is in the beginning when it drains for a minute, but the wash and rinse cycle is very quiet......I think I only pay 899 then. Also its water saver feature was the real reason I purchased it.

[nporcello]

Here are the dba levels for Miele.
Q1 (Inspira) around 55 dBa
Q2 (Diamente Plus) around 50 dBa
Q3 (Optima) around 44-45 dBa
Q4 (Excella) around 40-41 dBa
Q5 (LaPerle) around 39-40 dBa

Enjoy,
Nick

[liu]

This is good information, nporcello, but in real life, noise is relative. Is the baby sleeping next to the dishwasher?

We have an almost 3-year old Optima and noise has never been an issue. At the very end of the cycle, we can hear the dryer for less than a minute -- if we are in the kitchen. Otherwise, from anywhere else in the house we would not know if the dishwasher is running or not.

Proper installation is crucial. If the dishwasher is not balanced upon installation or otherwise not installed correctly -- and this is probably a non-issue with Miele -- then, of course, the dishwasher will let you know. We just don't think about our Miele...and that is a good thing!

[fauchon]

Hi Liu! Sounds like your happy w your Miele! I was so pleased I got the washer & dryer, too. Equally excellent!

[liu]

Hi to you, fauchon!

Yes, I remember your old posts! You probably had some serious influence on our purchase of a Miele product.

Miele washer and dryer...I am so glad to hear your report about those, too. We tossed a couple-year-old Sears Kenmore Elite clothes washer; I was appalled when I opened it to see the inside clips rusting after just a short time. It was in constant repair, despite the Consumer Reports rave reviews, and we just got tired of worrying about it. Also, we had multiple problems with Sears service.

As I posted above, I think one should not have to think about their appliances so much!

[fauchon]

Hey Liu! I agree. The problem is there are too many brands & not enough good ones. If I can answer any questions, let me know....

[liu]

Why, thanks, fauchon!
Our washer and dryer are still pretty new -- actually, it never occurred to me to look at Miele for those. When they need replacing, I'll be in touch with you with my questions and see how your machines are holding up.

[Mother of four]

Boy, do I ever agree with Sears service!! AWFUL!!!! After my last service call, for a washer that was less then 6 months old, I swore that I would never buy another Sears appliance!!! That was when I bought the Miele dishwasher!

[liu]

Mother of four, my experience parallels yours; it was terrible Sears service with our Sears clothes washer that had me looking elsewhere for a dishwasher when we needed to replace our 20-year-old KitchenAid. To date, we are enjoying the Miele dishwasher.

When did you purchase yours? Which model do you have? Are you happy with it?

[FiT_girl]

Liu - I was just reading your post from 2006 about trying to decide what dishwasher to buy - and here I realize you went with a Miele. It would awesome if you did a followup post to your other question, so that others can see what you finally ended up buying and your results. I am currently also trying to figure out what dishwasher to buy and that thread had a lot of good info, but knowing you went with a Miele and are happy with it kind of confirms for me what my decision will be.

I assume you had no problem with the condensation drying that Miele uses? I'm assuming this will save me lots of energy as the heating element is really what uses the most electricity. I currently have a Kenmore by Whirlpool and it works OK (some gritty dishes/glasses every so often) but I alway open up the dishwasher after the wash to air dry the dishes

I'd love to hear from you,
Cheers

[liu]

Hello, FiT girl!
I am not sure what you mean by doing "...a followup post to your other question." Still, I will be glad to supply you with the details of my Miele dishwasher purchase.

In '06 we purchased a Miele Optima. We shopped all the other brands, but Miele appeared to have the best drying feature over some of its competitors. We selected this model because it had an electronic time readout; I wanted to be able to know how much time remained on the cycle.

Almost four years later, we are still quite happy with this appliance. Initially, we had to play with a few of the variables to get it set up for our water hardness. We have a salt option which we might not have to use, but we do use it. I also use Jet Dry. Occasionally, there might be some moisture remaining at the end of the cycle on some of the plastic wares; this is easily "corrected" by partially opening the door when the dishwasher is done and letting the dishes sit for just a few moments. I think you said you do this. Otherwise, we have had no concerns with the drying or washing powers of this machine.

Having spoken with other brand owners, I still think Miele is one of the better choices.

[RGC1982]

I can tell you that my Bosch is so quiet that you need to touch it most of the time to see if it is working.

[JAbraham]

I also hate noise. When we renovated the kitchen and put the Bosch in I'd sometimes storm into the kitchen to yell at the dishwasher for making so much noise, only to find out that the noise was coming from the refrigerator! So it is very quiet. I also regularly touch the dishwasher to see if it is actually running. The "on" light on the front illuminates if someone puts it on time delay, so if the "on" light is on it could be running, or it could be just waiting to run. If I get very close and there is no backgound noise in the house I can sometimes hear the water swishing around, but it's easier just to touch it to see if it's vibrating.

So you should be happy with a good Bosch, just make sure you get a good one. I think they are making cheaper ones now that might not be as quiet.

All that being said, I've been told (by a salesman at the appliance store) that the Miele's are even quieter.

Spending more money on a dishwasher is about the best investment you can make, IMHO. Buy the best, you won't regret it. We got a slightly cheaper "Asko" for our vacation home, it is not as quiet as the Bosch at home. Good thing we don't use it as often.

[liu]

Regarding your comment about "the Miele's are even quieter," they do rate their dishwashers on their own acoustics scale of "Q-1" through "Q-5" (Q=Quiet) in their complete Miele dishwasher appliance booklet. The most basic model receives a "Q-1" rating while the higher-end models are rated a "Q-5" because they have more insulation.

I completely agree with your comment about spending a little more on a dishwasher. Indeed, it is well-worthwhile over the many years of service your appliance will offer.

[dpastor]

Thanks for all the responses, I am wavering between a bosch she58 for $999 or she68 for $1200 or a Miele Inspira II G2142 for $1200 (I think this does not include installation). Miele owners all sound so happy, it is tempting to pay up - really wish I could compare decibel levels particularly as only the lowest level Miele is in my range, I think there is one other about $200 cheaper, but the rest are higher.
BTW, beware of "listening" to in-store models, I bought one a Sears (kenmore) for my vacation house that was touted as "quiet as a bosch" had low decibel levels and sounded very quiet in the store. Not quite as quiet at home, especially part way through the cycle. I don't mind, and I got a good price, but it is not as quiet as the Bosch that replaced it.

[Mother of four]

Miele Inspira !!! That's the one I have. If you even have to pay a few more dollars for installation, go for it! It is a fabulous product!! I don't know what the decibel level is, but it is QUIET!!!! We also have the vacuum... love it too! Honestly my DIL has the Bosch, and she hates it; I do too!!

[fauchon]

Ditto ditto & ditto!!! Miele is the best. My first dw lasted about 25 yrs...problem free, dead silent, dishes & flatware sparkled...replaced it finally a few years ago & #2 dw is even better than #1. The third flatware drawer which I believe was first introduced by Miele is genius. I've since branched out to Miele vacs & washer/drier....I'm a total convert now & won't buy any other brand. $$$$ but so worth it...nothing comes close...& service -- if you ever need it --is fantastic. They come when they say they will & they fix it first time! can't beat it....

[FlyFish]

We've had our Miele for about 4 years. It is the best appliance of any kind we've ever owned, and that includes three houses - the last two with complete kitchen renovations including top-of-the-line appliances. Quiet (essentially silent except for gurgling from the sink when it drains), trouble-free, and does a fantastic job of cleaning whatever we put in it. Simply fantastic, and I would never consider owning anything else, no matter what the cost. My only regret is that I didn't install two of them.

[Mother of four]

We have a Miele that we purchased about three months ago, and love it. It is very quite, and does a wonderful job of washing everything. As someone mentioned before, do get the third shelf for cutlery. It is wonderful, and is so easy to unload into the drawer. Our Miele is the bottom of the line and cost $1300 including the installation. I did not get good reports on the Bosch when I was researching dishwashers. My daughter in law has one, and it does not seem to hold very much, plus there seem to be other issues with it.

[SundaySauce]

Miele does use a proprietary rating system but don't be thrown off by it.
They make great products, can't shake a stick at German engineering, but if you are basing your decision on the quietness, you can find other dishwashers that are akin to it at a fraction of the price. Alot of people here mentioned Bosch - they make solid dishwashers but you have to at least buy the 500-series. As I am typing this my Bosch is running...I can hear it, but it's certainly not loud. The noise is actually somewhat soothing (!). My mom has a Miele, I believe it's an Excella, and you literally cannot hear it. This can be something of a nuisance if you don't have a visible control panel b/c I know of many people who have complained about opening them up during the cycle.
If you must have a Miele you won't find a new one discounted b/c they have a UMRP policy, but you can find great buys as appliance dealers clear out floor models for new models. My dealership just had a bunch of Miele's go on clearance and they were scooped ASAP. I believe there is one left, in the La Perla series.
If you are going to look at other brands take a look at Kitchen Aid Architect - KUDS03 if you want a stainless front.

jonathan
My Blog - www.appliancefetish.com
My business - www.curtos.com

[baloo]

I've had my miele for about a year and a half and it is virtually silent (the only sound I ever hear is a little bit of water gurgling when it first starts, but really, it's nothing). I don't recall the model number we have, but it does have the third shelf for cutlery, which I heartily recommend, as it makes it so much easier to load silverware and it gets so clean. It's a great machine. I have had many dishwashers, most of them bad, but this miele is great and worth every penny.

As for the decibel levels, I seem to recall that when I was researching dishwashers (also deciding between bosch and miele) I found something online somewhere showing that the mieles were a slight bit quieter, so if you google it you can probably find something. Also, check out the home appliance board on gardenweb.com. Those people know a lot about appliances.

[lergnom]

I'd suggest going to a store that has them plumbed in and listening. They can be very, very quiet. Miele has some factory showrooms scattered about and maybe if you call Miele they can direct you to a dealer that has models actually connected.

[Robin Joy]

We have a Bosch in our London shoebox, an OKO (a moderately up market make, also German) in our main home and we spend 1 month a year housesitting for friends who have a Miele, and my short answer would be to go down the Miele route. Apart from anything else it's a very well engineered product, and our Miele washing (laundry) machine has performed perfectly for over 20 years.
The only issue with the Miele dishwasher is that it has a fan driven drying system which vents through the door, and when the door is opened a small puddle of residual water from this forms on the floor. It's a few years old, so maybe newer models have addressed this?
In the UK way under $1500 would get you all but the really top Mieles.

Edit: On subject: The Miele is easily the quietest, but I'm sure position in product range matters quite a bit.

[embee]

That seems a much smaller price differential than in Canada. Our high end Bosch cost in excess of $1,000 less than the cheapest Miele -it was well under $1000.

Only the most expensive Miele models (at least in Canada) seem to have the most useful features (e.g., the third shelf for cutlery).

The washing performance of both brands is great - much better than any of the GE (high end), GE (lower end), Maytag, Kenmore, and Westinghouse machines I've owned before.

When loaded carefully, Bosch and Miele are both virtually silent. Standing directly at the machine, the Miele is a bit quieter. We didn't find the difference great enough to to be worth so much more.

[Robin Joy]

That sounds incredibly expensive! In London Peter Jones is the "go to" department store for Mercedes driving housewives and they stock nothing over £700 (U$980) which is a Maytag. Their top Miele G1222SC is £600 (U$840) which is the same as their top Bosch SMS69L02GB. This is from their website, they may of course carry higher models instore.

I'm sure you could go mad and find pricer machinery, but the above would be the top end of what even wealthy people would expect to have to pay for a DW.

[embee]

I'm a bit hazy right now, but I think our Bosch cost about $600 CAN while the cheapest Miele, which lacked some useful features, cost at least $1100 more. Miele prices topped out at almost $4000 CAN. Much to our surprise, this Bosch model was made in the US.

The currency fluctuations make price comparisons difficult -$1 CAN was worth about $1 US for much of 2008, but only about $0.75 US as of today.

[BoardSMITH]

The Bosch dishwashers are made in New Bern, NC and have been for many years. Bosch converted part of the power tool manufacturing plant to making appliances and they now make several there.

I have had mine for over 7 years and am happy with the quietness and ease of operating. (Mine doesn't have any beeps at the end of cycles.) I would buy another one in a moment if I needed to. But it looks as though it will last much longer than any of the others I have had, Whirlpool, Maytag and others.

[lergnom]

I have a Bosch dishwasher and I like it - very quiet except of course for the pump sounds. Because the heating element is hidden, we can put plastic anywhere inside and the capacity is very good.

Only issue: after warranty expired, the dishwasher developed a problem. I researched it on the net and found the problem was a burnt out weld that I could solder myself.

I currently have all Bosch appliances and the cooktop has needed a couple of repairs - btw, if it keeps sparking, odds are good a tiny plastic control on the knob has broken.

The oven is a problem and is why I have a problem recommending Bosch at all: it's only several years old but Bosch is no longer making parts for it and now has redesigned their ovens so they require a larger cutout. They told us this only after months of waiting for a part and, while they've offered a deal on a replacement, if we can fit one in the space the cost of reconfiguring everything (including moving the gas pipe for the cooktop because the back of the new oven is so much bigger) will eat up the savings. Like I said the oven is 5, maybe 6 years old and they aren't making parts for it, which I find troubling. So we're in the position of having an oven that works on some settings but not others or spending thousands.

[embee]

We have a Bosch. It is very quiet - almost silent if loaded properly. It does a great job washing dishes, though there are issues with drying if you run multiple loads in succession.

When we bought ours (early last year), all Bosch machines - whatever the price - had the same washing mechanism and performed similarly. There is one noise consideration - loud multiple beeps at the end of the cycle that repeat regularly until silenced. This signal can be turned off entirely, but doing so can create other small annoyances.

We have ergonomic problems with our machine that don't apply to most other Bosch models. The litany is at http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/476720

In short, it is a great dishwasher and extremely quiet while running. Highly recommended, but be sure the ergonomics of any model you consider will work for you.

Miele machines are great and are equally quiet - possibly even quieter. We didn't feel the difference was sufficient to justify the extremely high price premium.