Energy and... the dishwasher

I asked myself, as I was unloading the dishwasher, "Who invented this thing??", and "Since I'm not going to go back to sink washing with a drying rack, can energy be saved with this thing?"

Answering the latter question is easy a little: wash full loads whenever possible; to save money (not necessarily energy) wash during off-peak hours. Now this might save a little energy because bringing peak generators online generally uses a bit more energy.

Here's a couple more links on that:

6 Energy Saving Tips for the Dishwasher

Dishwashers

Dishwashers (Energy Star)

As for that question "Who invented the [machine] dishwasher?", I found a fascinating site that I haven't even read all of yet:

Chemistry in the Cupboard: Finish which provides everything you would EVER want to know about dishwashing.

And it told me that Josephine Cochrane invented the first machine dishwasher in 1893, because her servants keep chipping her fine china. After I found that, I sort of vaguely remembered that story, but I don't know from whence or where.

That's a dose of esoterica for ya.