Biden targets dishwashers in climate crackdown – and Britain could be next

President Joe Biden has announced a climate change crackdown on inefficient dishwashers, and experts say Britain could follow suit.

The American government wants to limit the volume of water used by dishwashers in a bid to slash water use in the country by more than a third.

Under the new rules, models sold from 2027 will have to use a maximum of 3.2 gallons of water per cycle – much less than the current limit of five gallons.

In Britain, the Government has committed to reaching net zero by 2050 with new laws incoming that will ban gas boilers and polluting vehicles, along with rules dictating minimum energy efficiency standards.

Ministers currently plan to force manufacturers to label white goods with their water efficiency in order to weed expensive-to-run machines out of the market.

But campaign groups have warned that such measures may be escalated if not successful – and homes may be banned from installing the water-intensive dishwashers in future.

Andrew Montford, of Net Zero Watch, said regulation of water usage was “already happening” in Britain, but warned that ministers could copy the policy changes in the US.

A two-hour cycle of a dishwasher uses roughly 92p worth of power under the current electricity rates, according to calculations by Citizens Advice.

Nathan Richardson, of charity Waterwise, said dishwashers “at the worst end” were among the most water intensive appliances in the home, adding: “That’s where water labels come in.

“The aim will be that the market will move in the direction of more efficient products.”

He said that changes would “not happen overnight”, but if market-led initiatives did not succeed, rules forcing new-builds or retrofits to install certain models of dishwashers could be considered.

Paul Hide, of trade body the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances, urged the Government to consider incentives to encourage builders and households to purchase the most efficient appliances to help the nation achieve net zero targets.

He said: “Our industry promotes the use of economy settings on washing machines and dishwashers to get the most efficient performance from their machines.”