Dishwashers are a luxury item that some people can’t live without. This is one of the first major kitchen appliances that I bought as soon as I could afford it. And now that the kids have grown up, I thought this is the tool I will miss the most in my nomadic forest life activities.
Loach sent me its $459.99 / €459.99 countertop capsule dishwasher to review in a tiny house on a remote beach and inside a van on a two-month road trip. This is an excellent product that washes and dries two spots in just 20 minutes at bacteria-killing temperatures of up to 75 degrees Celsius (167F). It will also kill bacteria and neutralize viruses on your gadgets with a waterless blast of UV-C light. Huzzah!
What I learned during this review has less to do with the device’s limitations and more to do with my own. Turns out I’m willing to make a lot of recipes by hand when faced with a lack of resources, whether it’s space, energy, water, time, or money; And I’m not ready to be anti-germ, despite claims that cell phones are 10 times dirtier than toilet seats.
Good
- Cleans and dries in about 20 minutes
- Looks good on the countertop
- Fits some larger pans
- Sanitizes phone and washes fruit
- no plumbing required
bad
- loud
- expensive
- niche product
In my opinion, the Loach Capsule looks clean and minimalistic on the kitchen counter. And while the exterior is plastic, unlike most countertop dishwashers, the tub is made of stainless steel. This differential improves drying speed, durability and hygiene while helping to keep odor under control.
The unit is tall and deep enough to accommodate large dinner plates and pans that typically don’t fit inside a small and sturdy countertop machine. It measures 46.5 x 26.2 x 51.5 cm (18.3 x 10.3 x 20.3 in) giving it a narrow footprint and an internal volume of approximately 30 litres. The integrated handle makes carrying the 12 kg (26.4 lb) dishwasher relatively easy.
If you’re cooking all your meals at home you’ll probably only need to run it once per day for a one-person household, or twice for two, based on my experience. It comes with an external clean water tank, so it can be used anywhere you have access to electricity and water.2O. No plumbing is required, but there is a hook-up available if you get tired refilling the tank.
It’s pretty straightforward to set up. In most scenarios, you’ll plug into the wall for power, install and fill the fresh water tank, and run another hose from the dishwasher to the sink for waste water disposal. In my van, where I had limited space for the capsule, I had to install it in my “garage” attached to the optional waste water tank because the 1.2 m/3.94 ft hose was too short to reach my sink.
The bright white display is covered with capacitive buttons that respond to touch even when my fingers are wet. The look is warm and friendly, but like most countertop dishwashers, operation is strenuous, you have to consider this for an appliance used in small spaces. I measured a maximum of 56dB with a meter. This is much louder than my own built dishwasher, which operates at 38dB. As the water moves and the pump moves, the intensity of the sound also changes. In other words, it won’t double as a white noise machine while you sleep, if that’s what you’re hoping for.
The capsule can also wash gadgets and fruits. About seven apples fit in the basket, which takes eight minutes to wash, or 12 minutes total if you add UV cleaning. The waterless UV mode can be used to kill surface bacteria on baby bottles and personal devices like phones and earbuds using medical-grade UV-C light.
Loading recipes into capsules can feel like an expert-level game tetris. The first time I tried, it took me about five minutes to load 18 items into that small cavity. Now this takes about a minute or two, while filling and emptying the clean and dirty water containers takes a few more minutes. An optional $19 “dual tray” shelf can be placed below to make room for a larger utensil, or on top where it can fill any available empty space for washing silverware or other small, flat items.
There are multiple cleaning modes available, from a 15-minute food wash to a 152-minute deep clean. I found the 15-minute mode worked so well that I didn’t need to resort to longer cycles, as long as I didn’t burn anything or waited until the next day to wash.
To test, I loaded the capsule with all the mess two people produce over breakfast and lunch, including two 10.5-inch plates covered in bacon grease, silverware covered in peanut butter, a milky yogurt bowl, espresso cups, a juice glass, a chef’s knife, tongs, and a sports bottle. And while the diameter of my 12-inch pan fits inside the capsule, its handle doesn’t live up to its claimed elasticity, so I had to wash it by hand. (My 10 inch pan with 8 inch handle Now! Fits, but the angle doesn’t leave room for more.)
On par with my much larger built-in machine, everything came out clean, warm to the touch and mostly dry in the 15-minute meal wash mode. I was impressed. The cycle used 2.5 liters (0.66 gallons) of water and consumed between 220Wh and 300Wh in my repeated tests, with power usage reaching around 900W. The 15 minute wash cycle actually takes 20 to 25 minutes to complete. The most intensive wash mode lasted 2 hours and 28 minutes, and consumed 420Wh and about 4 liters of water.
My average daily energy use has increased by 33.3 percent and water consumption has increased by 100 percent. I can’t justify it.
For comparison, when I was applying my hippie-approved vanlife dishwashing technique to similar utensils with the same amount of dirt, I was able to wash and dry everything — including a 12-inch pan — in just six minutes with one liter of water and zero electricity consumption. This approach involves wiping everything down with used paper towels or discarded food packaging, filling a bowl with unheated tap water, dipping in a soapy sponge, and getting to work. Keep in mind, vanlife is less sanitized than regular life, but we’re not dead yet.
If I installed the Loach Capsule in my van I would have to run the 15 minute mode twice each day to clean all the utensils my wife and I commonly use. That’s about 500Wh and 5 liters of water per day – a 33.3 percent increase in my average daily energy use and a 100 percent increase in water consumption. I can’t justify it. This dishwasher is for rigs carrying a lot more water and battery power than mine, or for anyone willing to dock at a serviced campsite frequently.
1/11
Importantly, vanlifers do not typically travel with full-sized pots and pans. Therefore, a more compact countertop dishwasher from companies like Comfy or Farberware that costs around $300 or less may be a better choice. Loach sells a Capsule Solo without UV material and plumbing hookups for $399.99. Otherwise it is the same dishwasher and is currently on sale for $339.99.
Inside a tiny house I still find it hard to justify the Capsule’s $459.99 price tag, even at a selling price of $390.99, despite the surf shack’s ample supply of hot water and electricity. For one or two people, it’s much faster to wash the dishes myself and I don’t have to waste any precious space above or under the counter. And all this hand washing gives me very little use of the UV blaster which kills bacteria that pose no real threat anyway.
To justify purchasing the Loch Capsule Dishwasher you, and at most one other member of the household, must really hate washing dishes, have ready access to water and electricity, and have almost no space, but still use large pans and pots. It’s a niche, but the Loch Capsule Dishwasher fills it admirably.
The Loch Capsule is an excellent countertop dishwasher with minor flaws – it’s just not for me.
Photography by Thomas Ricker/The Verge
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