Is a dishwasher cheaper than handwashing?
If you wash by hand, we estimate you'll use around 30 litres of hot water (two sinks full) to wash the same pile of dishes that fit into a dishwasher. That costs about 30 cents. If you rinse your dishes with hot water (before or after) the cost rises.
The standard-sized dishwashers in our test database cost between 16 cents and 44 cents per cycle (based on a normal or auto cycle). It'll cost less if you use an economy cycle (although you might have to give some of the dishes a quick dry yourself).