What makes a dishwasher compact?

ENERGY STAR defines the class by capacity: a compact-capacity dishwasher holds fewer than eight place settings and six serving pieces, while a standard-capacity model holds more. In practice the compact class is the 18-inch-wide undercounter machine rather than the 24-inch one.

Will an 18-inch dishwasher fit a 24-inch opening?

Only with cabinetry work. The machine is narrower than the opening, so the gap has to be filled with a cabinet, a filler panel or a pull-out, and the drain, hot-water supply and circuit have to reach the machine's new position. The reverse — a 24-inch machine in an 18-inch opening — does not work at all.

Does a compact dishwasher use less energy?

Not necessarily. ENERGY STAR notes that a compact model can use more energy over its lifetime than a standard-size one, because the smaller capacity means more cycles for the same dishes. If the cabinet space allows either, compare the yellow EnergyGuide figures rather than assuming the smaller machine is cheaper to run.

Do you deliver and install compact dishwashers?

We deliver from our Jackson, NJ warehouse. Delivery is free at $499 and above in the NJ/NY metro area, at $899 and above in the extended regional zone (CT, PA, DE, MD and the NY capital region) and at $1,999 and above nationwide, with a $199 flat rate below the national threshold. Enter your ZIP code at checkout for the rate that applies to your address; a few destinations we cannot reach are refused rather than quoted. Dishwasher Installation is available in the NJ/NY metro area for $199 (Connection to Existing Line Only; No Modifications) and is offered at checkout.

Compact and 18-Inch Dishwashers

Every dishwasher we list whose manufacturer publishes a width of 18.5 inches or less.

23 matching models currently listed · Browse all dishwashers

Compact is a capacity class, and 18 inches is how it shows up in a kitchen

ENERGY STAR splits dishwashers by capacity, not by width: standard-capacity models hold more than eight place settings and six serving pieces, and compact-capacity models hold fewer than that (ENERGY STAR, “Dishwashers”). In North American kitchens that compact class almost always arrives as an 18-inch-wide undercounter machine, against the 24-inch opening a full-size dishwasher needs.

ENERGY STAR also makes a point worth repeating before you choose one on efficiency grounds: because a compact machine holds less, it can use more energy over its lifetime than a standard-size model, since the same dishes take more cycles.

What the cutout has to give you

The difference between the two classes is the width of the opening. Measure the cabinet opening at its narrowest point, and measure it in three places — openings in older kitchens are rarely square. Then compare against the width printed under each card below, which is the manufacturer's published figure for that model, and against the height and depth on the product page.

What an 18-inch machine does not change is where the connections have to be: the drain, the water supply and the electrical service still have to reach the machine. If you are converting a 24-inch opening down to 18 inches you gain a narrow cabinet or a trash pull-out, but the utilities have to end up where the machine sits, and the installation instructions for the model state exactly what it requires.

Place settings, where the maker publishes them

Where the manufacturer's spec sheet states a place-setting count, it is printed under the card and repeated in the spec table on the product page. Many compact models simply do not publish one, and those cards show the width alone — we do not fill the gap with a typical figure. Use the place-setting count when it is there: it is the number ENERGY STAR's own classification is built on, and it describes the machine's usefulness far better than its footprint does.

The list below is every dishwasher in the live catalog whose published width is 18.5 inches or less, in-stock units first.

From the live catalog