Comments about Asko ADA Compliant 4 Program, 5 Temp Dishwasher - D3112 SS / B / W / Q:

Our 25 year old DW had ceased to function and was not worth repairing. Measuring for a replacement, I discovered that our counters were about 1.5" shorter than standard and that the old unit was installed in a hole cut down to the lowest sub-flooring.

I did not want to repeat that install approach, so I needed a DW that could install in a 32.4" height space, to avoid potentially having to unfasten the counters etc. to do the install and then any later servicing. That put me into the realm of ADA DWs and I seemed to have relatively few choices: Summit, GE, Kitchen Aid and Asko. Long story short, only the Asko unit seemed to have have positive reviews. I also had visited a number of solar homes at open houses and had seen the Asko units in use there, so I liked the extreme energy and water efficiency.

So I paid the premium, got the stainless steel Asko D3112, installed it myself, and we have been using it for a month as of this writing. Observations:

The D3112 is beautiful and should fit into pretty much any décor. But for the price you should be expecting that.

The installation was not straightforward for me. Much of that was due to my particular situation and inexperience putting in a DW. But the install instructions are at best terse, leave out steps, and show illustrations that do not match the unit I purchased. Probably not a problem for a professional. I'm still glad I did it myself, as I did a better job by spending hours on the process than any professional ever would be able to.

The unit comes with a kick panel that is too tall for an ADA installation, which I find baffling. You can order a special one, but come on … why would I pay the premium for this ADA model (compared to, say, a comparable Bosch) and then be expected to buy a special kick panel for the install? Anyway, I took the kick panel that came with the unit to a metal shop, had them cut an inch-plus off of it, and then used a nibbler to fine tune it, so it fit perfectly. Part of that install pain to which I alluded.

In use, the unit is very quiet and only needs about a tablespoon plus a teaspoon of detergent (we've been using Cascade) for our average hardness water. For plates and glasses it has cleaned well and the drying seems fine.

The instructions that accompanied the unit show both a water and a drying temperate button on the front, but ours only has one button, for the water temperature. The Web site where I purchased the unit has PDF manual downloads, and these are more current and actually match my machine.

The final and most important observation is that this dishwasher definitely seems smaller inside than the unit it replaces. We use a lot of large bowls and pots, and these seem to be exactly the kinds of items that do not pack well in the unit. We are still experimenting with how to pack and others have indicated that this is critical to success. But if all you use are plates and small sized glassware, then the unit will work great for you.

So net net, I like the unit despite the negatives, but I would not pay the premium unless you needed the ADA height. In that situation, I think the unit is the best choice.