[modeless]

Article is wrong. Tablets/pods are silly. The most important thing to improve dishwasher performance is to put detergent in the prewash compartment as well as the main compartment, which you can't do with pods. Second most important (maybe North America-specific) is to run the hot water in the sink to flush the cold water out of the hot water line before starting, so the first fill of the dishwasher uses hot water.

More than you ever wanted to know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHP942Livy0

[SAI_Peregrinus]

AFAIK British dishwashers get plumbed into the cold water line, & heat it themselves. US dishwashers get plumbed into the hot water line, and only do a bit of extra heating. US dishwashers run on 1400W circuits (80% current rule on a 120V 15A plug), UK ones on 2300W circuits (80% current rule on a 220V 13A plug). Nearly twice the available power means they can heat the water properly on their own. They also more often have built-in water softeners, thus the mention of salt.

Definitely agree about tablets though, they're trash. Powdered detergent is the way to go.

[lousken]

I find big differences among tablets, so I'd say it depends. However powder is so much cheaper than it's just a no brainer if you don't have really dirty dishes. For dirty dishes I still prefer a good tablet though.

[tzs]

Isn't the 80% rule only for continuous loads (3+ hours)? Home dishwashers in the US are considered to be non-continuous loads if the net is to be believed.