We bought a new dishwasher. Our old one could do a load in half an hour, and since we are in the habit of rinsing all the crud off of them before we put them in the machine, they come out fine. The shortest cycle on the new one is 3 hours, but it uses only about a gallon or two of water, but considerably more electricity. This is the result of water efficiency standards, a machine that uses a couple pennies less water but twenty cents more electricity and takes 6 times longer. Thank you government interference.
One of the more galling things about the Energy Star disaster is that you know full well that the DC clymers who came up with those regs have their clothes cleaned at laundries and eat at restaurants with dishes cleaned using non-Energy Star appliances.