At a glance
Expert rating
Pros
Five liter water tankNo plumbing requiredGreat washing performance
cons
Two to three setting capacity High at 46 cm Requires proximity to a drain or bucket
Our verdict
You may pay more for this niche appliance, but the Hava countertop dishwasher is a great piece of equipment. If you don’t have the space or plumbing for a traditional dishwasher, don’t wash by hand and get great results.
Best Prices Today: Hava R01 Compact Countertop Dishwasher
If you don’t have floor space or plumbing for an undercounter or freestanding dishwasher, don’t feel doomed to endless handwashing: we’re now in the era of the countertop.
Yes, this is a countertop dishwasher. You fill the water tank by hand and drain all the waste water into a drain or bucket. You can use this compact device in small houses, apartments, dormitories, on boats and in RVs or RVs as long as you are near an outlet.
And Hava is one of the leading brands in this field. Let’s take a closer look at that.
Design and build
The Hava countertop dishwasher resembles an object being lifted from a space station. It is 43 cm by 43 cm, square with a glossy white plastic housing and a long black control panel above the door. The door spans the entire front of the appliance and features a large transparent panel so you can see the washing process as it progresses through the cycle.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
While it’s technically portable, it weighs 13kg, so you won’t want to move it around too much. It’s also 46cm high, so you’ll want to check that it fits under any wall units above your chosen worktop location.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
In addition, since the water tank lid is on the top of the appliance, possibly 136 cm from a kitchen floor, some people will need a step to fill the tank.
Setup
In addition to the actual appliance, you will also receive an inlet hose with a screw cap to connect the appliance to a water tap, a drain hose with a hose collar for the waste water, a manual and an information sheet and accessories for the dishwasher: a storage rack that fits into the side of the appliance. the wire dishwasher drawer clicks, a cutlery basket, a water jug to fill the water tank and a plastic fruit basket for washing fruit.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
In the beginning, some orientation is needed. Since we had never used a countertop dishwasher before, we had to find the best place for the appliance, both near an electrical outlet and a drain point. The power cable is 105 cm long and the drain hose is 154 cm long, so you need a space between the two.
Furthermore, if you want to connect the dishwasher to a faucet, the inlet hose is 154cm long and has a screw cap on the end, so you’ll need a faucet with a hose end. You don’t just stick it on your kitchen faucet.
You connect the drain hose to the water outlet on the back of the machine and then thread the hose collar through the hose collar screw with a Phillips screwdriver. You then have three options for your sewer connection. You can dispose of it in a sink or bucket, or you can connect the hose to a drain pipe or a sink drainpipe, which requires additional hose collars that are not supplied with the appliance.
We went for the simple option of filling the tank with a pitcher and draining it into a sink. The drain hose has a suction cup on the end, so we can stick it to the side of the sink, but the suction cup won’t stick to stained surfaces, so be careful if your sink surface has any texture.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
We then connected the device and started filling the tank. You use cold water, because the device heats it for you, and it costs five liters. The unit will beep when you reach the limit, so remember to turn it on before you start filling to get this warning.
Control and performance
As soon as you open the door, the internal LED light will come on and turn off within two minutes; the light will also illuminate to indicate the end of the drying process.
To use the appliance, simply load the dishwasher, place your detergent in the recess at the bottom of the door, choose your mode and press start.
We found that with sensible placement we could get about three to four place settings in the dishwasher, although Hava suggests a capacity of two to three place settings. We managed to fit four 26cm diameter plates, three short cups and four 250ml mugs in the inner cabinet, along with the cutlery basket. Please note that the device cannot take plates with a diameter of 28 cm or more without tilting them to fit. The cutlery basket has 28 slots, four of which are large openings and six are long.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
There are five washing modes – normal, quick, gentle, baby care/heavy and fruit – and one drying setting.
Normal mode washes at 55°C/131°F then rinses for 69 minutes in both cold and hot water at 68°C/154.4°F and then dries for 60 minutes, so the cycle takes just over two hours in total . This may seem excessive for four plates and a few glasses and mugs, but it’s hard to argue with the results. The device drains well and quickly and everything comes out incredibly clean.
The dishwasher will beep when it’s done, and if you want to place a plate when the cycle has already started, just press pause, wait for the spray arms to stop, add your forgotten plate and press start again.
Speed mode washes at 50°C/122°F, rinses at 62°C/143.6°F, for 29 minutes with a 60-minute dry time, for a total of just under an hour and a half. We found this fine for lightly soiled dishes and would probably use this setting regularly for everyday crockery that had just been used.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
The gentle mode washes at the same temperatures as the normal mode, but the wash cycle is ten minutes shorter. Baby Care/Heavy Mode washes at 55°C/131°F, rinses in hot 75°C/167°F and cold water for 89 minutes with a 60 minute dry time, and is the mode for dirty dishes, baby bottles and pet products (although, of course, don’t wash baby bottles next to your dog’s dishes). We really found this mode to be a “blow it all out” cycle, and any dishes or cookware would have to be in real condition to be able to use it.
Then you have the fruit stand, where you can use the supplied plastic fruit basket. This is for hard fruits and vegetables, and rinse apples or carrots in cold water for 19 minutes. We tried it with potatoes and were quite impressed.
The dry mode is interesting. It gives you 60 minutes extra hot air drying. If you use it in combination with a washing program, you extend the drying time by 100%, or you can use it separately to dry table and cookware already in the appliance. Again, if you activate this mode, the dishwasher will automatically vent the dishes for 15 minutes every 75 minutes for three days.
So basically it will keep your plates, cutlery and mugs clean, dry and hygienic for a long time to come, so if you have a boat or caravan you can leave your crockery in them and they will be perfectly fresh for your next use.
Cleaning and maintenance
Hava recommends washing the filter system once a week under running water and using a dish brush to clean the coarse and fine filters. The spray arms can be removed for periodic cleaning and you can also simply wash them under running water.
Energy costs
In the UK, the Hava countertop dishwasher has an energy rating of F on the appliance’s new energy scale that came in last year, which would have been A+ on the old scale. With energy costs currently on the rise, we don’t want to suggest an estimated annual running cost for the dishwasher, but Hava estimates that using 0.384 kWh per cycle if you use cold water to fill the appliance, which, if you use it once a day, would be 140 .16 kWh per year.
Operating volume
The noise level stated is 60 dB, which is roughly equivalent to an air conditioner and quieter than an average washing machine. We certainly didn’t find it intrusive.
Price and availability
The Hava countertop dishwasher costs $399.99 in the US and is available from Hava. In the UK you can: buy it from Amazon for £380.95 or direct from Hava for €398.95. It’s a bit more expensive than some rivals’ models, but it’s not the most expensive – that credit goes to brands like Bosch and Zanussi.
verdict
The Hava countertop dishwasher does what it’s supposed to do, and it does it well. Yes, you’re paying a premium for it to be a compact design, but there’s only so much that you can shrink a device and still maintain a viable level of operation and performance at a reasonable price.
All things considered, we really liked this dishwasher. It fits in a niche, is well built and your cookware comes out clean.
