14 Feb 07: Dishwasher goes back on daytime electricity

I have had to take the dishwasher off night rate electricity after about eight weeks. This is due to a coating of something like dry crumbs on the outside - and inside - of many of the dishes. For some reason, highly curved dishes such as cups and glasses seem more prone to this problem than flat ones like dinner plates. Cutlery seems largely unaffected.

After trying a couple of times to clean the machine itself with mild chemicals (so I tell myself) and hot empty washes, I decided to employ an old adage I use when computers go wrong: whatever you did when you touched it last has probably caused the problem. So out goes the night electricity, at least for now.

The problem with using a timer to start a dishwashing machine is that the same timer is very effective at stopping things mid-wash, and that is my theory as to what is wrong. I dont' think dishwashers like being terminated before they are ready.

(I still don't believe our night electricity is being recorded properly by the meter, but that's another story. Past experience of power companies tells me they'll swear blind the meter can't possibly have gone wrong and anyway was tested recently and found to be in working order. Tested presumably by the same army of engineers they don't send round constantly to read the meter any more. Their word - somewhere in Bangalore -against my word from my own house. Never mind.)

I was also shocked to find the kettle inadvertently set to the 'keep the water warm' setting, a feature I can't imagine ever needing. But I do wonder whether this is more or less efficient than simply switching it on with a little water when one needs a cuppa. Or - more likely - cappuchino.