Whether the dishwasher comes in:

• conventional or standard size (tends to be 12–15 place settings and around 60cm wide, 80cm high and 60cm deep)
• slimline (around 8–10 place settings and around 45cm wide)
• drawer or compact (usually about six place settings and is fitted in a drawer, 60cm wide)
• benchtop (also about 60cm wide, but sits on top of a bench).

This describes what system the dishwasher has to clean the cutlery. These usually take the form of a basket, tray or both.

The number of place settings a dishwasher claims to be able to fit. A standard place setting refers to one of each of the following: dinner plate, bread and butter plate, soup bowl, small bowl, small saucer, tea cup, drinking glass, knife, fork, teaspoon, dessert spoon and soup spoon. 

A dishwasher that claims to have 12 place settings essentially claims to be able to fit 12 standard-sized items of the above into the dishwasher. 

Where possible, we've listed the white model code and price. Most models are available in other colours, finishes or types – usually at a higher price.

Stainless steel indicates any metallic or metallic-look finish; not all models are actually stainless steel.

Where there is a 'Not applicable', the model is fully integrated and designed to match cabinetry (you'll need to buy fronts for these).

If you wish to filter models by colour (on the report landing page), you may need to select categories under Related products (also in filters) to see all models and their colours.

Fold-down or removable tines are useful for loading larger items like pots, pans and baking dishes.

For washing lightly soiled or rinsed dishes more economically in a faster cycle.

Auto sensing or dirt sensor wash can be a useful feature as it claims to sense the dirt and adjust the wash to suit the amount of soiling on load in the dishwasher.

This will show, usually in digital format, how long a program has to go. However, this may change during the wash, as the dishwasher uses sensors to detect just how dirty a wash is. It can be annoying to see the count get down to 5 minutes, then flip back up to 15 minutes as the dishwasher changes its mind.

Half-load or load sensing half-load adjusts the water and program times for a much smaller load, while load sensing adjusts them according to the soil in the dishwasher. Both let you wash smaller loads more economically.

Delay time, delay start or time delay is a feature that lets you program the machine to start the wash at a selected time in the future. You can load it with dirty plates and detergent and program it to start in the middle of the night. Consumers who are on off-peak energy can take advantage of this feature.

Manufacturers must declare the energy use (in kWh) of their product, and an energy star rating is derived from this information. Both the energy use per year and the star rating are displayed on the Energy Rating Label.

Manufacturers must declare how many litres of water are used per wash cycle of a dishwasher or washing machine; per drying cycle of a washer/dryer or condenser dryer; per minute for a tap; or per full and half flush for a toilet. A WELS water star rating is derived from this. The water use and the star rating are displayed on the product's WELS label.

Scores are taken from our product reliability survey, but do not add to the overall score. The score refers to the brand, not a particular model. For satisfaction score, we ask owners to tell us what they think of the products they own, rating them from excellent to terrible. We've used this information to give each brand an owner satisfaction rating so you can see what people who use the brand day in, day out think of it. The higher the score, the better. If you see "Not available" as the outcome, that's because we haven't gotten enough people who own the brand to reply with their findings – we need at least 50 to make the outcome statistically significant.

Scores are taken from our product reliability survey, but do not add to the overall score. The score refers to the brand, not a particular model. Service score refers to how the manufacturer responds and helps you with any issues, which can make all the difference to your experience and trust in the brand. For large appliances that you might be more likely to get repaired, we asked members about their experience with the manufacturers' service and support. We have given each manufacturer a service rating so you know how well they support customers when they need it. We need enough feedback to report fairly so in some cases we can't report this for all brands, but we'll tell you where we can. The higher the score, the better. If you see "Not available" as the outcome, that's because we haven't gotten enough people who own the brand to reply with their findings – we need at least 50 to make the outcome statistically significant.