Description
The Farberware FCD06SDWHT is the larger and better specified of Farberware’s two countertop dishwashers in this catalog. Farberware records seven cycle options covering Heavy, Normal, Eco, Baby Care, Glass, Speed and Rinse, an LED display, a stainless steel material type, a listed weight of 52.9 pounds, dimensions of 21.7 by 19.7 by 17.2 inches, and first availability in February 2024. The listing description adds touch controls, an extra drying function and quick connect faucet adapters.
What it is and where it fits in a home
A countertop dishwasher, and the format is well represented in our countertop dishwasher coverage, exists for kitchens without a dishwasher connection: rentals, older apartments, small houses, offices. This one connects to a faucet with the supplied quick connect adapters rather than requiring plumbing work, which is the practical difference between installing it in an afternoon and not being able to install it at all.
At 21.7 by 19.7 by 17.2 inches it is noticeably larger than the smaller Farberware FDW05WHA, and it takes up a serious piece of counter. The recommended use list on the listing is unusually specific and worth reading: everyday dishware and glassware, cutlery, pots and pans up to 10 inches in diameter, delicate china on the Baby Care cycle, and heavily soiled bakeware on the Heavy cycle. That 10 inch limit is the real capacity constraint and it is more useful than any cubic figure.
Living with it day to day
Seven programs is a lot for a machine this size, and the useful ones are the ends of the range rather than the middle. Heavy is for bakeware, Speed is for a quick turnaround of lightly used dishes, Eco trades time for lower consumption, and Rinse holds dishes without a full cycle. Baby Care is the high temperature program. In practice most households settle on two of the seven and ignore the rest, which is true of full sized machines as well.
The extra drying function is the feature that separates this from cheaper countertop units. Countertop dishwashers historically leave dishes wet, because they lack the heated dry element and the residual heat mass of a full sized machine. Adding heat to the final rinse means dishes come out warm enough to finish drying themselves in the tub, which reduces the towel work at the end. Farberware does not publish how long the extra dry adds to a cycle.
Capacity in everyday terms is a small household load: plates, bowls, glasses, mugs and cutlery for one or two people, run daily rather than every few days. Nothing over 10 inches across goes in, which rules out most baking sheets and larger pans.
Noise is not published. This matters more than it would on a built in machine, because a countertop dishwasher sits at ear height on a work surface with nothing between it and the room. The built in machines in this catalog such as the Bosch SHPM78Z55N publish decibel figures precisely because it is a purchase criterion, and its absence here is a real gap.
Controls and what works without an app
Nothing here connects to anything. No Wi-Fi, no app, no notifications. Touch controls and an LED display are the whole interface, and everything works with the machine plugged in and connected to a faucet. For an appliance that may move between rentals, that is the right design: nothing to re register, nothing to pair.
The touch panel is a flat surface, which is easier to wipe than raised buttons on an appliance that lives on a kitchen counter and gets splashed. The tradeoff is the usual lack of tactile feedback. Programs are selected directly rather than through nested menus, which keeps a seven program machine manageable.
Running cost and upkeep
Detergent is the routine consumable and countertop machines take a smaller dose than full sized ones. Farberware does not publish the detergent type or quantity on this listing. There is no water softener and no salt reservoir described, so in a hard water area limescale management falls to descaling by hand rather than to the machine, which is a meaningful difference from machines that publish a built in softener.
The filter in the base of the tub is the part that needs regular attention, along with the spray arm jets and the door seal. The faucet adapters are small plastic parts that get connected and disconnected repeatedly, and they are the most likely thing to need replacing.
The energy and electrical data on this listing contains a clear fault that should be named rather than repeated. The voltage field reads 680 volts. No domestic countertop appliance in the North American market runs on 680 volts, and the same number 680 appears again in the annual energy consumption field labeled as watts, where a kilowatt hour per year figure would be expected. Those two entries have plainly been crossed in the import. Neither should be used, and the rating plate on the appliance is the only source for the actual supply voltage. Farberware also publishes no water consumption figure per cycle on this listing, unlike the HAVA TDQR which does, so running water cost cannot be compared.
Highlights
- Faucet connection with quick connect adapters, so no plumbing work is required.
- An extra drying function, which addresses the main weakness of countertop dishwashers.
- Seven programs including a dedicated Heavy cycle for bakeware and a Baby Care cycle.
- Stainless steel construction rather than the plastic used on cheaper units.
- A published pan diameter limit of 10 inches, which is a genuinely useful capacity figure.
Things To Consider
- The voltage field reads 680 volts, which is not credible, and the energy field carries the same number in the wrong unit.
- No noise rating, on a machine that sits at ear height on a counter.
- No water consumption figure is published per cycle.
- No water softener or salt reservoir, so hard water is managed by hand.
- At 21.7 inches wide and 52.9 pounds it is a substantial permanent presence on a counter.
Who it is not for
Any kitchen with a dishwasher connection should use it, and a built in machine from the built in dishwasher category will wash more, quieter, per cycle. Households washing full family loads will find themselves running this twice a day. Anyone who regularly washes baking sheets or large pans is blocked by the 10 inch limit. And anyone in a hard water area should compare against a unit that publishes a water softener, such as the HAVA TDJR09, before choosing this one.
