Hotpoint H7FHP33UK Review
A dishwasher with a surprising amount of space inside
Verdict
Continuing the range of Maxi Space Tub dishwashers with extra space inside, the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK is a freestanding, full-sized model with plenty of space and a top cutlery rack. When you take its size into account, it has low running costs on its Eco wash and is a powerful cleaner in the more intense modes.
Pros
- Tonnes of space inside
- Quality stain removal
- Wide range of cleaning cycles
Cons
- Slightly expensive to run on intense cycles
Key Features
- Place settingsThis huge dishwasher has 15-place settings, making it ideal for larger families or those that like to stick the washer on less often.
Introduction
Why won’t my plates and wine glasses fit? A common accusation levelled at dishwashers, you won’t find yourself uttering this phrase at the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK.
Thanks to its Maxi Space design, there’s more room inside here than on your average dishwasher, so everything just fits nicely. A wide range of programmes and excellent cleaning results makes this a great choice for those that often wash large loads.
Design and features
- Maxi Space tub gives 10% more space
- Lots of programmes to choose from
- 3D Wash for intensive scrubbing
The Hotpoint H7FHP33UK is very similar to the Hotpoint H7IHP42LUK integrated dishwasher in terms of layout, wash cycles and space. This one has a slightly higher D energy rating, although in my tests I found that running costs weren’t too far apart.
If you’re looking for a freestanding dishwasher, the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK impresses from the start. It’s available in plain white with a stainless steel accent plate. It’s ruggedly built and the dishwasher feels well made.
Open the door and there’s the Maxi Space Tub, which the company says gives 10% more space compared to a regular dishwasher. The space is gained by having slightly more vertical height inside, which means that the door is a touch taller than on a regular dishwasher.
While 10% doesn’t sound like a lot, it makes a far bigger difference than you might think. The main benefit is that there’s more room in the top rack for tall items, such as long-stemmed wine glasses.
With a regular dishwasher, there’s usually a choice: the top rack can either be on its highest setting, but tall items won’t fit; or it can be dropped down to get wine glasses in, but the spray arm will typically hit dinner plates below.
Here, there’s no need to compromise. I found that I could, for most loads, put the top rack on its lowest setting without hitting plates below, giving plenty of room for tall wine glasses.
Adjusting the top rack is easy, with clips on the slide letting me easily raise or lower it. In the top position, there’s less room for taller items, but still a good amount of space, and the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK has an additional trick.
Pull out the cutlery rack at the top, and it can either be used as one large surface, or it can have either side slid out of way, giving a bit more headroom below. That’s clever thinking and it meant that I never struggled to load this dishwasher.
With the cutlery rack fully open, there’s a huge amount of space for all of our utensils, knives, forks and spoons. Opening up the rack reduces space, but you can still easily fit in a dinner party’s worth of cutlery.
If you like the idea of a cutlery rack but like a basket, the Samsung DW60A8060BB integrated dishwasher is a good compromise, as it has removable trays in its top rack.
At the bottom of the dishwasher sits the bottom rack for dinner plates, pots and pans, and larger items. It has tines spaced at different intervals, giving space for dinner plates in the tightly-spaced areas and bowls in the wider-spaced areas. Tines at the back can be folded down, too, to place casserole dishes and larger items.
Overall, this dishwasher is extremely easy to load and with cutlery all out of the way in the top rack, there’s a huge amount of room at the bottom for plates, pots and pans.
At the back of the dishwasher sit the 3D Zone arms. When used with the 3D Zone programme option, these arms spray higher-pressure water at heavily soiled items to get them clean; casserole dishes and pans that need special attention should be loaded at the rear of the dishwasher.
When first plumbed in and turned on, the salt reservoir needs filling, and the water hardness and rinse aid dispensing levels need to be set. It’s easy to do this following the simple instructions in the manual.
Using the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK is straightforward. Although the LCD on the front just shows the cycle selected as a number, the inside of the door shows what all of the options are as a handy quick reference.
It’s nice to see that the dishwasher turns on with programme one selected for the Eco mode at 50°C, which is the most efficient programme. In addition, there are three Auto programmes (65°C intensive, 55°C mixed and 50°C fast wash), where the dishwasher detects the soiling level of the dishes and adjusts the programme automatically.
There’s also a Rapid (30m) wash for a small number of lightly soiled dishes, plus Delicates, Night, Sanitising and Self Clean options. There’s also a half-load option to cut energy usage, and the Active Dry option, which opens the door gently at the end of a wash to dry dishes, can be disabled.
Rinse aid is added to the reservoir on the door, and dishwasher detergent is added to the pop-open dispenser.
Performance
- Decent running costs, particularly on Eco
- Good dirt removal
I put all dishwashers through the same range of tests. I start by loading them with the same stained items: a coffee cup with dried-on-drink remains, a used red wine glass, a plate with dried-on mac and cheese, and a bowl that has been used to make microwaved scrambled eggs.
To begin with, I used the standard Eco programme, which I estimated would cost 22p per cycle to run (assuming a unit cost of 24.5p per kWh), which is just 3p more per cycle compared to the C-rated Hotpoint H7IHP42LUK. That works out to just 1.48p per place setting, as this is a 15-place setting dishwasher. Given the extra space available, that’s a very low running cost, and gives a similar cost to many 14-place C-rated appliances.
This Eco cycle did well on most of my dirty dishes. I found that my wine glass came up sparkling as good as new.
With the tougher coffee test, the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK managed to get all of the stains off, leaving the mug as good as new.
I had a similar result with my tea mug, and the stains were all gone, making the mug nice and fresh.
My cheesy mac and cheese plate also scrubbed up perfectly with no pre-rinsing, and no residue left on the plate.
Dried-on ketchup was no problem for the dishwasher’s Eco cycle, either.
My toughest test is the egg test, with a glass bowl used to make microwaved scrambled egg. Here, the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK did alright, but the bowl, placed on the top shelf, still had a fair amount of egg left behind on it.
To counter this, I put the dishwasher into its intensive auto mode at 65°C, and put on the 3D Zone wash. Here, the price per wash jumped to 48p for the wash, which is one of the most expensive wash cycles I’ve seen from a dishwasher. However, higher costs aren’t an issue when the results are so goo, with my eggy bowl completely washed up. I’d use this cycle occasionally for the dirtiest dishes, sticking with Eco for regular day-to-day cleaning.
I tried the Fast Wash and found that this cost a modest 17p per cycle. This mode won’t be able to tackle very dirty plates, but it can tackle lesser-stained items, such as coffee cups. This cycle doesn’t open the door, so leave items quite wet, particularly plastic tubs.
I also tried the Auto 50°C cycle, which is good when you need a bit more cleaning power than Eco can offer, but you don’t need the full intensive cycle. This option cost a reasonable 28p to run.
With the auto door opening, I found that the main cycles left my items clean and dry, even my plastic containers.
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Should you buy it?
You need a lot of space for dishes
Maxi Space means that there’s loads of room, even for very tall wine glasses.
You want the lowest running costs
There are dishwashers that are cheaper to run on standard settings.
Final Thoughts
Solid, reliable and with good cleaning, the Hotpoint H7FHP33UK is particularly good for those that need more space for dishes. Maxi Space gives a load more room, and this dishwasher genuinely fits my tall wine glasses without a fight. If you want an integrated model, or one a different size, check out my guide to the best dishwashers.
How we test
We test every dishwasher we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
We measure water and energy usage for each dishwasher to see how efficient they are.
We use real-world mess to test a dishwasher’s ability to clean.
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FAQs
Hotpoint has made the cavity larger on this model, compared to regular dishwashers, giving more room inside for plates, pans, glasses and cutlery.
No, this is a regular dishwasher that is controlled via its front control panel only.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
