Hava R01 Countertop Dishwasher Review [Staff Tested]

We live in an older home with an outdated kitchen and no space for a standard size dishwasher. We also work from home, like to cook, and have a toddler. As you might imagine, the dishes pile up fast! Could the Hava R01 Countertop Dishwasher be the answer to our dish woes? Maybe. Did it save water? Definitely.

Hava R01 Countertop Dishwasher

Leaf Score

Highlights: A super quiet, minimalist, and attractive countertop dishwasher that is really easy to use. Not Energy Star rated, but uses just 150 kWh a year, saving water and energy compared to washing by hand! Doesn’t offer much usable space though, unless you have small, matching dishware.

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Hava R01 specs and performance

The Hava R01 is a compact dishwasher with a built-in water tank, dish rack, and cutlery basket. It comes with a plastic jug to fill the water tank and a plastic basket for washing fruit and vegetables (on a special setting). The dishwasher works well as an indoor countertop unit or outdoor wherever there’s a power supply.

The Hava R01 has five cycle options, 360-degree rinsing thanks to top and bottom spray arms, a 60-minute drying cycle, and 72-hour ventilation to prevent odor build-up and unsanitary conditions if you forget to unload the dishwasher.

The five wash cycles are:

1. Normal
2. Speed
3. Soft
4. Baby Care/Heavy
5. Fruit.

The first four wash cycles are automatically followed by a 60-minute dry cycle. You can also hold down the Dry button to add another 60-minutes of drying, plus 72-hours of ventilation. This is a great option if you’re setting the dishwasher before leaving for the weekend or if you’re using this in a rental suite, cabin, or RV.

Hava R01 – Out of the box

The Hava dishwasher arrived in a compact cardboard box that was surprisingly light and easy to carry. Inside, the dishwasher was packed with two large polystyrene blocks and wrapped in a large plastic bag. It was a little tricky to lift the dishwasher out of the box as there was nothing on the sides to hold onto. I ended up having to pull the dishwasher up and out using the bag, which felt rather precarious but gave me enough leverage to get a hand under the unit.

The dishwasher itself had a few small strips of plastic tape securing the door and, inside, securing parts of the tray, jug, and fruit basket. The hoses and manuals were all also inside plastic bags. This amounted to quite a bit of plastic that could easily have been replaced by biodegradable cardboard or paper. Similarly, the polystyrene could be replaced by cushioning made from recycled and recyclable cardboard.

With the dishwasher out and on our kitchen counter, I timed myself to see how quickly I could set it up and set it running.

Setting up the Hava R01

Incredibly, it took me less than seven minutes to set up the Hava R01 dishwasher once it was out of the box and unwrapped! If you plan to connect the dishwasher to the faucet, rather than filing by hand, and to hook up the outlet hose to under-sink plumbing, you’ll need quite a bit more time for set-up, but it still looks very straightforward and worth doing if you’re going to use this dishwasher regularly.

To expedite set-up, the Hava R01 has a convenient label on the top that gives a quick guide to using the dishwasher. The manual also has very clear instructions on how to connect the hoses and get things set up.

Our extendable, spray nozzle, kitchen tap and faucet wouldn’t work with the inlet tubing, even with an adaptor (not included), so I used the jug provided by Hava to fill the water tank by hand. As an aside, the jug seems like another unnecessary plastic component, given that most of us already have something similar we could use. Sure, the jug has measurements on it, but you’re unlikely to use them because the dishwasher sounds a charming little ‘bing, bing, bing’ noise to let you know when the tank is full. Just be sure to turn the dishwasher on first, so you don’t accidentally overfill the tank.

The outlet hose is very well designed. It is really easy to push up and onto the water outlet at the back of the dishwasher and it has an effective suction cap on the end that sticks to the side of your sink and spins in place. This allows the hose to wiggle without jerking loose. At the dishwasher end, the outlet hose is secured with a metal O-ring. The hose fits snugly but it’s still a good idea to tighten that O-ring well using a flathead screwdriver.

Once it was set up, the next step was to load the dishwasher. This was the step that took the longest amount of time.

Loading the Hava R01

In general, the Hava R01 seems well thought out and offers a good amount of capacity for a countertop unit. However, despite having quite good spatial awareness, I found it a struggle to make meaningful use of the space this dishwasher provides.

The cutlery holder works fairly well but arguably offers too much space if the idea is to use it just for four table settings. The flip-down side tray isn’t big enough to hold larger utensils, which means there’s nowhere safe for things like spatulas or serving spoons to go. And, if you have the tray down flat, this severely cuts down on usable space below. Only the smallest bowls fit under the tray, but the spacing of the bottom grid is quite large, meaning smaller items like this would fall through or get jammed and prevent the spray arms from working properly.

My first attempt at using the Hava R01 to do the evening dishes resulted in me still washing more than two-thirds of the dishes by hand. This was simply because after putting some cutlery, a couple of plates, and one medium-sized saucepan in the dishwasher, there was little room for anything else.

Using the dishwasher

With the dishwasher not really loaded to full capacity, but no usable room for the rest of the dishes, I loaded a dishwashing tab in the recess at the bottom of the door and closed it up. The dishwasher was set to ‘Normal’ mode, but the dishes I’d loaded weren’t especially dirty, so I changed this to a Speed wash with just a couple of presses of the ‘Mode’ button. Then, all I had to do was press ‘Play’ and away it went.

The second time around, I deliberately amassed an array of jars, lids, glassware, and one greasy metal bowl. These fit more easily into the dishwasher, but it was still a challenge to figure out how to use the space well. This time, I used the Normal mode.

The third time around, I used the Hava to clean a medium-sized saucepan with spaghetti sauce remnants, some cutlery, and a couple of small dessert bowls. If I had tried to jam anything else in with that load, there was a risk of dishes jostling too much and the spray arms being unable to reach all of the surfaces.

After these three test runs, I’m happy to report that all of the dishes, even the very grimy ones, came out spotless. I deliberately included a tea mug with some stubborn tea stains, and a particularly nasty jar that had been lurking at the back of the fridge with some food remnants (which I scraped out first). The Hava handled these like a champ, giving me sparkling dishes and glassware every time.

For one of the cycles, I added extra dry-time and 72-hour ventilation. There’s a vent on the side of the unit that needs to be kept uncovered. I checked the vent during the cycle, and it emitted just a whisper of warm humid air, not a torrent of hot steam.

Before I packed up the dishwasher to go to its next home, I gave the inside a quick wipe down, which was very easy, then drained the last of the water from the tank. This is also really easy. You just have to hold down the power button and the dry button for three seconds and the machine force-drains the water out through the hose.

Noise and light

I appreciate that the Hava R01 is so quiet, given how loud some appliances can be, even if they’re mini appliances and portable.

Using a decibel meter, I got an average reading of around 54.5 decibels when standing right beside the dishwasher. This is about as loud as a very quiet street or a library. The loudest reading I got was just over 70 dB, which is about the same as a regular conversation. At its loudest, I could hear just a very low hum from the Hava in the next room.

Overall, I’d say this is a very quiet dishwasher that would work well in a small space without being very disruptive. That said, it does glow a very ethereal blue during the cycle, which you might not want as mood lighting in an RV, say.

Saving water and energy

The main reason why I wanted to check out the Hava R01 was its potential to save energy and water.

This mini dishwasher definitely uses much less energy than a conventional dishwasher. However, the energy savings per dish are unlikely to be any more than a standard-sized dishwasher. Hava didn’t have an approved energy guide label on the unit I got but was in the process of applying for this and expects the next batch of units to include the following label (provided to me by the company).

As you can see, the label shows that the Hava R01 uses just 150 kilowatt hours annually, for an expected cost of just $15. This is very low, even for a mini appliance!

The Hava is also very likely to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat water to wash dishes by hand. This mini appliance heats the water, uses it once, then filters, reheats, and recycles the water to keep spraying down those dishes until they’re clean. Again, though, because you can only clean so many dishes in the countertop unit, the energy savings are likely quite a bit less than you might expect.

The same goes for water savings. Yes, the Hava uses less than 5 liters of water (1.3 gallons) per wash cycle. By my count, the tank holds about 6.5 liters before you get the ‘full’ signal. According to Hava, this saves up to 80% of water compared to handwashing your dishes.

I calculated that one side of my double sink at home can hold around 18 liters of water. For a rough comparison, I collected and measured the water I used to handwash the same number and type of dishes I’d previously washed in the Hava. The result suggests that I saved about 8 liters of water by using the dishwasher.

This sounds great, but here’s the kicker: It took me less than five minutes to wash those dishes and almost the same time to load them safely into the dishwasher.

If you’re hoping the Hava will save you time, you may be disappointed. If you’re hoping it saves you energy and water, though, this seems like a safe bet.

Warranty, shipping, and returns

Hava offers a 30-day return window for new, unused products, in case you change your mind once the unit arrives. Hava also offers free shipping on orders over $49 in the U.S. and EU.

The R01 comes with a 12-month warranty only. This is a repair and replacement service, which is followed by lifetime customer care and support.

Final thoughts on the Hava R01

In addition to being quiet, the Hava R01 is easy to set up and easy to use.

Overall, the Hava R01 offers decent functionality for singles, couples, or small families who just want to wash a few small matching plates, mugs, bowls, and cutlery. Despite Hava’s product photos, four full-size place settings will not fit in this dishwasher. I had to put our pasta bowls, which are not huge, at an odd angle to get just two to fit where dinner plates should go, according to Hava’s photos. And once something’s in askew, the rest of the space is difficult to work with.

If you tend to eat takeout or one-pot meals and have smaller, matching dinnerware, the Hava R01 may work well for you. If you have a random assortment of plates, mugs, and bowls, and use more than one pan for cooking, you’re going to find this dishwasher a struggle to use.

I would add, though, that I can see this dishwasher being extremely useful for saving water and energy in an RV or tiny home. It also seems like a great options for easily sterilizing (and storing) baby bottles, or washing glasses after a party, while you do the rest of the dishes by hand. Indeed, I plan to pass this onto neighbors expecting their first baby, in the hope that it cuts down their workload a little if they end up bottle-feeding!

Hava R01 Countertop Dishwasher [Staff tested]

Leaf Score

Highlights: A super quiet, minimalist, and attractive countertop dishwasher that is really easy to use. Not Energy Star rated, but uses just 150 kWh a year, saving water and energy compared to washing by hand! Best for small, matching dishware.

View on Hava