Instant Hot Water Dispensers
Point of Use Hot Water Heaters

When you need hot water now, even the microwave is too slow. A hot water dispenser can be the answer to your prayers.

They are the essence of convenience, speeding up all kinds of kitchen tasks from preparing hot drinks, soups, and sauces to thawing juices; warming baby bottles, and even melting wax or purging berry stains from clothing.

Instant hot-water dispensers are miniature electric water heaters that serve only one faucet.

A small tank mounted under the sink holds nearly boiling water ready for piping hot delivery through a separate sink-top spout. Just activate the handle, and 190°F water comes right out of the spout into your cup or bowl. (The temperature of boiling water is 212 deg. Fahrenheit)

The factory setting on new residential water heaters is 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the highest setting considered to be safe.
190° will cause 3rd degree burns within a matter of seconds.

It's much faster than a teakettle or microwave, and it uses less energy, because you only heat the water you need.

Unlike a conventional water heater, the tank never becomes pressurized. The system hooks up directly to a cold-water pipe under the sink. When you activate the handle, cool tap water flows into the tank and displaces the near-boiling water, which flows out of the spout. Release the handle, and the valve closes automatically so hot water stops flowing.

The cool water is then heated to approximately 190°F, and flows into the expansion chamber where it's ready for later use. The unit has an adjustable thermostat but the temperature needs to be adjusted only if the water is too cool or if it's so hot that it boils away, causing the tank to overheat. (To prevent damage, the tank should be protected from overheating by a replaceable, thermal fuse.)

Tanks are sold in various sizes and with different heating element wattages. Most have a capacity of 1/3 or 1/2-gallon and range from 500 to 1300 watts.

A 750-watt, 1/2-gallon tank will produce up to about 60 cups of hot water per hour while higher wattage tanks can deliver up to 100 cups per hour. Some models include a separate cold-water tap to dispense water from a second source such as a water purifier.

The spout delivers water more slowly than a standard faucet, at about one ounce per second, but the heated water arrives immediately; so there's no waiting, and no waste.

The usage is a little more than 1/2-kilowatt hour per 24 hours, which, depending on your local electric rate, equates to about 6 or 7 cents a day. Any water heater may accumulate scale in hard water areas, and hot-water dispensers are no exception. To reduce this buildup some units have drain plugs at the bottom, and these should be drained once or twice a year.

Installation of a hot-water dispenser is a fairly simple process as long as the sink top has a hole that can receive the spout. Most hot-water dispensers are installed during kitchen remodeling in new sinks that have the proper number and configuration of holes.

Though retrofits can be a little bit tricky, they're not impossible. If your sink has a sprayer, you may be able to remove the sprayer and use the hole that it occupied. (Replacement faucets are now available with integrated pullout hand sprays to eliminate the need for a separate spray.)

Or if your sink has a separate spout for purified water, you can replace it with a hot-and-cold model as mentioned above. Or check to see if the sink has an extra hole that hasn't been punched out yet. In a real pinch, you can have a plumbing contractor drill a hole in stainless steel or porcelain, but there is a risk of unforeseen damage in doing that.

With most, a "saddle valve" is clamped onto the water pipe, and then the appliance is connected to this valve with 1/4-inch copper tubing, using compression fittings.

Most appliances have a 3-pronged plug that you simply plug into a grounded, 15-amp receptacle (in some cases, they may be able to share the receptacle used by a garbage disposal, but be sure to follow manufacturer's directions and honor local building codes).

Dispensers are available in a variety of finishes, so the chances are good that you can find one to match your sink. Typical finishes include white, black, almond, chrome and brass. Spout styles range from standard, streamlined faucets to gooseneck styles.

There are no end of timesaving uses for instant hot water. While it's nice to know you can have a cup of hot tea or coffee in seconds, once you have one of these units in your home you will discover endless possibilities.

Some of the more creative uses for hot water are as follows:

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