When a dishwasher uses hot water from a hot water pipe, does it know it should wait till the hot water runs hot, or does it just go ahead and get whatever comes out of the pipe?
If a dishwasher has the capability of heating its own water, would it make sense to connect it to the cold water? If it gets cold water from the hot water pipe, then, by the time it finishes getting the water it wants, the hot water pipe would start to get hot, which would be wasted while waiting for the dishwasher to use it again. That problem would be solved by connecting it to cold instead of hot, so no hot would ever be wasted. Right?
Just use it as directed in the instructions, in other words, don't worry.
It will or will not heat water as it is designed. They are all designed to connect to the usual domestic hot water and expect that there will be some cold water come in first. Don't worry. I believe almost all of them today have their own heater to increase the temperature above the usual domestic hot water temperature. Of course no matter if the water is heated before it gets to the machine or after, you are going to pay for heating it either way. If you have an electric water heater it will be the exact same price if you have a cheaper source for your domestic hot water it will cost just a little more, but not enough to justify increasing the domestic temperature setting.
To clarify, the dishwasher in question is presently always set to use the cycle that heats the water, because the water is never reliably hot. Even if we run the water to get it hot, it doesn't stay hot very long, because the pipe is not insulated, and goes under the slab foundation.
Ideally, we should set it up with some kind of switch to be able to switch back and forth between hot and cold water, so we can experiment with different cycles etc., to see which get the dishes cleanest, and which result in higher energy bills. Also, this dishwasher can take hours. But even if we put it on its shortest, non-heating cycle, it still seems to take hours. Or at least a long time.
I agree just dont think about it, mine heats the HW until its at a certain temperature, some dont, messing with cold-hot is a waste of time. You want to save money, do it by hand.
No. Leave it connected to the hot water. Go read a book or remove your spouse's clothing. Either of these is a much better way to expend time & energy.
My dishwasher is hooked up to the hot water line only. Our gas water heater is set to 125 degrees, so the dishwasher heats it to higher temperatures. Cold water washing seems to be the trend, but I'm not convinced cold water kills pathogens as good as hot water. My washer does not have a "sanitize" setting--I thought it sanitized at whatever settings.
If sanitization was truly the goal, the water would be at 212 degrees fahrenheit. According to our local health department, the combination of friction (from the water) and soap is enough to remove germs. Hot water will do a better job of loosening food that may've dried onto the dishes while they were waiting to be washed, though.
You're right. Before hot water, when eating and cooking utensils were washed (if washed at all) in cold water, pathogens multiplied and the human race died off.
Home hot water cannot kill most bacteria and viruses.
I'll bet you don't even eat food that falls on the floor!
If you feed it cold water, it will take longer to heat the water, slowing the cycle. Run the water before you start it till the water is hot to speed the wash. If you heat water with cheaper fuel (Gas), it will cost less to use the hot water supply. Dishwashers may not need to heat the water after the first cycle, as one hot cycle should wash and sanitise, and rinsing doesn't need the highest heat.
"Bob F" wrote in news:0vqdnTqVM_t1FAbVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
It seems to have several phases. A preliminary wash that disposes of garbage by sending it to the in-sink erator. Other phases after that.
Here is what I think might be happening in the phases after the first: The water in the pipe is no longer hot at the start of the phase. The dishwasher draws that cooled water from the pipe. The house water heater replaces that water in the pipe with hot water. The dishwasher proceeds with that phase, starting by heating the cooled water, while the hot water in the pipe cools. So the hot water in the pipe would waste its heat while at the same time the dishwasher would be wasting energy to reheat water whose heat was already wasted.
Electricity around here is almost as cheap as natural gas. Some months it might actually be cheaper.
Those are the reasons why I think it might be a good idea to try switching the dishwasher to use cold water.
It's true that it would take hours. But it takes hours anyway. An extra hour isn't likely to be a big deal. You would want to run it while you sleep or while you're not home or whatever.
Regardless, it does a good job of getting the dishes clean.
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