Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
did it work out for you?

"TJ" wrote in message
...
Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
did it work out for you?

It worked good but it kept on over heating and boiling off, I finally had to
put it on a timer and even then it was a distraction. I now use an electric
kettle (Presto) that says that it boils water faster than a microwave and
I'm really happy with it. So if I had to do it over I would save the $179
difference and buy a nice coffee grinder and coffee press (strainer that
pushes down on the coffee in a small urn) and some of the best coffee
available and you wouldn't be sorry, and you'll still have money in your
pocket!

Rich

"Howard Goldstein" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 20:32:18 -0600, TJ wrote:
: Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot.
How
: did it work out for you?

I love instant hot water taps when they work, but for some reason
every one I've installed eventually suffers a tank leak. In case it's
relevant, my county seems to have a disproportionate number of homes
that require whole-house replumbing after repeated pinhole leak
induced floods.

Wish I could find an instant tap that had a lifespan longer than a
Mayfly's.


I don't have any experience with these things but do have experience with
cooling systems. Usually when you start getting tank leaks on those things
it is a problem with dissimilar metals. If you mix aluminum with stainless,
for example, the least noble metal will sacrifice itself. That is why they
put a sacrificial anode rod made of zinc in your hot water tank and why they
use isolation couplings between copper and galvanized pipe. Well, there's my
2 cents for what it's worth...good luck, Ross

TJ wrote:
: Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
: did it work out for you?

I've had one for about a year and my only gripe is a plastic taste to the
water if you drink it straight from the tap, but otherwise not noticed
when used for making hot beverages. I have an Insinkerator HH770 model,
which holds about a half gallon.

TJ wrote:
: Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
: did it work out for you?

My wife resisted the idea of installing one of these for years,
preferring to use a tea kettle or microwave. Now that we've had one
for a year or so, the tea kettle went to Goodwill because we both love
our insta-hot.

I first bought a 1 piece model where the tank and spout were a single
unit that mounts through a standard sink knockout, but I didn't have
enough clearance behind the sink and had to exchange it for a model
with a separate spout and tank/heater. It works great and we love it,
but my only gripe is that the spout that came with this model does
have a locking position for the valve, so you have to hold the knob in
the on position rather than flipping in on and leaving it until your
container is full, which is a bit of a pain when you need more than a
coffee mug full of water. Some day I will look into swapping the spout
for a different type. My unit has a thermostat adjustement, so it can
be lowered (and in fact should be) if boiling is observed, as another
poster complained about. The water temp is supposed to be set to
about 190 degrees so it doesn't boil, which can cause overpressure and
dribbling from the spout.

BYW, I also have an undersink reverse osmosis water filter and I
tapped into the output of that as the source for the inst-hot. As a
result, the water has no noticeable taste. If you have a lot of
minerals in you water, you might notice an off taste or odor from the
hot water, although probably no worse than heating it in some other
way.

Is it any better or more convenient than an automatic kettle you fill
and set on the counter, as suggested by another poster? Not a whole
lot I guess, although it saves the filling and waitiing steps. But
counter space is always a premium at my place, so I like the built-in
approach for that reason.

HTH,

Paul

"TJ" wrote:

Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
did it work out for you?

I've used an insinkerator for over 5 years - love it for getting
instant hot water for drinks etc., especially as hot water from the
house tank takes a minute or two to arrive hot.

Just upgraded the dispenser (tap) of the insinkerator to nickel-finish
to match the new stainless kitchen faucet - but kept the tank - no
leaks so far.

"TJ" wrote in message
...
Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
did it work out for you?

Kettle - $15-20

How much convenience does one need?

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 20:32:18 -0600, "TJ" wrote:

Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
did it work out for you?


2 years ago we redid the kitchen. Refinished the cabinetry, new
refrig, installed dishwasher, great Moen faucet with filter, soap
dispenser. . . . . and instant hot water. The hot water was an
afterthought, an uncustomary impulse buy. I saw it & just thought it
looked cool.

I'm the dishwasher, so in my book the dishwasher was the coolest
upgrade--- but SWMBO fell in love with the instant hot water. We
got the model that is preset at 140 degrees. It is perfect for
brewing a single cup of coffee in her Melitta brewer. I use it for
tea and find myself using it more frequently for cooking. [for adding
a cup of bouillon or *hot* water to a recipe]

It is also handy as a source of extra hot water for removing labels,
melting wax, dissolving dried jelly, etc.

BTW- I have an electrical drain someplace in my house & I suspected
this little gadget that only gets used about once a day so I put a
Kill-o-watt meter on it for 2 weeks. It used on average about
..8KWH a day-- about $3 a month in my neck of the woods.

Jim

I have the Insinkerator model which I bought at HD about 4 years ago.
The previous one lasted about 12 years before developing a leak. This
one stopped working shortly after the warranty expired. I took it
apart and found it was the high temp fuse that had opened. Called up
for a part, turns out they were well aware of this being a problem with
it failing and had a repair kit they replaced the high temp cut out
with a different type design. Wound up costing my like $25 bucks. I
think they should have provided the kit for free, since it was an
obvious design flaw.

Anyway, whatever model you get, I highly recommend them. Once you have
it, you really like the convenience. I use it for instant coffee and
tea. If I'm in a hurry to make something like pasta, I even use it for
the hot water for filling the pot, before putting it on the stove.

Actually guys Im talking about instant hot water throughout the house. It
looks like you install something at the Hot Water Heater Tank and a Return
or something under one sink. Any faucet in the house gets instant hot water.
I assume this works by somehow keeping the hot water constantly flowing in
some sort of loop from the tank?

I have one and its terrific! I had one installed in my first house 20 years ago
and have put one in each house I bought since. Instant tea, coffee, hot coco,
oatmeal, soup and when you need a cup of boiling water to cook with, its
instant. If you have kids, this thing is a must!

Get one. I paid $400.00 for my current model because the wife made the kitchen
all stainless.

(Howard Goldstein) wrote:

-snip-
I've had them and loved them until their premature failure.

If your's has survived more than 2 years please post the brand &
model. Mine have all failed shortly after the warranty expires.

I'm probably jinxing myself, but my cheapo [$99 at one of the borgs]
'Steamin' Hot' Hot-1 dispenser will be 2 yrs old next week.

We have extremely hard water so I expected an early demise but so far
it performs just as it did when new. [and when it dies I won't
hesitate to spend the $100 and 30 minutes to put in a new one.]

I wonder if usage pattern might affect life? We use ours for a cup
or two nearly every day.

Jim

"Howard Goldstein" wrote in message
...
On 09 Jan 2005 16:28:23 GMT, SEPrince1 wrote:
: I have one and its terrific! I had one installed in my first house 20
years ago
: and have put one in each house I bought since. Instant tea, coffee, hot
coco,
: oatmeal, soup and when you need a cup of boiling water to cook with,
its
: instant. If you have kids, this thing is a must!
:
: Get one. I paid $400.00 for my current model because the wife made the
kitchen
: all stainless.
:

I've had them and loved them until their premature failure.

If your's has survived more than 2 years please post the brand &
model. Mine have all failed shortly after the warranty expires.

When I went to purchase the replacement tank for my old Insta-HOT, the
experienced counter person gave me a history lesson on how they were
originally built (like the one I was replacing) and how they went through a
few iterations where the quality went down before the new generation. I
wonder if you got yours during the bad period?

I like ours, but I wouldn't pay $400 for one, particularly since I've never
worn out a kettle and you can buy a lot of them for that kind of money.
But, to each his own.

--
Jim Sullivan
seattle, washington

TJ wrote:
Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot.
How
did it work out for you?

They're great. I have the insinkerator model:

http://www.insinkerator.com/homehot_...100/photo2.jpg

Temp can be adjusted, by default it's at 190 (you don't want it
boiling).

Howard Goldstein wrote:
On 09 Jan 2005 16:28:23 GMT, SEPrince1 wrote:
: I have one and its terrific! I had one installed in my first
house 20 years ago
: and have put one in each house I bought since. Instant tea,
coffee, hot coco,
: oatmeal, soup and when you need a cup of boiling water to cook
with, its
: instant. If you have kids, this thing is a must!
:
: Get one. I paid $400.00 for my current model because the wife
made the kitchen
: all stainless.
:

I've had them and loved them until their premature failure.

If your's has survived more than 2 years please post the brand &
model. Mine have all failed shortly after the warranty expires.

Mine is 2 years old in February:

http://www.insinkerator.com/homehot_...100/photo2.jpg
What's in them to fail?

Martik wrote:
"TJ" wrote in message
...
Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home
Depot. How
did it work out for you?

Kettle - $15-20

How much convenience does one need?

It's more than that, however. If you are one to run your water until
it's hot before filling up the kettle, you'll save money (and energy)
because you don't have to do that.

If you cook, it's great having an instant source of hot water to add to
a dish.

For opening stuck jars, run them under the instant hot water for a few
seconds instead of wasting water and energy while your regular tap gets
hot.