hot water temp for dishwasher

[cehalstead]

I hope this doesn't belong in another thread, but this place seemed to be the best....When using a detergent such as Cascade Complete, will the detergent work better if I lower my water heater temp to 120 degrees and allow the dishwasher's heater to raise the water temp to the level programmed into the dishwasher? I have a TOL '98 Maytag Jetclean dishwasher.

 

[toggleswitch]

Well:

Lowering your water heater's temperature will (IMHO):
1- Save energy
2- Extend the life of the water heater.
3- Be safer for showers and hands.
4- May prevent damage to certain plastics in the DW- [knife handles, pot handles, cuttingn boards, etc.]
5- May prevent damage to some glassware- super hot water hitting a room-temp drinking glass may shatter it.

Leaving the temperature at a higher setting:
1- whiter-than-white whites in your laundry, assuming you pre-wash in warm or cold to avoid "setting" protein-based stains
2- Quick DW loads.

Here is my opinion:

Although the extra time needed to reach operating temp may improve performance, super hot incoming water aslo improves performance. Six of one and half-a-dozen of the other?

Personally I would install a 2 gallon(8 litre) tiny water heater or instantaneous water heater in-line with the DW (perhaps located unde the kitchen sink) and put it on a one-hour wind-up timer [as seen in bathrooms in hotels for the heat-lamp].

In this way you can have it both ways-
pre-heated or non-preheated incoming water.

regards,
Steve

 

[kenmore1978]

heating

Keep the water heater set low and let the DW do the heating as needed, if you don't mind the longer cycle times.

The onlyother issue would be how hot you need the water for the clothes washer. But you could install one of those 10 gallon electric water heaters in the line to the washer, and turn it on only when you need really hot water for the whites.

 

[petek]

lower the water heater

Mines set low enough that I can still put my hands in it, barely without getting burned. I set the DW for 150 deg wash, heck I'm never in that big a rush for it to finish and me unload it.

 

[cehalstead]

Thanks for all the advice....I think I'll do a compromise of all suggestions: my water heater is in the same room as the clothes washer, so I will turn it down for everyday use, and when I need really hot water for the whites, I will turn it up and let it heat while I wash my first load in warm or cold. (Gas heater, so recovery is fast.)

Thanks again (I knew I could depend on this site for the right advice)
Chuck

 

[appnut]

Chuck, I keep mine between 115 & 120 degrees. And that's evryday use. When I do whites, I let the heater heat up to 140 or so while I'm pre-soaking in lukewarm for about 1/2 an hour. Then I turn it back down and let the most important load needing hot water to begin to take down the hot water, thus saving me electricity.

 

[gansky1]

A word of caution...

Do not turn the water heater below 120F. There are a number of bacteria that thrive and multiply rapidly in water (even tap water) at temps less than 120F. Leigionella bacteria, the most dangerous, multiply rapidly at lower water temps. Many state regulatory agencies and health department concerns have statutes in place that outgoing water temps from the heater be 125F-140F.

 

[toggleswitch]

In my case the oil- fired steam-generatig boiler creates steam for heat and has an instantaneous coil for hot water.

Obviously, in the winter the water is way too hot.

I installed a non-electric (mechanical) thermostatic temepring (mixing) valve that pre-mixes the hot water coil's output with cold water to shoot cooler water in to the hot water pipes.

Once I learn how to solder water pipes, I will run another main pipe with super-hot water to my 2 washers and two dishwashers- and leave the bathroom(s) and kitchens using the tempered/cooler/safer water from the current feed pipe!

 

[toggleswitch]

...antother way to do this is install tempering valves under each kit. and bath sink and another for each shower/tub, enabling one to leave the water heater on "high".

 

[MrX]

Officially, in Ireland you're supposed to keep your hot water at 60 C (140 F) max. However, there are plenty of older heating system that will get a good bit warmer than that... It's pretty vital, particularly if there are kids in the house that you make sure that the temprature of the water is kept at a safe level.

Also, most modern thermostatic showers and bathtaps won't allow you to heat the shower to dangerous levels, regardless of the incomming water temprature. The same can't be said for older devices and it's quite possible to get at least turned red should you accidently crank it up to max.

There's probabally not a whole lot of point in putting your water temp. higher simply for the dishwasher anyway. It won't fill for long enough to actually get much more than the lukewarm or cold water that's sitting in the pipework between the hotwater tank and the tap it's connected to. Dishwashers don't use a lot of water.

Same goes for frontloader washing machines (At least modern ones) They don't fill for long enough to make any use of a hot water connection so, in most instances in Europe manufacturers have simply dropped the hot fill option completely.

 

[toggleswitch]

Here I believe we are still advised in many user's manuals to run the water at the tap nearest the machine (in question) until it it hot.

Maybe old WP DWs (60s ?)had the right idea -two closed detergent cups and a pre-rinse before that sought to purge the cold water out of the lines!! At least the water was put to good use!!!

 

[whirlcool]

With our BOL Kenmore Dishwasher we always run the tap next to the dishwasher before starting it to get hot water. The hot water heater is not that far away and within 20-30 seconds we have 160F heat at the dishwasher/laundry room. We are satisfied with this machines performance and this is probably the reason why.

 

[geoff]

Hot water

Our hot water is oil fired and set at 170 degrees. Never ending hot water. We have our oil price contract fixed very low so I think it's a matter of what costs more. Heating the hot water in the dishwasher or the water tank. I do know that in our case, on the Anti-Bacterial setting with Extra Hot Wash selected, the dishwashers maximum temp is 20 degrees lower than our hot water temp. We just use whatever cycle suits the load and know that regardless of setting we are getting 170 degree washes and rinses. In our case it's cheaper to heat the water in the tank than in the dishwasher. I guess it's all relative and personal preference.

 

[toggleswitch]

I agree, here in/near New England electricity is VERY expensive and we tend to use fossil fuels directly whenever possible.