Hot water cooling down before it gets to the faucet... (Howe: live, restaurants)

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by Driftwood1

Couple things. First, alot of the better dishwashers heat their own water. Much more efficient. Next, if the HW heater is a long way from where you need it hot, recirc pumps (properly plumbed) will work but you paying to heat all that water. I suggest you look at POS heaters. Point of Service heaters are very small and mounted close to where the water comes out. Much less wasted heat. We have one under our kitchen sink, and as soon as we turned off the Recirc pump and put that in, our bills went down..
Hope this helps.
Cheers

Thanks, I am currently exploring the POS heaters - do you remember how much it cost for you to install? The diswasher with this house is about ready to go anyway so maybe the fix for that is to replace it. There is one bathroom off in the distance with water not exceeding 100 but I don't imagine using it often and besides, 100 is hot enough for a shower in the event the bath does get used.

[Nick Quijano]

Your friendly General Contractor here....your dishwasher heats the water to the proper temperature to steralize dishes, unless of course the heating element is worn out.

[Jennibc]

I just heard from a plumber that point of service tankless hot water heaters are not permitted in Austin. He said he spoke with someone at the city who told him it is against code. Does anyone have any information on this because it is the only way we will be able to get hot water to our sink.

We have fixed the check valve, we have put in a new circulating pump, but for the water to get hot enough to reach the kitchen sink, our surface floor temp gets up to 98 degrees increasing our air conditioning bill (the we have to run the pump continuously for it to be hot at the kitchen sink, again increasing our energy cost). Is this for real?

[centralaustinite]

Why again do you need it so hot at the sink?

Does your dishwasher not heat the water itself? Most do. I'd just replace the dishwasher if it needs it.

I don't know about POS heaters being against Austin City Code, could be. I can't imagine a plumber would make that up. Call the City development office and ask yourself if you doubt it.

[Jennibc]

I just pulled the code.

They misread it.

Dishwashers require that the hot water temp be 120 degrees, we just purchased a new one and it takes water at 120 and then heats it further - ours is barely 100. Also to wash our hands in the sink after cutting meat and vegetables and to wash pots and pans. Right now we are heating water on the stove to wash dishes.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

I just pulled the code.

They misread it.

Dishwashers require that the hot water temp be 120 degrees, we just purchased a new one and it takes water at 120 and then heats it further - ours is barely 100. Also to wash our hands in the sink after cutting meat and vegetables and to wash pots and pans. Right now we are heating water on the stove to wash dishes.

Good for you! I am glad that you will be able to get an in-line heater installed. 100 is pretty tepid!

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Obviously, this raises all sorts of problems in terms of being able to sanitize dishes. The water should be at least 120 degrees. It is 120 in all of the bathrooms but it seems the kitchen is at the furthest point from the hotwater heater so by the time in runs through the pipes in the slab, it cools down.
!

FYI the hot water is does not sanitize dishes. The purpose of hot water is to melt the grease - cold water doesnt remove grease nearly as well. Soap also does not kill bacteria, it just helps to remove the bacteria by allowing the water to wash the bacteria away. Ultimately you are washing dishes to remove the food so bacteria doesnt grow, not to kill the bacteria themselves.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by Austin97

FYI the hot water is does not sanitize dishes. The purpose of hot water is to melt the grease - cold water doesnt remove grease nearly as well. Soap also does not kill bacteria, it just helps to remove the bacteria by allowing the water to wash the bacteria away. Ultimately you are washing dishes to remove the food so bacteria doesnt grow, not to kill the bacteria themselves.

are you sure about this? Years ago I worked in food service which meant getting a food handlers permit. I remember being tested on the temps required for washing hands and dishes and the express purpose was to kill germs.

[Jennibc]

Because I know y'all have been sitting on the edges of your seats, waiting with baited breath, etc. wondering how this all turned out:

I HAVE HOT WATER!

The point of service tankless hot water heater works like a charm. I also now can recommend very good, very reasonable electricians and plumbers. Now I just need a drywall person.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

are you sure about this? Years ago I worked in food service which meant getting a food handlers permit. I remember being tested on the temps required for washing hands and dishes and the express purpose was to kill germs.

I'm sure many of the germs were killed or washed away, but perhaps not as many as we think.

I recall reading a few years ago of a test performed comparing restaurant eating utensils (after washing) and US coins, regarding the adage that children should not put coins in their mouths.

Tests found that the restaurant eating utensils had far more bacteria on them then US coins, because there was very little on the coins that the bacteria could live on, but there was plenty of food residue on the utensils, even after washing. So your children are safer putting coins in their mouths then they are putting "washed" eating utensils in their mouths from public restaurants.



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