I'm very happy with mine. The reason you use cold water is when you are cooking, you never pull the water from the hot water heater to cook with. It is old water that has been sitting in the tank, possibly with metal fragments at the bottom. yick. I suppose if you have an on demand system then it is a different story. Then there are those that will argue that the water in the pipe has been sitting there. I usually use the pot filler for filling containers daily to water the plants out on my deck. So I always have water running through it.

Here's a picture that will just make you want one...

{{gwi:1424082}}

Room temperature water standing in the pipes is what you get when you open the faucet to get a quart of water.
If you had a drain, you could dump that water first. You have no drain under the pot filler, normally.
If you had a water heater right _at_ the stove, then the statements above would not apply. This is never the case. The normal distance from the water heater tank to the faucet is a key factor.

Other factors also add up. Here is one: hot water from the water heater tank has some risk associated to it. A tank is actually a sedimentation place for Organic Gunk, which builds up in the bottom of the tank, and can (possibly, eventually) infect the hot water with diseases like Legionella (do not lose sleep over this). So, hot water is technically deemed not as pure as the "cold" water line. Scalding hot water from an Instant-Hot destroys these diseases, by the way. Also by the way, sedimentation in supply pipes may harbor these same Legionella, so it is not strictly the tank that is the risk.

Searching the web for 18 months I've learned that there are no pot fillers designed to take hot water. There may be a liability concern here. One can send mixed water into them, easily, by connecting a mixer valve by yourself, but one cannot purchase a mixer-valve potfiller.

So, room temperature water standing in the pipes is what you get when you open the faucet to get a quart of water, and only by letting water flow for a few seconds can you flush the line, and that requires a drain. Connecting it to the cold water supply line is best in this case.

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I've often wondered why I've never seen posts from people with IHW (scalding hot instant water) as a pot filler. IHW requires a faucet made specifically for IHW because the high heat will damage normal faucets. Other than that peculiarity (or particularity), there is nothing else needed to know. Why hasn't this become a big thing in upscale kitchens? I don't get it. It makes sense to me, but have I missed something?

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A pot filler is not just to fill large cooking pots. It can be used for anything. Mine is used for all the water to be consumed making a meal because is not run through the water softener.

With conventional plumbing, the water just out of the hot water tap isn't hot until you run it for a bit.

Most pot filler faucets are not placed over a sink, so it would be very impractical to run the pot filler so as to get hot water out of it. You would have to be running to the sink to dump out the cold water while switching pots until it ran hot.

Instant hot tanks are smaller than you would need to fill the large pots that are the best reason to use a pot filler and the flow rate is much slower than an ordinary faucet while the pot filler is likely to be much faster.

lascatx, oh, I think I meant the "on demand, tankless" water system. Your comment caused me to think...how do people shower if there isn't enough hot water even for a pot...duh.

Unless you use a recirculator the water wouldn't be hot unless you let it run for awhile.

Well now I know to attach it to the cold water. As bad as this sounds I think they look great and it is something that can be achieved at a small cost compared to other things in a kitchen and anything I can add that is low cost and adds style is great to me.

I always cook with cold water. I use the room temperature spigot on my bottled water dispenser. While we have a pot filler in the new kitchen, I actually am a little dubious about it since the water from it will be unfiltered. I am an avid cook and make gallons of gumbo and red beans during the season (even though I am just a transplant to New Orleans!) I still think of my -gorgeous, and even better: CHEAP! - pot filler as backsplash bling rather than a serious cooking tool. It's brass to tie into the brass on the range. Got it at overstock for just over $100 and it looks much more expensive and has a great finish on it.

Yep, I just wanted it for the bling. Kitchen Jewelry as one poster explained :)
Ours not in yet but, can't wait !!!

I personally think pot fillers are crazy. Sure you can fill from the stove, but you're still going to have to carry the filled pot back to the sink. I'd save my money and skip it.

Ive been wondering about these.. can you lock them? I can just see my kids causing all kinds of trouble...

Yep, Like I said kitchen jewelry. You DO have to carry the pot back to the sink to empty. But, we could all save money and buy our appliances at Walmart, install old school laminate instead of granite, only have 1 oven and put linolium on the floor. Everyone has their kitchen desires...

Joy, no I don't think they lock. Mine will have 2 handles tho...

I love my pot filler. Hardly ever use it though. I have a plain backsplash and my pot filler is my bling. I was afraid I'd tire of a pattern behind my range so I chose a pot filler. LOL! Great conversation piece.

I have a pot filler at my prep sink attached to an R.O. water supply. Hence, it is filtered, more or less at room temperature, and I get to carry the pot both ways.

My understanding from parental comments long ago and far away was that hot water more easily leached lead from pipes and hence cold water should be used for cooking. Under some conditions this is true, but modern plumbing should expose the water to minimal lead, and should also arrive slightly alkaline to avoid dissolving lead where present.

kas

I agree that if all you are going to do with your pot filler is use the water for hot water applications, it makes sense to hook it up to hot water...BUT hot water is harder on the seals and valves, so be ready to fix leaks if you hook it up to hot water. Cold water is mechanically easier on the fixture...on all fixtures.

Cold water is more versatile than hot water. Cold water can be heated easily, but we are not usually set up to cool hot water easily...dumping ice into it will cool it. Cold water can be used for making pastries, dough, pasta and other items that usually are not compliant with hot water.

Arguably, Hot water has fewer chances for disease since it is already somewhat "Cooked."

I use tankless water heaters since they last longer in the few houses I build. Sometimes you need to drill out the shower heads to get the flow the heaters need to work, o else they cycle on and off when showering....not good.

Cold water is what to use on your pot filler.

Oh! A means to obtain a cyclic hot to cold to hot water shower. I'm sure that there is a need for that somewhere -- maybe as an ultimate distraction to test one's zen concentration technique.