We hated ours. Never really worked as well as we would like and used up too much energy. But then, maybe our was just broken. The previous home owner installed it.

We instead opted to fix the plumbing so hot water would make it to the kitchen faucet quickly, and we bought a good electric water kettle. Very happy with this choice.

I'd never do it. My sis had this done. She gets the hot water alright, but her cold water is now really warm and I mean quite a bit warmer than just luke warm. so now, if she wants cold water, she has to let the water run for a while. Silly. So if you get it done, make sure that heated water tank sits at a good distance from the cold water supply!

I use an electric kettle that boils water super fast. Much cheaper and lets me heat water to specific temps, such as 95F for my french press coffee and 75F for green tea etc. Love it. In the time it takes to get the water ready, I prepare a tray for my tea or coffee. I fear, if I had instantly ready hot water, I wouldn't take the time to bother with a tray to take to my favorite chair. I'd probably just fill a mug and have the tea standing by the kitchen sink. Ugh! Not very relaxing. Also, I have an induction cooktop that gets a large pot of pasta water boiling in no time. No need for a hot water dispenser.

I have mine (hot/room temp) installed for almost 5 years now and I love it. It makes tea great, but it's definitely not hot enough for pour over coffee meaning also not near boiling temperature. But I do use it to jump start making instant noodle when I am starving. I also have induction cooktop but using the hot water from the dispenser with the cooktop literally make boiling water in seconds, it really helps when one is starving. I don't have any issues with my cold water. I used to have one of those office water dispenser that uses 5 gallons water bottle but it was an eye sore and also I could barely change the water bottle without any spill. I make tea daily multiple time. So I love my hot/room temp water dispenser and would replace if it ever break.

If you get an induction cooktop, you can have boiling water in less than 90 seconds

“I am wondering if the water from these things really comes out near boiling”

No, it does not.

I didn’t like mine in a previous kitchen, and would not have one again. It did not get hot enough. Proper tea needs boiling water, and the hot water dispenser doesn’t got close to boiling hot. Also we had problems from minerals in our water clogging it. And our water isn’t that hard. I’d rather boil water in a tea kettle. Much less trouble.

We put ours in last year and love it. It does get close to boiling. We use it for pour over coffee (chemex with espresso grind), tea, and cooking water. It’s an Insinkerator.

Before I would even consider putting in plumbing for hot water specifically, I'd buy and try a hot water 'urn' (they seem to be called). Basically an insulated electric kettle, with button dispenser. Seems to be exactly what you want, keeps the water at desired temperature as long as you want, not expensive ($50 or so and up on amazon).

I don't have one at home but we had one in our office and was very popular. Fill in the morning, close, turn on, press the button for hot water whenever you need. Water definitely can be kept hot enough for eg noodles and soups (I gather these urns are basically standard in Asia). I don't know how they deal with the pressure of hot water but they don't noticeably belch out steam like a regular electric kettle when coming to boil.

If this works for you, great, no additional electric work and plumbing required. If after you decide you still want the plumbed hot water dispenser, you're only out a little and have this thing for occasional use (I've used one for outdoor gatherings around the barbecue, convenient for the usual tea/coffee/whatever without 'turning it on' every time).

Big waste of electricity for stale hot water to make bad tea. Plus it requires a dedicated electrical outlet.

Here’s the thing... everyone has an opinion. Go with your gut! I use mine and love it. Others may not. Only you know yourself and what you want and hope for. If it’s on your wish list, I would put it in.

We have had an Insinkerator for many years and love it. We use it every day. Ours has the hot/cool (not cold) water and our hot water does come out close to boiling. For us, it's one of the best things we put in our kitchen during our remodel. My MIL loved it so much she added one to her kitchen. If you have a need for hot water frequently I think you'd get a lot of use out of it.

I love mine- don't use for coffee or tea unless I know that it has been run recently so that the water is fresh, but use it everyday to clean dishes and other items (with soap, takes care of all sorts of baked on and oily gunk, to heat up cups and serving dishes prior to use, to fill the hot water bottle that I like to use in the winter...

Mine is now 5 years old, twice now (every 2 1/2 years) the connecting yellow hose has loosened at the top, leaked a little bit (only when being used) and had to be snipped 1/2 inch and reconnected. So check under your cabinet every once in a while after use to be sure that there is not a little bit of water underneath- will prevent a bigger problem.

I liked mine, but the tank died every 3-5 years. That gets very annoying, not to mention expensive. Especially when an induction top will do it in seconds. I always kept a giant casserole dish under the tank, knowing it was just a matter of time. I opted against it this remodel, and am glad to be out from under the worry.

Thank you EVERYONE for your input! I am really torn. On one hand, I love the idea of a hot water dispensing tap for tea. But on the other hand it seems a lot of people both here and in reviews seem to think that the water doesn't always get hot enough or the tanks are a hassle and break down a lot.

So I have two questions from anyone on here: If you have one or have had one what kind (Make and model) was it? Let me know if it got near boiling and if it held up well- those are my main concerns. (We are leaning towards an Insinkerator of some sort if we do end up putting one in.)

Also, IF we put a hot water dispenser in and end up not liking it or finding it to be a hassle with breaking down, can you take it out and just replace that hole in the counter with a soap dispenser or a pull out sprayer? If a quick switch-out was relatively easy and simple it would make me more inclined to try this out.

Thank you again! This seems a small thing in the whole scope of our kitchen remodel and yet its the one thing bugging me and that I feel really uncertain on!

Interesting discussion. it sounds like some of you are using plain old hot tap water to cook with or consume..i thought that was ill advised due to minerals from the tank.

We have filtered water goes into the Insinkerator tank so it’s not tap water. Now I remember that there is a temperature setting and I think my husband purposely didn’t set it too hot, mine reach about 165F. I need to look at it tonight to see where the temperature dial is set to. Our model number is HC-WAVE-C. I am not a fan of the faucet style that came in as a set but the other faucet I like is $3xx by itself and didn’t come as a set so I will wait until my faucet fail to replace with the one I like.

Funny that you would mention the soap dispenser. Now, there is an appliance that I can recommend. We got a big soap tank: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UXL5K0G and hooked it up to a basic dispenser. I love the convenience and how it keeps my countertops uncluttered.

There was a instant hot water dispenser here when I moved in -- my first thought was what the heck is the point of that. Now? I love the thing and use it all the time, mostly for cooking to reduce amount of time it takes to bring water to a boil and for making broth and tea.

I installed one 23 years ago, would not have a kitchen without one. You can adjust the temperature, we use it for quick cleaning, add to pasta pot to speed up boiling, and for a quick cup of tea. You can adjust the water temperature easily. At high altitudes you are limited to about 155 degrees F.

Replacement when necessary is pretty simple and many come with a filter now. We do not bother. I hate working in kitchens without one.

The water isn't hot enough for proper tea. OK for Americans perhaps, but not right.

I strongly advise to put a dish soap dispenser in no matter what, i don’t like seeing dish detergent soap bottle on the counter.. i have keurig and when i want hot water i just dispense from that.. with no coffee pod inside...easy.. some people do a dispense once after removing the coffee pod then the next one they make their tea, some folks feel tea tastes like coffee if not purged one time first. Or tea kettle works

My mom's kitchen has one. I agree with the posts that say it does not get water hot enough to make tea. It is a Franke. To address ILoveRed's post, the Franke has a filter for the minerals issue. I would not get a hot water dispenser that does not have a filter. However, the filter needs to be changed about every 6 months, and they cost about $45-50 each, and they are not easy to change (unlike a refrigerator filter). When you are shopping for hot water dispensers with filters, make sure you see whether the filter is easy to change or not. In summary, my experience is that these hot water dispensers are not worth it.

I just cut an abandoned hot water dispenser out of today's sink replacement. Had to use a diamond blade on a grinder; the nut wouldn't move:

Would not have a kitchen without it! This time I am trying the “ready hot RH 200” Have had insinkerator in the last house but the prices were getting crazy. This ones a good bit cheaper so we shall see how it does. Good luck....you won’t regret it!

Not reading the other comments... since I have an on-demand hot water heater in the basement, I didn't see any need for a hot water dispenser separate from the actual faucet system over my kitchen sink. If you can do this, just do this.

We have had one in the last 3 of our homes, but not in this one. We debated it, since we were used to the convenience, but we didn't want more "counter acne" than necessary.

Turns out we don't miss it at all. We now use a countertop electric kettle that has temperature settings and love it.

Hot water dispensers are convenient, but if you have hard water they will scale and you'll need to replace the tank.

We have had one leak.

The tanks are bulky and can be challenging to fit if you have a lot of other stuff going on under the sink.

The water can get stale if you don't use it often.

We have one and love it! Great for tea and disinfecting dishes and such.

I've had mine for over 30 years in my primary house( this is the second one which we put in new when we renovated the kitchen 18 years ago. I think it is an insinkerator. Never had a problem. It also has room temp filtered water. I use that feature all the time too. I love it and it is the first thing I switch on when I come back from traveling. I use it dozens of times every day, from making tea, oatmeal, warming up the coffee cups for coffee, prewashing dishes and getting off really greasy or burned on stains, getting a jumpstart on cooking pasta and soups. It is instant and it is there and I don't have to fill a kettle and wait for it to boil. I don't have one in my vacation home and I really miss it. I had really limited counter space and the kettle was one more thing on the counter to take up space. I am renovating it now and there is no question I will put in one. ( My secret desire is to have one at each sink.). My other secret fantasy is to get a zipwater hydrotap one (new to the USA and I think was rated best new product at KBIS 2019 ) which has chilled water, boiling water and sparkling water ( no soda stream on the counter )and would keep my endless stream of visitors from going through my cook zone to access cold water from the refrigerator. But it costs thousands. But I am SOOOOOOO tempted and trying (so far, unsuccessfully) to justify it to myself!

I know this thread is a few months old, but I am having this dilemma now. I was actually thinking about putting it next to the faucet at the bar area, if it fits. Providing there is a clear size distinction. Has anyone ever seen that? What did you decide on your renovation?

Nikki D, it depends on the model faucet you choose. When I was looking at the Insinkerator , one style looked the same as my bar sink faucet and one was distinctly different with 2 handles.

Waverly- so did you wind up with 2 faucets (one bar faucet and the insinkerator) at the bar area? If so does it look crowded? And how wide is the sink? I don’t want someone to accidentally use the hot water even thought u know you need to push down and push back on the one we’re looking at. Thnx!

I'm on the "for" side of the discussion. I was not always a fan, however.

The boss wanted one for her new Kohler sink. I could not see the need for it, but since I enjoy sleeping at home, she got one.

Wouldn't try to do without it now it is so convenient.

It's true that the water is not actually boiling, although it can be set very nearly to the boiling point. But, dispenser hot water and 20 seconds in the microwave produces tea quality boiling water.

Great for soaking the stuck on food that just will not come off. For making instant oats or grits, near perfect. And, it's probably cheaper than boiling water on the range.

Make sure you get a good one, though, or you will end up replacing it every 2-3 years. We have a Waste-King with which we are quite satisfied.

@Nikki D. short answer: No. Long answer: the bar area is in a different part of the house and only has the bar faucet. I have lived in that house over summers for 14 years without an Instant hot and have missed it every single day. My primary house has the instant hot and I have had this one for 18 years and a different one before I renovated that kitchen. There I have 2 faucets, the regular one and the small insinkerator one with 2 levers on a different corner of the sink.That sink is 20 inches square ( D shaped). Now that I am redoing the kitchen in my summer home, I am DEFINITELY putting in the same model with the same design faucet. It has 2 levers; one for hot and one for cold (room temperature) filtered water. I preferred the style of the single lever but just thought with all my visitors, someone will land up burning themselves, playing around with one lever or I will spend every weekend explaining to each set of visitors how to operate it.

And I agree with everything Starcraft builders has said.