# Does the hot water need to be turned on for a portable dish washer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712 "2015-04-15T04:20:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/21 "2015-04-16T20:38:19Z")
Hey everybody! There’s beer at **PK** ’s cabin and nobody’s home. PartAYYY! Just kidding. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/22 "2015-04-16T20:44:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Hey everybody! There’s beer at **PK** ’s cabin and nobody’s home. PartAYYY! I’m not even an “up nort” kind of guy. We inherited the place about 5 years ago. We go up there maybe 3 times a year if that. Our kids go up and use it with their families far more often than we do. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/23 "2015-04-16T21:02:38Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > whatta you freaking out about? There is an auto shut off valve that cuts the water when the unit is finished cycling. Well, I’ve had my portable unit shake loose from the nozzle during a cycle, leaving the faucet running hot water at full tilt into the sink. Caught within an hour, no biggie. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/24 "2015-06-24T04:50:27Z")
Alright. We went up to the cabin this past weekend. Actually entertained a few guests. Ran the dishwasher with the faucet on cold. At the end of the cycle opened the dishwasher door and found out that you guys and my wife are: \*\*WRONG!!! \*\* Billows of steam poured out of the door. The heating element of the unit heated the water! You lose, thank you for playing. Now r:rolleyes:ll your eyes like Doll did when I pointed this out to her! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/25 "2015-06-24T08:41:13Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Billows of steam poured out of the door. The heating element of the unit heated the water! You lose, thank you for playing. > 😛 whoah! hang on. note where I said > [@](#): > > I’ve never come across a dishwasher that required a hot water feed. All the ones I’ve ever seen only require cold, there simply isn’t a hot water infeed at all. So… {{{pushes glasses up bridge of nose}}} I think you’ll find I was correct ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/26 "2015-06-24T10:23:30Z")
When I first bought an automatic washing machine I was surprised that it did not have a hot water feed. Then I thought about it and realised two things. 1. In many houses the hot water pressure is not that great, and 2. You usually run at least a couple of litres of cold and often a lot more, before the water runs hot anyway. It would be quite possible, especially with the newer economical machines, that all the hot water would be left in the pipes. The same thing applies to a dishwasher. I am in the process of buying a new one and I see that the one I want uses only 6 litres of water for the whole wash. I have also see one that stores the final rinse water for use as the first rinse in the next wash. Saving water is becoming important all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/27 "2015-06-24T12:04:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I never even knew a portable dishwasher was a thing. The Mountain Men had them. They were called squaws. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712/28 "2015-06-24T16:18:49Z")
When I put in my dishwasher it advised to connect to the hot water not the cold. And advised if the dishwasher was a considerable distance from the water heater to run the water at the sink until hot water was there before starting dish washer. The reason, the cal rod in the dishwasher was only meant to boost the temperature and if cold water was used the manufacture could not guarantee that a proper water temperature could be reached. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-hot-water-need-to-be-turned-on-for-a-portable-dish-washer/717712.md?page=1)