# I just realized ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 25, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161 "2008-09-25T15:41:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/1 "2008-09-25T15:41:10Z")
… that my dishwasher heats the water itself, it doesn’t use the hot water from my water heater. So all these years, I could have been showering/doing laundry at the same time as I ran my dishwasher, without fear of using up the hot water. Doh. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/2 "2008-09-25T15:51:55Z")
Don’t feel too bad, I realized the same thing earlier this year! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/3 "2008-09-25T15:53:05Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > … that my dishwasher heats the water itself, it doesn’t use the hot water from my water heater. > > So all these years, I could have been showering/doing laundry at the same time as I ran my dishwasher, without fear of using up the hot water. > > Doh. It does? They all do that? ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/4 "2008-09-25T16:03:07Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > It does? They all do that? Some have an option to heat the water or use hot water heater water. Check your manual. Ours has the option, we use it. ---
**Author:** ![Debon\_Err](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Debon\_Err](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debon_Err)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/5 "2008-09-25T16:13:25Z")
Congratulations! You can start showering and doing dishes at the same time today! But does it change the water pressure?.. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/6 "2008-09-25T18:40:35Z")
> [@evlkitty](#): > > Congratulations! You can start showering and doing dishes at the same time today! But does it change the water pressure?.. That’s the reason we can’t shower and run the dishwasher at the same time. Nothing to do with the temp, but the pressure is worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/7 "2008-09-25T19:27:01Z")
We’re installing ours today. Its water supply is tapped off the hot water line. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/8 "2008-09-25T20:01:11Z")
Is there any way to tell without the manual? The DW came with the house. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/9 "2008-09-25T20:05:03Z")
> [@Boscibo](#): > > Is there any way to tell without the manual? The DW came with the house. Look inside your dishwasher. Are there big metal heating coils on the bottom? For bonus points, argue with your girlfriend about this very topic and frustratedly point to the resistive heaters over and over. Then you won’t have to worry about using hot water for your shower. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/10 "2008-09-25T20:06:36Z")
> [@Boscibo](#): > > Is there any way to tell without the manual? The DW came with the house. Couldn’t be easier. Open it up and look at the bottom. If it has a heating element you can’t miss it (ours is a black “tube” that runs around the bottom of the dishwasher. Once, at a friend’s house, I had put a load in (including rubber nipples from baby bottles.) One of those fell through the rack and landed on the heating element. It melted onto it before the water kicked in and caused the smoke detector to go off. (That was a much harder, panic-inducing way to tell whether or not there was a heating element!) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/11 "2008-09-25T20:09:22Z")
It’s not as simple as looking for the heating element. That’s there for the drying cycle, too. You need to know that it has access to a cold water supply in addition to a hot water supply. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/12 "2008-09-25T20:18:06Z")
Try searching online for the manual. Many are available for all kind of gadgets and have the added advantage of being searchable, rather than flipping through a bound manual. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/13 "2008-09-25T20:24:36Z")
Ours is plumbed into the hot water line, and it heats the water itself if the temperature isn’t high enough. So it’ll only heat the water once the hot water is all gone–so much for taking a shower simultaneously. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized/465161/14 "2008-09-25T20:51:07Z")
> [@evlkitty](#): > > Congratulations! You can start showering and doing dishes at the same time today! But does it change the water pressure?.. No, we have city water, so we haven’t really faced any pressure drops. (Unlike when we had the well.)