Cleaning your dishes thoroughly after mealtime is crucial to maintaining your kitchen running smoothly and keeping unwanted creatures like cockroaches, flies, and others at bay. It is also a vital step in ensuring your family’s health and well-being.

A dishwasher is the best option you can consider to wash your utensils and dishes to ensure they are cleaned properly. Many people often wonder if this appliance only uses hot water. Keep reading to learn everything you should know about the appropriate dishwasher water temperatures.

Why Does Your Dishwasher Need Warm Water?

Hot water in your dishwasher offers superior performance in cleaning your dishes compared to cold water. Tackling oily food residue from your utensils can be challenging, especially when you use cold water to clean them.

The main advantage of using hot water in your dishwasher is that it can dissolve food and soap residue, leaving your dishes sparkling clean. A hot temperature is also ideal for the activation of dishwasher detergent. With hot water, your glasses will also dry without stains or spots that can be an eyesore.

Another benefit of using hot water is that your dishwasher will take shorter wash cycles. This can go a long way in helping you save energy and maintain your appliance in good working condition over a long period.

Hot water also kills germs, making it a better sanitizer than cold water. As a result of these factors, most dishwashers are designed for hot water usage. While there is no problem in running cold water in your gadget, you will not get the best results.

How Do You Add Hot Water to a Dishwasher

For the best cleaning results, the water temperature in your dishwasher should be 120℉. If the gadget does not have an in-built water heating system like modern ones, you can connect it to a hot water supply system in your home. This can be a faucet on your kitchen sink or any other convenient location.

If you buy a modern dishwasher, it comes with a heating element designed to heat water once you begin the washing cycle. The element can heat the water inside the appliance in about one minute. Most dishwashers are built to heat the water used in the main wash phase to about 120-145℉.

Modern dishwashers also have thermostats to regulate the desired water temperatures during the dishwashing cycle. When the dishwasher performs the final rinse, the element will heat the water to about 140 to 155℉. High water temperature is meant to ensure that all residues are completely broken down. Most gadgets have adjustable cycle settings designed to suit the needs of different users.

Depending on your preferences, you can choose a dishwasher that is easy to use. Look for a design that suits your plumbing system. Appliances without thermostats and inbuilt water heaters are less expensive and can help you lower your electric bills.

However, if you choose a dishwasher that allows you to add a hot water supply directly, you need to read the manual carefully. Check the prescribed water temperature by the manufacturer to protect the appliance. In most cases, the water temperature inside a dishwasher should not exceed 160℉. Anything above this can damage the machine, so you must be careful when you choose this option.

Quantity of Hot Water Required for a Cycle

Wondering how much hot water a dishwasher requires per cycle? Most energy-efficient dishwashers use about 2.7 gallons, whereas standard appliances use between 3 and 5 gallons per cycle. Some dishwashers use 6 to 8 gallons of hot water per cycle which is quite a large volume.

If a dishwasher uses more hot water per cycle, it will consume more energy. Water is heated at different intervals until the cycle is complete. Other brands are more advanced and they use less power and water. However, sophisticated models are expensive. Therefore, it is a good idea to consider your needs and budget to make an informed decision.

What Happens if I Run My Dishwasher With Cold Water?

There is nothing wrong with running cold water in your dishwasher. However, this option is not recommended because cold water does not clean your dishes properly. It can leave soap and food residue behind since it cannot dissolve some of the stubborn particles found on your utensils.

When you use cold water in your dishwasher, it may not be surprising that some of the items will still have spots and other undesired marks when you remove them from the appliance. As a result, you may end up wiping them with a dry cloth which should not be the case.

To compensate for this, your dishwasher may end up having longer cycle times to achieve a good wash. Your dishwasher is likely to be strained in the long run as a result of extended wash cycles. It also means that the appliance will use more power if it runs for a long period. Along with these issues, your dishwasher will continue functioning while using cold water. You will not experience technical issues when the appliance runs on cold water.

For the best results, you should try to use water with a temperature of 120°F. It will give you a seamless experience with your dishes whenever you want to clean them after every use.

Conclusion

Cleaning your dishes after use is a critical part of maintaining quality hygiene and keeping your household clean. You can achieve this by using a dishwasher, and in this article, we hope you have gained insight into how hot water maximizes the appliance’s performance. However, you can also run your dishwasher using cold water, although you might not get the same results regarding the cleaning efficacy.

Hot water effectively cleans utensils by dissolving grease and detergent residue. It also helps kill bacteria to safeguard your health. When buying a dishwasher, you can choose one with an inbuilt water heating element to make your life easier. Other models provide the option of manually supplying hot water, which is relatively cheaper than advanced ones.