Well, antss... You are right. But I still feel guilty. Mainly because my kids are ages 1 and 3. Not 8 and 10. Not ages that can be reliably taught not to get in trouble. At least not for a while longer.

The kitchen IS dangerous, but we do take many precautions. The induction cooktop we're purchasing will have a child-lock. And while I'm cooking on it, I would never leave the kids unsupervised. Same w/ the blender and food processor. The knife drawer will have a childproof thing on it to keep toddlers from opening it. The garbage disposal will be batch-feed, so they cannot turn it on without closing the stopper.

As far as normal faucets, the pediatrician taught us to turn down the house hot water to 120 degrees to prevent serious burns. We did so. However, the instant hot water dispenser will obviously be WAY hotter than that. It would only take a second of inattention, either by us the parents, or a babysitter, or the grandparents, etc. for a child who's able to climb up to the sink to become seriously burnt.

That's why I'm concerned. Just wondering what other parents of very young kids do about such things. Thanks!

eleeny, ours has been broken for a while...and we don't have children so take this for what it's worth...

We did have nieces, nephews and neighbor kids over frequently and I never gave it a thought. The faucet is far enough back on the counter that they'd have to be focused on it to get to it. Plenty of other things to get to that were much more intriguing!

The one we had was almost like a childproof bottle -- you had to hold down the handle then turn for water. I'm guessing they still make them that way.

Ours got a LOT of use -- and for more than tea. I miss it and can't wait for a functional one in the new kitchen.

Afterthought -- I've just looked at both the styles made by kitchenaid and they talk about a two-step operating mechanism. It looks like you have to hold the lever in then turn for hot water.

Posted by toomuchstuph on Mon, Jun 15, 09 at 4:51
> Ours got a LOT of use -- and for more than tea. I miss it and can't wait for a functional one in the new kitchen.

Hi toomuchstuph, just curious ~ can you tell me some of your uses for the Insta-Hot? besides tea, that is... ;-)

eleeny, here's a list I found on the insinkerator site. I think we used almost all of these at some time or another. Well, I never did the silver polishing or jewelry cleaning thing -- but we more than made up for it with much warming of the ice cream scoop! It was really great too for blanching fruit to peel. I also used it to clean out the tips of squeeze bottles I kept for re-use (like travel lotion or shampoo bottles).

nstant Hot Water Makes Living Easier

Loosen Jar Lids.
Run InSinkErator hot water over the tilted jar lid for 20 seconds, and then twist off the ring!

Remove Labels From Bottles.
InSinkErator® hot water takes them off in no time!

Remove Wax Residue.
Pour a little InSinkErator® hot water in a candle holder, let it sit, and the residue comes away without a trace!

Polishing Silver.
Run it under InSinkErator® hot water to give it extra shine!

Polishing Jewelry.
Soak it in InSinkErator® hot water and ammonia to keep it looking like new!

Faster Cooking.
Use InSinkErator® hot water to get a head start when cooking rice or pasta!

Warming Baby Food.
Use InSinkErator® hot water in a pan or bowl to heat baby food jars or warm formula bottles!

Quick First Aid.
Use InSinkErator® hot water to make a hot compress for temporary pain relief!

Keeping Food Hot.
Warm plates, coffee mugs, and tea cups with InSinkErator® hot water to help keep food and beverages hot and delicious!

Remove Baked-On Food.
Dissolve a small amount of dishwasher detergent in InSinkErator® hot water to soak pots and pans!

Freshen The Air.
Add InSinkErator® hot water to potpourri to fill your home with aromatic scents!

Melt Chocolate.
Run InSinkErator® hot water over the outside of a small bowl to pre-warm. Break the chocolate into small pieces. Put enough InSinkErator® hot water in a larger pan or bowl to cover about one-half of the chocolate bowl. Stir frequently. The temperature is perfect for proper melting!

Remove Shortening.
Use InSinkErator® hot water to quickly clean measuring cups so you can use them right away for other ingredients!

Clean Cake Decorator Tips.
When it's time to change colors, you can quickly remove frosting from decorator tips and bags. Using tongs, just hold under InSinkErator® hot water until all the frosting dissolves!

Creaming Butter.
To soften butter more quickly, rinse your mixer's beaters under InSinkErator® hot water, then dry thoroughly before proceeding.

Removing Skins.
Wash ripe tomatoes or peaches first, place them in InSinkErator® hot water, and then dip in cold water. The skins will easily slip off!

Cutting Cheese.
Run your knife under InSinkErator® hot water for easier cutting of process cheese loaves!

Cleaning Cheese Graters.
Just hold under InSinkErator® hot water!

Scooping Ice Cream.
Warm your scoop between servings in a bowl of InSinkErator® hot water!

Warming Pancake Syrup.
Fill a two-cup glass measuring cup with InSinkErator® hot water and place a bottle of pancake syrup in the cup. It's an easy way to get the last drop of syrup out of the bottle!

Thanks, toomuchstuph! I've read this list on InSinkErator's website before. It made me laugh! Melting chocolate, creaming butter... Yeah, not top on my priority list with a 3 year old and a 1 year old! However, what you wrote about blanching fruit to peel -- that's a feature that definitely would come in handy for me!

Hi, I see it's been a few years but did you find a solution for child proofing? I'm in the same situation would love to find an instant hot faucet that is child proof.

thank you

Why not install the unit, then just not turn it on until the kids are older - which they probably are by now.

We had one of these units many years ago, and you had to turn a large diameter knurled knob on top to dispense water. I don't think our kids had enough wrist power to ever turn it on.

On the other hand, the only thing I remember using it for was to run water into a pan and heat baby bottles. It was also useful getting water to preheat a thermos, or any other task where you wanted hot water quickly.

Bruce

Caution...We installed an instahot about 9 years ago with a major remodel and put it on a second sink in our coffee bar area. Started leaking so we turned the water off to it. When our contractor came back for another project, we're going to have it removed and replaced with a soap dispenser rather than replace it. They discovered that the rubber tubing had melted. When they checked the replacement tubes they were rated for a lower water temp. than what the instahot produced. They finally found a food safe silicone tube with higher rating at the hardware store. However concern for little kids? No. They do take some coordination and strength to run them...more than a regular faucet. BTW after the repair we did enjoy having it even for occasional tea....saved us from storing a teapot that was rarely used...

I can't seem to find those knurled knob. I wonder if they stop making it. If anyone see one please let me know. Thank you

The ones with lever handles are a bit nicer looking to me. They are still safe--you have to hold the lever to have water flow.

If you are worried about a small child accidentally using it instead of the regular water and putting a hand under it while turning it on with the other hand, yeah, you could get a scald. Just put a nice mug or vase or tin can or something over it until the kids are older. Add an extra step so nobody gets hurt.

I called insinkerator I can barely hear them. I guess I’ll buy it, install it and teach my kids safety, I’d love to hear more about it.

I need it to have a 2 step safety future. Does anyone have info on the newer model faucets? I looked on Amazon, nothing about a safety feature there. Please help

Teaching kids about safety is a much better solution than only relying on a technical feature that inevitably will fail at the most inopportune time. My kids have been learning about dangerous everyday household equipment ever since they started to crawl. And when they started elementary school, we taught them how to safely use kitchen knives and basic power tools. It's an ongoing process, but most people give kids too little credit. They can learn a healthy respect for dangerous tools, and best practices how to use them safely.

And as parents, we owe them to learn these fundamental life skills. Having said that, there is equipment that is unsafe by design; and there is equipment that isn't age appropriate. The former should simply be avoided altogether, and the latter requires house rules about who gets to touch it.

I don't have an opinion on the safety of instant water heaters. Our house came with one, but we were never particularly happy with its operation. It was quickly removed and we went back to using an electric water kettle. But I understand that every household has different preferences.

I am sure every parent will teach safety to their children, but that doesn't omit the need for safety features. You can't watch young children every second. And even a child who knows all about safety may get curious and do it anyway. Safety until children are older is a must.