I wanted an insta-hot, but in then end decided against it. It wouldn't get much use in my house, I don't think, and I like the less cluttered look behind the sink. I'm getting a single hole, pull-down faucet, so only one hole cutout in the counter to clean around.

We installed a sink a couple of years ago, and I was tickled about having a soap dispenser, but within 6 months it broke, and we had to get a replacement which was fine. But now it's been a couple of years and now that I think about it, I think it's been empty for the last year. I found it to be more of a pain than a help and it's basically just one more thing to keep clean in the sink area. We're redoing our sink again with an undermount and this time, we're skipping it.

One, single-hole tap with a pull-out. Never had a soap dispenser before, couldn't see the need in the future. Definitely have issues with the instant hot water thing on environmental/energy use grounds. Not to mention I have no use for it.
YMMV

Our kitchen's not done yet, but we won't be putting in an insta hot or soap dispenser. I'm in the "less is more" camp here. There are many on this forum who have one or both and love those features, though.

I wanted an instahot, but the cost for the ORB finish on that little faucet was highway robbery and just ticked me off and I didn't do it. I did get a soap dispenser and I love it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have the type that fills from the top, as I think most are now. No more crawling under the sink to unscrew that little bottle. As for the clutter around the sink area, I figured having a built in soap dispenser that matched my faucet would be less cluttered looking than a soap bottle sitting out. And I hand wash all my pots, pans, knives and DH's darned insulated travel coffee mug (he HAD to get one that isn't dishwasher safe and the dumb thing matches his orange car so he won't get rid of it) so keeping the soap bottle under the sink wasn't practical for me. I use it for hand washing, too. So think about that, do you keep a soap bottle on your counter now? Wouldn't it be less obtrusive in a handy dandy pump in your counter? I've had mine over a year now, gets used many many many times a day and haven't had a single problem with it. Mine's a Moen, FWIW.

HTH!
Robin

Robin, what you wrote about your DH's mug is so funny! I have the same issue, what is it with those big mugs anyway!

My dispenser is fill from the top also, and I wash my hands a lot with that soap as well, which is why I had the same train of thought...ie to get rid of that soap bottle! Maybe ours was just poor quality, glad to know not everyone was as disenchanted with it as I ended up being.

I have both and am very happy with both. We did have a leak in the hot water tank a couple of times and ended up replacing the tank after about three years but that's ok. We use it a lot and it's worth it. It was something I'd been wanting a long time and have no regrets.

Whether it's clutter or not, and whether you really need them or not is all personal preference of course. If you don't think you'll use them, don't bother with them. Like Robin, I had a countertop soap dispenser anyway so having it as part of the sink worked better for me. There are a lot of people who think that if you have too many holes in your sink, it's cluttered. But I'm more into function over form in the first place, plus, I don't think it's clutter to have things you use in your kitchen.

Like I said, it's personal preference. I'm not much of a minimalist, LOL!

I've had a soap dispenser for 15 years and love it. I had one in the old kitchen and wouldn't dream of not putting it into the new one. It looks much more cluttered to have a plastice bottle on the sink with "gunk" stuck around the spout, than a matching pump installed next to the faucet!

I put the instahot in our last house (for 2 yrs) and again in this house (2 yrs), I love it. We use it mostly to make an instant cup of tea - I retired my kettle long ago. I use it to fill water for pasta so it boils in a flash. I use it to clean my ring, eyeglasses, to sterilize my baby's bottle tops, to get candlewax off the many vessels I burn candles in, aside from the regular "add hot water" packaged food etc.

I also have a soap dispenser, that came with the house. I like it, however I use it solely for my hands. I have an old black shampoo bottle (label removed) that I keep refilling for the dish soap because #1 I HATE the look of the detergent bottle, #2 I don't like clear bottles that you can see the half full liquid, and #3 I like being able to squirt the dish detergent where I want - not locked into manuevering something under the build in spout.

I was hesitant to install another soap dispenser with our impending remodel until someone tipped me off to this Never MT tubing system which allows you til replace the soap super easy.

My faucet came with a matching soap dispenser which I have not installed. It's not so much that it looks cluttered, but that it's another thing to clean around. I like wiping the counters down into the sink and don't want one more obstacle to wipe around. If I ever get tired of grabbing the dish soap from under the sink, I'll install it.

Well, just removed the insta-hot that was already installed in my kitchen when we moved in years ago. What a relief to get that thing off my counter and out of the cabinet. Not long after we moved in, I turned it off and shut off water to it because I just don't like the idea of consuming water from a mini hot water tank. It's not boiling, after all. And I do think it's a waste of energy.

I will have a single hole faucet with pull down and will be happy to get rid of my side spray too!! Really thought about getting the soap dispenser but I finally decided against it. I don't like the idea of a permanent THING there. I thought I'd get a nice bottle so I can choose whether or not to have it out and where to have it when it is out.....and I can change the bottle style or color for a little change of pace.

I wash my hands a lot esp when cooking, and like having the built in soap dispenser with NeverMT. I don't consider it one more thing to clean because if it wasn't there I would have to have a bottle of hand soap there and I would be cleaning that instead, which can get wet and gunky on the bottom.

I also went with an instant hot. I think I will really like it in the winter. I use it for water for pasta and stuff now, and don't have to have the stove top on as long in hot weather, but I don't drink hot drinks very much in the summer.

I also wanted to keep the sink area uncluttered, so I was determined if I was going to have those 2 addtions, as well as a air switch for the GD, that I would restrict my faucet choices to single units. I am really glad I did and don't find the sink area cluttered or difficult to clean around at all.

I would suggest sticking to faucets that don't have a separate water control lever or sprayer, though, if you want the other stuff, or it could get cluttered. Having a larger sink to put the stuff around also helps.

LOL, Of coarse, the MOST uncluttered of all would be a single pull down faucet and NOTHING else.

I have something similar to what I linked below, but mine has "feet". (And mine was 1/4 the cost) It isn't gunky and plastic, and I can pick it up to clean the counter. And most importantly, I can replace it with my ceramic bat soap bottle in October, and my tacky reindeer soap bottle in December!
:)

Here is a link that might be useful: soap bottle

I had an instant hot and LOVED it for all the above mentioned reasons. We used it many times a day for tea, hot chocolate, oatmeal, instant soups, jump-starting water to a boil for pasta or steaming vegetables, etc.
I also had a soap dispenser and had no problems for ten years. I prefer the look of a soap dispenser to a plastic bottle sitting on the counter, and it never bothered me to have the soap "available" only in one spot.
Our kitchen is gutted right now, but we definitely plan to keep the instant hot and new soap dispenser.

I have the soap dispenser and LOVE it! I wash my hands all the time and it is in constant use. It matches my single handle spray faucet. I also have a reverse osmosis on my sink as well. The water where I live is just awful. This keeps me drinking my good tasting water all day long. No instant hot, just the reverse osmosis. I also have a air gap for my garbage disposal. Love that as well. Nothing is difficult to clean. I think it looks so uncluttered from my "before" look. No extra soap bottles hanging around, etc. BTW, my soap dispenser (just filled it up again tonight) gets filled from the top. Super easy.

I wanted the clean look of only one hole at my kitchen sink. I know many people love their soap dispensers but I love being able to squirt my soap exactly where I want it. I do stow it under the cabinet though, and I don't find that at all awkward.

I have one handsoap dispenser from Bath & Bodyworks sitting out that I think looks nice.

I have both and LOVE them! I use the instant hot alot for cleaning. The instant hot also has chilled water. Would do it again in a minute. You can't beat the convenience.

Top of the list for my kitchen redo was a soap dispenser. I wash my hands a lot while prepping/cooking. I didn't have the dispenser before and always wanted it. I really like it and I use it constantly.

I will just have the bottle of instant soap so can wash hands, but it will be a throw a way type. I pre/fer this instead of a perment one built into sink. razenette

I have the insta hot and the soap dispenser and love both of them. The instahot which also has filtered drinking water is a huge hit in our house.

They're obviously not really needed - I got along fine before I had them. However I got both - I really like having them - and if possible I'd never go without either in the future. I'm a big fan of no clutter and simple, clean look and I don't find having these things to be too cluttered. I will say though that my ISE hot water dispenser did break down right after warranty period. ISE completely replaced at cost with newly designed unit that doesn't have the flaw the original one did. Overall I'd highly recommend both soap and hot water dispenser. Here's what mine looks like.

{{!gwi}}

I'm just curious- to those who think the instant hot water is a waste of energy, would you rather waste 3 gallons of water running down the drain waiting for the water to get hot? I don't know much about the instant hot water dispenser, but don't understand how it wastes energy. You're either using gas/energy to heat it as it comes out of the faucet, or when you put it on the stove or in the microwave. Could someone enlighten me please?

sharla, I totally don't know the answer to that, but I'm just guessing...is it because it not only heats the water but also has to KEEP it hot in the tank??? So if you go hours and hours without using it, it's still using energy just to keep it hot for when you do?

Sorry, I'm not very helpful, that's just my guess. But I do secretly wish I'd shelled out the money and gotten one for myself! ;o)

I love the idea of insta-hot but didn't get it. Next time! :-)

But I opted not to have the soap dispenser because it locks your soap to one spot. I like being able to squirt soap in this sink bowl OR that one, in a big pot without maneuvering it under the soap dispenser, and on little kids' hands that won't otherwise reach.

I put my soap in a SS dispenser that matches my faucet quite well, so it doesn't look bad at all to me.

I just squirt mine onto a sponge! Works for me.

A lot of people dont use the soap dispenser for dish soap they use it for hand soap and still use a bottle for dish soap (me) although I know some do use it for dish soap instead. So if you want to squirt the dish soap where ever you want it, put the hand soap in it. Or do without. 90% of what we add are conveniences and they depend on how you use your kitchen if you will love them or not, but most aren't REALLY needed.

The instant hot does NOT run "all the time". It has a highly insulated tank that the water is kept hot in, and only runs when needed if the water starts to cool down.
When you use it, like to fill a pan or something, it runs to heat the replacement water it is adding to refill the tank. I would not assume it is an energy saver, but probably not as much of an energy user as you might think because you DONT have to heat it in the microwave or run the tap and waste water to get hot water when you need it. When I am not using the water and it is not heating replacement water, I don't hear it run very often.

Sue

there ya go, thanks sue for explaining that. Like I said, I was just guessing...I don't have one and don't know that much about them...obviously ;o)

tough call...I have a single hole faucet and have a side sprayer...didn't think I wanted one but I orderd the faucet that had to have the side sprayer bc the installer didn't have the right bolt or nut or something....since mine is drilled into the top, I opted not to get the soap dispenser bc i wanted a clean look...but I just keep a freakin soap dispenser there anyway and wish I had it built it...

I don't have an instant hot water - I just heard too many stories about problems and cost. And our use wouldn't justify either.
However, I LOVE my soap dispenser. This is the 2nd one I have and I never liked filling the soap dispenser so often and creating a mess in the 1st one. So this time, instead of a small soap holder, I put tubing directly from the bottom of the dispenser and stuck in in a large Costco container of soap under the sink. I can go a LONG time without having to replace that and I've never had a problem.

We have an Instahot. We had the cheapest kind of insinkerator instahot in our old kitchen and it worked for many many years. We had one in our previous house too and my DH installed one for his parents. In our experience, there haven't been any problems with them. Perhaps there are more problems where the water is very hard. They are pretty simple devices. For the new kitchen we got a nicer looking instahot which also provides filtered cool water. The nicer one has a temperature adjustment which lets it be set just short of boiling.

We use it a lot and I wouldn't want to be without it. I use it to:

start a pot of boiling water off closer to the boil so I don't have to wait as long - or especially when I need to add a cup or so of water to a pot that is already going so it doesn't cool off and need to heat again.

make tea - if I'm really in a fussy mood and want the most perfect brew for black tea, I'll put it in the microwave to get it to a full boil, but really the tea brews fine in it.

use it mixed with tap water for washing so that I don't have to wait for the hot water to get to the tap.

run fresh herbs under it to release some of the flavor.

warming our granddaughter's bottles or frozen baby food when she was at that stage - just put the bottle in a mug and put hot water in. It is very fast and one doesn't have to worry about hot spots like with a microwave.

use 1 part hot water to 3 or 4 parts cool filtered water for mixing with the yeast when making bread. Warm water without chlorine - chlorine inhibits the yeast growth.

We don't have a soap dispenser at the main sink. I prefer to have soap that I can squirt where I need it and I don't mind having the bottle on the counter. If I did I would buy a prettier bottle. But we have a soap dispenser on our island sink. On the island, a soap bottle would get moved around, sometimes be in the way and sometimes be hard to find. The island one is used mainly for washing hands so I keep hand soap in it and just fetch the one from the main sink on occasions when I need dish soap there.

Our soap dispenser is a gem. I also have a stand alone instant hot with our commercial water cooler. A while ago, when I was getting sick to my stomach over seriously ridiculous electric bills, I bought a device called a kill-a-watt. It plugs in between your appliance and the wall socket. It tells you exactly how much the appliance is costing you to run, as well as some important other things. You're still reading? Good, here's the payoff. The instant hot water alone was costing $30 a month. You bet your sweet apple pie that I shut that baby down. It doesn't matter because my induction cook top. It heats a cup of water instantly - and I mean instantly. It is actually faster than the instant hot because it is rolling boiling hot whereas the instant hot is just 2nd degree melt your skin hot. lol.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't waste your oney on instant hot. yes, its convenient - only if you have no other instant hot option. It cost me $30 a month! I was foolish for about 28 months. It took the proverbial brick to hit me in the head.

I need to borrow your kill-a-watt! I certainly didn't see a 30.00 increase in my electric bill, which I would have noticed, but I don't have many people in the house using it and I don't fill large pots of water with it daily, all of which would increase the amt of time it runs to reheat replacement water. My only question is if I don't have induction (I don't) and instead am running the water at the sink longer when I need hot tap water, and causing my furnaces direct hot water heater to kick on, and/or using a 750 or 1200 watt microwave to heat water, what is THAT costing me? My interest really would be NOT how much the instant is costing me to use but how much MORE than the other things, if any? Is it really any different than the hot water tanks people have to heat water for their homes who don't have direct hot water? The heated water is kept in a tank and kept heated to the temp it is set at so it is ready and available when called upon. I really don't doubt that it could cost a little more, I just don't know how much.

Sue

Just a thought here, I've always been told not to use hot water from your tap to speed the boiling of water on a stove, that lead can leach into the water. So Basically when you use hot water from your kitchen faucet or any other faucet in your home, you should use it only for washing. Why isn't that true with an instant hot? Is it a different type of tank than a regular household hot water tank?

Sorry if that's a dumb question, I just honestly don't know what the difference is.

Thanks,
Robin

Robin, it's not a dumb question, it stems from the days when lead pipes and/or lead solder were used. In a newer home it's less of an issue. I still can't drink tap water without running it for a few minutes, nor can I use hot tap water for cooking -- just force of long habit!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lead in Drinking Water

I have a soap dispenser and love it. My sink is in my island and I didn't want to have to keep a soap bottle in the middle of my island.