I had instant hot in both my previous houses. Back in the day, I'd use it a lot for baby stuff - heat the bottle, "sterilize" the nipple etc. we also use it to make a cup of tea, clean our eye glasses, i burn a lot of candles so i melt the wax off stuff when it gets all over, to melt the gluey pricetag/stickers off things. hmm, what else? i feel i use it all the time.

I am also in same boat debating - not to install 2 but which sink, bar or main. Since it is probably MOSTLY used for making a cup of tea, i am leaning having it over at bar, but really not sure.

As much of a fan I am of the instant hot, I would say just get one. They do also cost money to run. 100% on the 2 garbage disposers, I'm not so sure the instant hot would be quite as NECESSARY at both. Plus you have the extra hole and faucet to clean around. My vote is just one.

On my smallish prep sink, I put an instant hot that also has a filtered cold on the faucet. And I have no other faucet there. It really works for the way we cook and live, but we do not have small kids in the house which, if you set the temp super high, could be a danger. But then, you have to teach kids not to use the instant hot anyway, I guess? For us, it was the perfect way to do it.

I don't have one, and can't imagine needing two, so my question is what are you doing at each sink that you would need It? Is it sink specific or something that can be done just as easily at one or the other?

I had one growing up. It is good for instant soup and tea. And hot buttered rums. :)

And if you are trying to cook something quickly, filling the pot with hot water first means it boils faster.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother installing one in my kitchen. A microwave heats a mug of water for tea nearly as fast, and the rest of these instances come up almost never.

Unless you have a specific thing that you would use it all the time for, it is just an extra expense and an extra hole next to your sink to clean around for not that much benefit.

Edit: You know what it is REALLY useful for? If you can't get a metal lid off a glass jar, run the lid under the hot water tap. Loosens it right up.

This post was edited by Jillius on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 22:28

I put mine at the clean up or main sink -- which is also the sink closer to my breakfast bar with the coffee maker and tea bags. That seemed to make sense. I use it for soaking some of my pans and other things. I don't remember ever thinking I needed one at the prep sink. If I need it, it isn't that big a deal to walk over to it. I use it enough to justify one, but I could never justify two.

I love my instant hot, which is at my bar sink, where we keep coffee & tea making things and cups. Mostly, that's what we use the instant hot water for, and it's close enough that when I want to use it for something else I can (starting boiling water at the stove, rinsing something that needs really hot water). It's hooked up to filtered water and that means a separate water connection, which I think would clutter things under the main sink? Of course, if you have good tasting water so you don't need the filter, that wouldn't be a problem.

We only have 1 sink and would vote to put it at the main sink. We use ours several times a day for tea. We also use it for cleanup and cooking.

I really like your idea of putting a GD at both sinks. To me a sink would be unusable for cleanup or prep if it didn't have a GD.

My brother has an instant hot, which he likes and uses a lot (it also filters the water which otherwise is a bit nasty where he lives). He keeps it at the main sink, and not at the bar sink where he'd have little use for one. (There's no prep sink.) I don't plan on getting one, nice as they seem to be.

I can't get a GD for my current or future home -- septic system regulations. Would be nice but I've learned to adapt.

If your prep sink is really a "bar" sink in a Beverage Center, then I would put it there. If your prep sink is really a prep sink (not in a Beverage Center) and is used for prepping and cooking, then I would put it on the cleanup sink. It will keep those making a cup of tea (or whatever) out of the Prep and Cooking Zones while someone is prepping/cooking.

However, I agree with Jillius - not only can MWs heat water very quickly, but so can an electric tea kettle (which can be put away when not needed and not add an extra item at the sink).

Of the two, the GD at both sinks is far more important functionally!

Geez the dilemmas we get ourselves into!
We will now have three sinks in the new kitchen. We are adding a prep on the island ONLY to accommodate an instant hot water faucet.
It was originally to be at the breakfast bar but wont fit in the cabinet with the silgranite sink. So we are adding a prep at the island. With the hot water there I can use it for the range, clean-up, and bar.
I would never not have one in a kitchen. Way handier than a pot-filler for example. IMO

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I hope I haven't missed anybody.

@momof3kids - Thanks for telling of ways you've used yours. I never thought about the cleaning around the extra hole. I do want to keep my counters clear as possible. I'm an anti-clutter freak.

@mizlizzie - I honestly didn't know they came with a cold and you could use it in place of a faucet. Intriguing. Need to do more research, I guess. Don't you miss having a sprayer at the prep sink?

@sherri58 - I don't know. I've never had one either. So I'm trying to figure out how much value it would add to my kitchen and were it would best be placed.

@jillius - Good points. And thanks for the tip about loosening jar lids. I didn't know that.

@lascatx, jan_in_davis, debrak2008, and buehl - sounds like you all mainly use it for tea and other beverages. Hence, buehl's suggestion in a beverage center makes a lot of sense. We're putting in a beverage center in another room with a sink and small fridge so maybe that's where it should go? It will be for coffees, teas, and adult beverages. We do already have an electric kettle and will be getting a Keurig so we probably could get by without one even there but if we went with one with a cold option as well, we could eliminate a regular faucet as we would never need a sprayer there. Hmmmm....this could be more useful....hmmmmmm.

@Artemis - We have amazingly good water so we don't need a filter. Our tap water is better than most bottled water. People visiting from other areas are always amazed at how good it is. One of our relatives always brings several containers to fill up to take home, lol. He used to live here and misses the water.

@missymoo - Three sinks? Wow! I take it you have a large kitchen. My DH still isn't convinced that we need two! I'm just glad he's willing to indulge me.

We're not doing stone counters so I suppose we could just get the main remodel done and keep pondering and add one later as we can easily cut our own holes. And that would give us a chance to see if we use the sinks in the way I anticipate we will use them. This would give me time to really tell if one is needed and where it would be best to place it, right? And then i could procrastinate. Wow, so many decisions to make. Might be best to put this one off for now anyway.

Your input is giving me helpful feedback to make a good decision. If anyone has more suggestions, please keep 'em coming. And thanks again.

Funkycamper, our prep sink is used more as a bar sink, and for running filtered water into, say, the pasta pot. We also rinse our veggies there, but either compost the leftovers or throw them out. Not down the sink. We never wash dishes there, so I never missed a sprayer. Good luck.