Should hot or cold water go into a coffemaker?

Question

My wife and I are in total disagreement over this. I say that hot water should go into the coffeemaker as this takes a load off the heating elements and ultimately saves electricity that would be used for heating otherwise cold water.

My wife says that cold water should be used because putting hot water in there would cause the elements to short out due to the shortened heating time.

My mother-in-law says we're stupid and we shouldn't squabble over it. She doesn't give a damn what kind of water goes in there as long as there's a cup of coffee in it for her.

We are using a Bunn 10-cup coffee maker. Incidentally, we posed this question to Bunn and they would not give an answer to it.

This is a question where the stakes are high. If I am right, then she-who-must-be-obeyed will wash and wax the car. If she is right, then I must massage her feet with warmed strawberry scented mineral oil.

So who is right???

Answer 1

Always use cold water. The coffee maker heats the water to the perfect temp and when using hot water, this can not be done properly. Don't ever use hot water from the tap, it has been sitting in your hot water tank and is not suitable for drinking or using in cooking.

Answer 2

There are already a lot of good suggestions out there, but I will toss out a few other ideas: #1 - you may have simply purchased a nice, new, but undersized hot water heater. These things are basically big tea pots. If the pot doesn't have enough water in it to last more than 20 minutes of use with whatever rate your using it, then guess what, you "use up all the hot water". Furthermore, you may have the temperature set lower. Suppose you are used to showering in a "hot" shower, and the old heater was set at 200 degrees. You might have been using 25% hot and 75% cold for a hot 115 degree shower. So if the new heater is only heating the tank up to 165 degrees, then you will require more hot to mix with the cold to get the same 115 degree shower. Check the temp settings first. #2 - mixer valves at a faucet are somewhat different than the "automatic" mixer valves the other guys have mentioned here. I don't think it's possible for there to be back flow from a sink of tub mixer, as it will just drip out. #3 - There is another type of device used to keep the hot water circulating in the pipes so that you don't have to wait for your water to "warm up". Sometimes this takes the form of a secondary loop that runs back to your boiler from every extremity of the system. A temperature sensor valve opens when the water in those circuits cools to a certain temp, causing the water to be recirculated into the boiler for reheating. If you have that setup, and your plumber didn't reconnect it correctly when he changed the boiler, you may have the loss of hot water. The other variant is where the house is build with single lines, so they connect the hot lines under the sink directly to the drain. When the temp sensor valve detects cold water in the hot line, it opens and causes hot water from the boiler to flow to that circuit so as soon as you turn on the faucet, it's always hot. This is an obvious way you could have a "hot water leak" and not see any drips. Changing the washers on your faucets will only help if you have a relatively fast leak of hot water that you would certainly see / hear.

Answer 3

Study some of the Bunn coffee maker model online, found that Bunn coffee maker has water reservoir which provide near instant fresh brewed coffee. As the link i attach below, cold water should be added into the water reservoir.
Depends on the model you have, Bunn model BT10 will displace the remaining hot water first in the reservoir even you just top up with cold water.
Do the instruction manual mentioned any thing about hot or cold water? If it specified cold water, then pouring hot water and if that accidentally cause damage to the coffee maker will have the equipment warranty void as not following the instruction given.
Anyhow, managing cold water is always better than hot water, less risk involve plus pre-boiling the hot water also uses up energy.
Hope this will help you. Thank you for reading.

Answer 4

Hot Water Coffee Maker

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Should hot or cold water go into a coffemaker?
My wife and I are in total disagreement over this. I say that hot water should go into the coffeemaker as this takes a load off the heating elements and ultimately saves electricity that would be used for heating otherwise cold water.

My wife says that cold water should be used because putting...

Answer 6

Use cold water. Why? simply for taste. Scale builds up in water heaters and people rarely flush them out regularly. The scale lends a bad taste to the coffee, tea or whatever you are cooking.

Using hot water doesn't effect the brew time since that begins after the water is heated to the correct temperature thanks to a thermostat. Using hot water cant damage the element, that would be absurd

Answer 7

Ever since i read how the English make their tea....the proper way....is using COLD water...i can't seem to use ANY type now.
I use the cold water, soooooooo, ahhhhhhhhhhh lucky her, she gets to get her feet massageddddddddddd! 'Wife', enjoy your massage and drink a cup of coffee along with it. As for the husband, give your mother-n-law a cup of water heated up in the micro-wave along with the instant coffee jar and sugar and cream. By the way, using cold water makes the tea or coffee taste better. (don't ask why)

Answer 8

Cold water should be put into the coffee maker. This makes the brewing cycle right and the coffee delicious. Your mother-in-law's advice is partly correct--it's probably not worth too much fighting over. Happy foot rubbing!!!!

Answer 9

It is cold water, but not for that reason. The coffee needs to be brewed for a specific amount of time. Using warm water shortens that brewing time, therefore you wont get the best flavour out of your coffee.

Answer 10

sorry, she is right cold water is what should be used hot will damage the element. and i dont get your point on saving electricity if your gonna use hot water how are you gonna get it hot without putting it in a kettle unless you boil it up on the hob (but that still uses energy)

i think she needs to get her feet out!!