Solve 2 Problems with 1 Whirlpool 8LIECH Water Cooler

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What do you expect a water cooler to do? Give you cold water, right? This Whirlpool water cooler (model 8LIECH-SCSSFP5W) is self-cleaning and bottom-loading, but that doesn’t even get at its second main “trick”. This cooler also gives you hot water!

With the Whirlpool 8LIECH-SCSSFP5W, you can have hot drinks just as easily as cold water or other flavored cold beverages. Whirlpool really should call this a “water dispenser” instead of just a “water cooler”.

Note: If you arrived here because you were having a “problem” with a “Whirlpool” appliance, I’m sorry, but this article doesn’t have the solution for you. Maybe this article has what you’re looking for instead. If it does, could you please let me know here? Thanks.

You still might find something in the cooling department that you want though, so take a look around Chilly Blue anyway. Thanks for visiting!

If you’re in a hurry and just want to check the pricing and availability of this Whirlpool water cooler at Amazon, you can click (tap) the link below.

Whirlpool 8LIECH-SCSSFP5W Water Cooler

If you want to jump ahead to a certain section of this review, you can click (tap) a link in the box below. Otherwise, you can keep scrolling (swiping) and reading as usual.

I’m going to shorten the model name to 8LIECH for the remainder of this article.

The Whirlpool 8LIECH Fits Well in Your Office or Even in Your Home

Besides giving your employees a place to gather around for chit chat, a water dispensers give everyone a handy place to get refreshing cold (and in this case hot as well) cup of water that helps to keep them happy, satisfied, and productive.

A water cooler does have a sizable initial cost and the ongoing necessary refills, but over time it could pay for itself in that you don’t waste water waiting for the tap to give you cold enough or hot enough water for your purposes.

While this unit does not filter the water in any way, it can give you cleaner water than you might get from your tap, depending on the quality of your tap water compared to the bottled water that you purchase for the dispenser.

If you’re using a cooler like the 8LIECH in your office, the time saved getting water quickly also adds to the cost savings.

Eventually, you can be getting better water, at the temperature you want, and be cutting overall costs in the process. The longer you wait to get your Whirlpool cooler, the more lower quality water you might drink and the more costs you could incur.

The Whirlpool 8LIECH Features Safe Hot Water

Especially if you intend to use the 8LIECH in your home, you might be concerned about young children and the instant hot water dispensing feature. Rest assured that Whirlpool has safety in mind because they have included a “true toddler safety hot water lock” in this machine.

As one user explains it, “There is a red latch you have to press in forward before you can press down for hot water.”

This latch is not easily accessible to the youngsters. Even if they could press it, managing the rest of the process is virtually impossible for them.

In addition, on the back of the cooler, there is a red switch that you can turn off to prevent hot water being dispensed at all for anybody.

Five Lights Tell You What Is Happening with Your 8LIECH

There are 5 LEDs that serve as indicators of the status of the Whirlpool 8LIECH. The most basic of these is the Power Indicator. When it is lit, obviously the machine is powered up and running.

The Heating Indicator flashes when the heating system is warming up your water. When it stays constantly lit, your hot water is ready for use. When this light is off, this means you have turned off the heating system switch in the back.

The Cooling Indicator tells you the same things as the Heating Indicator, except that it refers to the cold water (system). There is a blue switch in the back that controls the operation of this system.

The Empty Bottle Indicator is normally lit. When it begins to flash, you need to think about getting a new water bottle because the current one is nearly empty. When there is just a little water left in the bottle, the unit will also beep intermittently.

The Self Clean Indicator is also normally lit, meaning the self-clean protection is on and working properly. This light flashes during a self-cleaning cycle.

Here is Whirlpool’s description of their self-cleaning mechanism.

“Water coolers typically grow bio-film and require manual cleaning every 3 months. This machine will do it for you automatically every 4 hours. Carefully measured amounts of ozone are injected to kill harmful bacteria. Ozone emission into ambient air is controlled in accordance with OSHA requirements.”

The video below is basically an unboxing and initial setup of the dispenser. If you elect to watch it, I’d suggest changing the playback speed to at least 1.5x. (I already have it starting at the 5:55 mark so you don’t have to bother with looking at a cardboard box for almost six minutes.)

The 8LEICH Cools the Water with Ice

If you peek inside the 8LEICH, you might notice a ring of ice and wonder if you need to defrost it.

No, you don’t.

That ice ring is there on purpose. It is cooling the water in the bottle for you. It gives you water that is 41 degrees Fahrenheit. (The hot water is 194 degrees.) The initial formation of this ice ring can take up to an hour.

It takes up to 1 hour after setup to dispense cold water. If your machine isn’t giving you cold water, there are a couple of items to check.

Make sure that the back of the dispenser is at least 4 inches from a wall and that air is free to flow on all 4 sides of the dispenser. Also make sure that the cold water switch is in the ON position.

If that’s not enough, you may need to contact the manufacturer.

You can get both cold and hot water at the rate of 1 ⅓ gallons per hour. There are reservoirs inside the 8LEICH that store the cold and the hot water, so you have instant access to it. It takes less than 3 minutes for these reservoirs to fill.

The Bottom-Loading 8LEICH Is Easy to Fill

The 8LEICH is designed to hold 3-gallon, 5-gallon, or 5.2-gallon bottles. It’s great to know that you don’t have to lift those larger bottles very far off the floor to load them into the unit. There is much less chance of your spilling or dropping them this way.

When purchasing your water bottles, just be sure that the overall dimensions of the bottle are such that they will fit inside the 8LEICH properly. You need to be able to seal the probe head on the bottle and to close the door of the storage area.

That probe is adjustable lengthwise, so that’s why you don’t always have to get the same size bottle.

Other 8LEICH Features and the Warranty

To minimize vibrations and noise, Whirlpool provides a mat that you should set the unit on. If that isn’t enough, they suggest that you insert shims underneath as needed to keep the unit level.

This Whirlpool water cooler has an LED night light which is useful if you don’t want to turn on a whole bank of lights just to dispense a little water.

The stainless steel 8LEICH is Energy Star 2014 rated and has a 1 year warranty.

Conclusions about the Whirlpool 8LEICH Water Dispenser

There, I said it. I have officially dubbed this machine a “water dispenser” since it does give you more than just cooled water.

The 8LEICH is one of the more popular water coolers (and heaters) in the market today. The positive reviews tell you that it is well-liked and appreciated both in the office and in the home.