Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Refrigerator Water Line - Help!

We recently bought a new home and found out that the water line that hooks up to the refrigerator was never hooked up. (No big deal, so far).

I traced the line and found that the line is hooked into the HOT water line, not the COLD line. Is this a big deal?

I would think, if I did hook it up (which I didn't do), that the fridge would cool the hot water, thus turning it to ice...of course it would take longer...but could/would the hot water "damage" my fridge?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Is there also an (in the door) water dispenser or just the ice maker?:)

It's just for the ice maker...no water dispenser.

Your ice maker will be fine. When the icemaker fills with water, it doesn't use much volume. The water it pulls from the line will be room temperature (that "delay" before the water actually gets hot) unless you've been using the sink just prior to a cycle. Even if it gets hot water - it will work properly.

Actually the copper line is coming from the HOT line from the hot water heater, not the sink...so the water is immediately hot.

Sorry if I didn't explain it very well...I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to home improvements!

Again, it won't hurt the icemaker - though if it makes you nervous, it's not difficult to tap into a cold water line in the same area...

On the plus side you will have clearer ice cubes.. :)

Many moons ago, one of my science teachers in high school taught us that hot water freezes faster than cold water. I have no idea how true that is, but that was 20-something years ago, and I still remember it.

It seems like it was something to do with hot water losing heat faster than cooler water.. or something... but yeah, I remember hearing that as well.

That and if it's kept circulated during the freezing process, it will freeze crystal clear (saw that on some show about ice sculptures).