Boiling water taps, revolutionary or crap?

[BoilingTap]

We’re in the process of having a brand new kitchen done. I’m really keen on a boiling water tap (Quooker) whereas my partner thinks they are a waste of money (it is over £1k) and we can just get a kettle. His argument is we can get a nice looking kettle for a tenth of the price, it’s no faff, if anything goes wrong you just replace.

I quite fancy one as I cook a lot of pasta, rice, potato’s, as well as making teas and coffees. I also like the idea of having more worktop space and reducing the amount of things plugged in. Obviously it’s a big expense and I’ve also read they need regular maintenance, I don’t fancy spending over a grand on a tap and then shelling out hundreds in maintenance. Can anyone who owns one shed any light?

YABU - team DH, they are a gimmick and crap.

YANBU - team BoilingTap, they are revolutionary, go for it!

Long term Quooker owner here. Ours went in in 2012 so it's 12 years old.

We've only had it serviced once.

Occasionally I remove the filter on the end of the tap and descale it.

Revolutionary for us, and I am fussy about tea.

Necessary? of course not. Useful and nice to have? You bet. Can you honestly say everything else in you new kitchen is going to be 100% necessary and there is nothing that's just nice to have and a bit of a luxury? We used to think of dishwashers as unimaginably luxurious but would you be without one now?

I've had a quooker for about 15 years. I wasn't keen on the idea but after using it for a while I wouldn't be without it.

It has had one or two small replaced parts over the years which were IIRC supplied free of charge by quooker and easily fitted at home. It had its first full service last year when it turned out to need a new boiler. The current boilers aren't compatible with the old taps and they could have just offered me a discounted (but still expensive) whole new system. But the engineer took it on himself to get someone to search the stores for an older boiler, which was eventually found and sent to me. He then made another appointment to come and fit it. All for the cost of a regular service, which as I recall was less than £200. So absolutely minimal maintenance costs and excellent customer service.

Very happy with mine, developed arthritis in my hands so it's gone from being a "nice to have" to a godsend.

Don't they use a lot of energy, an extra cost, or is that a rumour?

We have them at work. I don't like the splutter and I think it makes my tea taste funny.

We had one at work. The boiling water was ever quite hot enough for a decent cup of tea though it was fine for coffee.

Surely nobody’s life is so busy that they can’t wait a maximum of two minutes for a kettle to boil 🙈

I love my Qooker, I did have my reservations but now I've but couldn't be without it now.
Definitely go for it!

We had one that was there when we moved in but didn’t replace it when kitchen was done a few years back and I really don’t miss it.
If I pop kettle on then by the time I’ve got out mugs/tea/coffee and grabbed milk from fridge it’s boiled so it doesn’t save much time and if I need a pan I just use the hob (we have an induction one and it heats to boiling very quickly). I can see the appeal of them with saving the worktop space but am not bothered enough to be willing to pay for a new one & decided against having old one refitted

We have one at work. It is in constant use - hundreds of cups of tea and coffee a week and it is absolutely brilliant. I already planned for one in my next kitchen remodel, except that I want one which is fitted over a stove to avoid carrying pots back and forth from the sink.

I think the quooker makes tea taste weird. I wish you could test before buying.

We ummed and ahhed. Decided to get a standard tap instead with a single hole (cut in the quartz rather than two hole bar version) so if we decide to change our mind later we can.

I don’t like the spluttering. And they aren’t great for tea imo. Always tastes a bit bubbly to me.

Love our quettle although I was very sceptical when DH suggested one - would always install one in our home in future

But strangely enough my friend had one and raved about it, but is now thinking of having it removed because arthritis in her fingers means she can't quite work it properly. The one she has means you have to push down on a button and turn the knob at the same time and she is finding it harder and harder to do it successfully. So she has reverted back to a kettle.

Both!

They amazing when they work

They are crap when they break down.

I feel like this is one of things that you really want in the moment when you are looking at brochures and imagining your kitchen, but then once you decide not to get it you forget about it pretty quickly.

Unless you've got money to burn then I think you can save your £1000+! You could buy a really expensive smart super fast kettle and still have money left over for something which will get you some lasting happy memories.

On your deathbed you're not going to wish you'd bought a Quooker!

(The risk of wrong temperature tea would put me off too).

I like ours but -

It's slow, tea and coffee fine but you can't fill up a large pan to speed up cooking. Hot water bottles also slow

If you like your coffee hot you have to fill up the cup to warm it, chuck out the water and then make another one wirh the coffee (still quicker than waiting for kettle to boil)

If there are water works in the area that cause the pipes to be disturbed and a bit cloudy, the filters block up. That's the maintenance we've needed to do, however my husband has done it himself

I have a Franke one. I like it. It is economical and I can fill a pan with no problems. We did get it thrown in gratis with our kitchen supply/fit deal though.

Team BoilingTap!

My sister and I reckon this is the generational divide of this generation. Our parents/aunts etc find them scary, we love them!

We have an own brand one which is so far so good.

We are getting quotes for a new kitchen at the moment and everyone has quoted with a boiling tap. When we queried we were told everyone has one and looked at as if we were mad not to get one!

We used to have one. It was quite useful for filling a pan quickly, but didn’t really earn the space it took up. I’m not a tea drinker though, my husband used it more and liked it.

I believe there are only a few taps on the market (Quooker, Qettle) which genuinely heat the water to 100c. That might account for some of the issues people are stating on here, not being hot enough for tea, or crap taps at work etc?

Of course they did. It's a life saver that you can't live without.

It can also rescue pets and does work for charity in it's spare time.

Absolutely love ours (Quooker). Luxury but glad we splurged.

@BoilingTap
Look at Intu taps a gamechanger and half the price in lots of metals. British company and very good customer service
Mine has never needed maintenance and I use it many many times each day