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!

I moved into a new house nearly a month ago that has a Quooker, and honestly, it's over-hyped. I used it a few times the first few days I moved it, and perhaps there's a knack to it, but sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. Plus I wouldn't say the water was proper boiling either.
Also, for the space you'd save on the counter by not having a kettle, the under-sink unit for the Quooker takes up about the same, if not slightly more, "floor space."

I've just defaulted back to my rapid boil kettle. Plus I have a really good induction hob that brings a stone cold pan of water to boil in perhaps 3 minutes.

For those that talk about the sputtering and spraying, i was told its a safety feature. So that youre aware that youve put on the boiling water part of the tap, not just regular cold or hot water running part of your tap and accidently out your hand under it and burn yourself.**

If you have a water softener, they require zero maintenance. It’s only if you have hard water that filters etc need changing / parts servicing. I was told that by the manufacturer a few weeks ago, so you can be sure of that. We have a Quooker flex tap and it’s brilliant. Love it for making the speediest cups of tea and for filling huge pans. Reduces counter clutter. We use it so often that if I ever had another kitchen fitted it would be the thing I wouldn’t compromise on to save money. It cost over a grand but it’s worth it!

I’ve used them on holiday, but they seem like an expensive gimmick. I’d buy a decent kettle.

All it does is heat the water flowing from the water pipe, same as a kettle. It doesn’t alter the taste. I’m so fussy about tea that I have a Brewista kettle for certain teas so it’s the right temperature and the flow of the water into the leaves is even. If the Quooker was wrecking my other teas, I’d know. Are you sure it wasn’t either a water softener, change of tea bag or milk affecting the taste? Because if not, she should get the water supply tested.

They are not BOILING water and, to me, that makes a huge difference to the taste. I agree with @TenWeeCaramelJoeys I am contemplating complaining about the firm that advertises '98°C boiling water' on TV. Because 98 IS NOT boiling.

Tried a Franke version. Loads of issues with it and Franke gave us a full refund. Changed to a Quooker which we’ve had for several years and no issues. My 90 year old mother loved ours so got one herself! And it makes great tea!

Boiling the kettle is such a lovely, comforting thing to do. My favourite words are "Put the kettle on" - especially when texted to me by one of the kids or DH, indicating they are just a few minutes from home. I can see a boiling water tap might be more convenient if you can't wait two minutes for the kettle to boil, but I can always find something to fill that two minutes. I live in France where lots of people don't have kettles - or even more bizarrely - keep them in the cupboard. A kitchen is always poorer for not having one on the side or on the stove - ready to be pressed into action at a moment's notice. If you want to splash the cash get a luxury kettle (I had my eye on a mint green Smeg until the man in the shop confided that it wasn't really any more reliable than the cheaper Kenwood model).

The cheap ones are crap, can't speak for the dearer ones. Redring was cheap and blocked up very quickly.

They're amazing, changed our life. We have a qettle.