Hot water taps

[Loueytb3]

I've been reading through the kitchen lessons learned thread and it seems lots of you are raving about hot water taps. Are they really that good? Are there any downsides to them? DH is concerned that the kids will hurt themselves (although they are not toddlers, the youngest is 6).

I have one (Franke) fitted as part of a new kitchen.

They have a safety switch so kids can’t turn them on.

I love it. Chucks out water hot enough to thicken gravy granules etc (which needs boiling water not water a few degrees below).

Only downside is you occasionally have to reset the heating tanks (if for example it trips for any reason) and ours is under kick board, so difficult to get to. only had to do once in 3 years tho

I've got an insinkerator model because it was (relatively) cheap (~£270 tap and boiler). It really is fantastic, but the specific model I have (3573) works just like a normal tap, so doesn't have any 'safety' lockout feature.
If you turn it on and put your hand under the flow, you will burn yourself.

The 2 downsides that impact us are:

1. The model we have 'kettles' sometimes - you can hear a rumbling of the boiler. Insinkerator say this is normal behaviour.
2. You theoretically need to replace the cold water filter ~6months. Again, the insinkerator filters are one of the cheapest ~£20/filter.

If we were installing another new kitchen in the future, I wouldn't hesitate and install another boiling tap.

Franke omnibus 4 in 1 here! Hot cold normal and boiling and filtered drinking water. As there are 4 options on the tap not as much in volume as a stand alone boiling water tap but we love it. Boiler takes up less than 1/4 of the undersink cupboard and the filter cartridges are easy to change. Has a safety feature to stop it accidentally being turned on. Would have another in a heartbeat - even DH loves it!

Omni not omnibus!

Quooker here. Best thing in the kitchen!
It does normal hot and cold and then boiling which is a separate ring with multiple twists required and toddlers unlikely to be able to use. My youngest DC was 6 when it was fitted so not a problem.
Can't recommend enough. Instantly boiling potatoes and pasta - even for huge pots.
Tea in no time.
And no kettle!
Make sure it does 100c though as lots don't.

We went to see a few kitchen designers yesterday and one was telling us that although he would recommend them, he would be careful about which brand he put in. He had installed several Franke ones in the past 12 months and they had all needed fixing already (for different reasons). Franke's customer service is apparently appalling and it turns out they don't have a rep/technical person who deals with fixing boiling water taps so if it goes wrong it's down to the installer to sort it out, even if its under warranty. So he is now refusing to put any more Franke systems in and was suggesting a different type (Insinkerator). Another one was recommending a tap by Abode which I've never heard of although it looked nice.

I have the 3 in 1 insinkerator and I think it’s great for making tea and coffee in a cup. Not quite hot enough to make tea in a teapot. Also great for veg and pasta. Was also fairly cheap (about £350 including filter and boiler from the Wright Buy). Had it almost a year and nonproblems with it at all.

Rubbish comment imo re franke. Their technical team were really helpful in sorting out why the flow was weak. Turned out we had a stuck valve in our system which they identified with the plumber.

I have had an insinkerator one for 4 1/2 years. You have to push the handle down and push it backwards to activate it.

It is normal to hear the tank heating up, it does it just after you use it because it refills with cold water and then has to come up to temperature. Plus periodically it cools a bit so re-heats.

It has been an incredible addition to the kitchen. It heats to 96 degrees which is definitely hot enough for most things. Pre-warming a cup before making a tea in it definitely improves the flavour of the tea, just like you would warm a pot.

I will admit that I am on my second tank, the first one failed just under 2 years in so was covered by the warranty but the new tank they fitted for free was only covered to the end of the original warranty. This tank is also leaking.

My advice would be to look at YouTube as people tend to upload problems on that site.

But I would fit another in a heartbeat. I am a SAHM so use the tap in the day and to fill my washing up bowl for those non-dishwasher items rather than running the hot tap which takes forever to heat up and come through. Obviously I put cold water in first, then add the boiling water. Safety first

If I could have afforded it I would have a Quooker but mine at the time was less than £400.