Boiling Water Taps: Your Ultimate Guide
We have been supplying boiling-water taps in our kitchens for many years, and the number is growing yearly. Boiling water taps are a popular choice for most of our clients, and in this article, we’ll cover some of the main benefits, considerations and our chosen best boiling-water tap.
Boiling-water taps are also referred to as ‘hot taps’, ‘hot water taps’ or ‘instant hot water taps’. The first boiling-water tap was invented in 1970 by Dutch manufacturer Henri Peteri. Boiling water taps provide instant boiling water on demand and are an alternative to a conventional kettle or boiling water in a saucepan. A boiling-water tap is fixed and plumbed in with a separate tank housed in a cabinet underneath the sink, and they work by keeping a store of water at boiling point.
Why consider a boiling water tap?
Below we’ve summarised four key reasons to install a boiling water tap in your kitchen.
1. Convenience
Instant hot water taps function similarly to electric showers, utilising an electrical element to rapidly heat water from your mains supply within an insulated tank. These taps provide water at temperatures between 96 and 98 degrees Celsius, instantly ready for use. They save time compared to boiling a kettle, and are convenient for making hot drinks, meal prep, and cleaning tasks like sterilising baby bottles and washing utensils.
The average person spends four months waiting for a kettle to boil! Instant boiling water taps mean no more waiting for water to boil, saving you valuable time in your morning routine, when preparing meals or even throughout your day.
2. Safety
Many people have concerns over the safety of instant boiling water taps; however they can actually be safer than a kettle or pan of water. Did you know that the majority of accidents involving boiling water are due to kettles or pans tipping over? A boiling water tap is fixed to the surface, removing this risk entirely.
The flow of water is also different, a kettle produces a solid flow of water which could cause serious burns instantly, while a boiling water tap dispenses the liquid in fine drops producing hot water but not a solid stream.
Boiling water taps also have safety features built in, such as the handles which are designed to require more than a simple twist to turn them on, ensuring that the boiling water can’t turn on accidentally or automatically. Features such as lights which illuminate when the tap is dispensing hot water also provide a visual warning to the user.
3. Sustainability
There are some sustainability benefits of having a boiling water tap. More often than not, people boil more water than needed in their kettle, whether for hot drinks or pre-boiling water to cook food in a pan. A boiling water tap enables you to dispense exactly the right amount of water you need, for instance, a single mug of tea.
Some models of boiling-water taps also produce chilled, filtered drinking water or sparkling water from the same fixture, which removes the need for single-use plastic bottles that harm our environment. Also, with chilled water available immediately, there’s no need to leave the tap running until the water runs cold, reducing water wastage.
Boiling water taps are energy efficient too. As the hot water is stored in a tank, when water is used, and therefore the tank topped up, it only requires a slight draw of energy to bring the water to the right temperature. There are also options to use a boiling water tap for both the boiling and hot water in your kitchen, which can prove more economical than drawing hot water from a boiler elsewhere in your house.
4. Design Aesthetics
Have you found yourself pushing your kettle into the corner to create space for food prep? Or experienced the exhaustive search for a kettle that perfectly matches your kitchen style and colour? If you have, you’re not alone; these are more reasons why many people opt for a boiling water tap.
Boiling water taps are very sleek by design, just like regular taps. They discreetly sit on your kitchen worktop beside your sink, freeing up worktop space compared to a standard kettle. The unintrusive, minimalist design enhances your kitchen design rather than detracting.
A boiling-water tap can sit discreetly beside your main tap or you can choose a higher specification model that offers a mixer tap and boiling-water tap in one tap.
What’s more, the designs and finishes have been developed to offer a boiling water tap to suit every kitchen from chrome, stainless steel and black, or even bronze or gold!
Is a boiling-water tap cheaper to run than a kettle?
We covered some of the efficiencies above, so is a boiling-water tap or a kettle cheaper to run?
Quooker, one of the leading boiling-water tap manufacturers, states that their taps cost 3p per day if left on standby. The cost of boiling a litre of water using a kettle is just over 2p. Therefore, if a kettle boils several times a day, it is easy to see how a boiling-water tap would be more cost-effective to run.
There is a higher upfront cost to purchase a boiling water tap than a kettle, so considering this, the overall investment for a boiling-water tap is higher. However, price is not the driving factor for our clients, and they choose boiling-water taps for other reasons, which we’ve covered above; therefore, the low running costs of boiling-water taps are a bonus rather than the sole motivation for purchase.
All taps feature a filter to remove chemicals from the water; this makes the water taste better and protects the tank from limescale and sediment, which can cause damage. If you have a three-in-one tap that dispenses chilled water, this filter is particularly beneficial to improving the taste and purity of the water you drink.
What is the best boiling-water tap in the UK?
Today, there are a number of brands manufacturing boiling-water taps including Quooker, Franke, Grohe, Zip and Qettle. For us at KCA, the Quooker is the best boiling-water tap and this is the product that we recommend to our clients. The inventor of the boiling-water tap, Henri Peteri, founded Quooker alongside his son in 1987, making the Quooker tap the first-ever boiling-water tap and therefore, the brand with the longest heritage and history of production.
A Guide to Quooker Boiling-Water Taps
Below we share a guide to Quooker taps to help you choose the right boiling-water tap for you. If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact our design team by calling 01344 883777 or via our website contact form.
Quooker offers multiple models with different features at varying price points and free installation. There are three main collections: Flex, Fusion and Nordic. You can combine all the taps below with a Quooker CUBE to dispense chilled sparkling and filtered water.
Read on to learn the difference between each model.
Quooker Nordic
The Quooker Nordic taps come as a single tap which you can combine with your existing mixer tap, or a Twintap option which features a pair of taps in matching designs: one is an all-in-one mixer tap and the other a Quooker boiling water tap. The Nordic taps are available in round and square designs in two finishes: polished chrome and stainless steel.
Once again, Quooker offers a Classic Nordic series which is also available in nickel finish.
The Nordic models are the entry-level Quooker taps.
Quooker Fusion
The Quooker Fusion tap dispenses cold, hot and boiling water from one tap. This model is available in round and square spout designs in five finishes: polished chrome, stainless steel, black, patinated brass, and gold.
Quooker also offers a Classic Fusion model in a more classic design to suit traditional kitchens. The Classic model is available in the same finishes, excluding black.
Quooker Flex
This model dispenses cold, hot and boiling water from one tap. The tap features a flexible pull-out hose for extra reach in the sink and is available in three finishes: polished chrome, stainless steel and black.
The Quooker Flex is the highest specification option out of all of the models.
How to maintain a boiling-water tap
Maintaining a boiling-water tap is straight forward. Simply change the filters as specified by the manufacturer and clean the tap nozzle periodically to prevent the build-up of limescale. Quooker recommends a service every 3-5 years and the typical lifespan of a Quooker boiling water tap is 15-20 years.
Boiling Water Tap Inspiration
Curious to see how a boiling water tap would look in your kitchen? Below we share a selection of KCA kitchens from real client homes, each one featuring a Quooker tap.
To find out more information about Quooker taps, contact our experienced design team by calling 01344 883777 or send an enquiry using our website form.
