When I had my kitchen done last May I decided to pay for a boiling water tap to be installed. The one my installer used is a FRANKE.
Must say I loved this, able to make a drink, etc. immediately, no waste. Also for filling saucepans, etc. And so much safer than a kettle.
Being in a hard water area, I was concerned about getting the filter changed, need a small mortgage to purchase replacement!! Seemed to be very simple and straight forward and daughter carried this out.
On Friday night I had NO hot water in my kitchen. Assumed it was my boiler and phoned British Gas and arranged an engineer to come on Saturday. However, then discovered I had hot water in my bathroom and en-suite. Saturday morning BG engineer confirmed nothing wrong with boiler. It was the Franke system that was not working. And, he checked the fuse for that and found nothing wrong.
Must say, until then I had assumed that only the boiling tap was controlled by Franke and the other kitchen hot water tap came off the boiler - but not the case. All one unit.
Franke not open over weekend, phoned this morning. Firstly they wanted me to take off the kick plate in the kitchen to have a look at the tank. Told them I am not able to get down that low or remove that kickplate. When I started to mention Consumers Right Act, I got transferred to Head of Department.
She was fine - and it appears as if this machine is pre-set to turn itself off after year if filter not replaced. When I said I HAD replaced the filter I was asked had we then re-set it and I said NO as nothing in the instructions had told us so to do.
Oh dear. Modern technology. She did say that there is the option for the installer to have turned off that re-set facility - but obviously did not do so. So, I have had to go back to my kitchen installers. Why I do I get the feeling that this Franke tap was the first one they have installed!!! They did not know about this facility which I should have been offered.
So, will now wait to see what happens when they come tomorrow morning.
Perhaps I should have stayed with an old-fashioned, quick boiling electric kettle!!!!!!
Our daughter has one of these.
Personally I don't like the taste prefer it from the kettle.
I've been looking at these boiling water taps for several years but decided they were too expensive for my budget.
Then I saw a water boiling machine that looks like a coffee machine but just does water. It cost about the same as a decent kettle, holds almost 4 litres of water (compared to 1.7l in a kettle), it never needs moving off the side and can be filled with a mug or jug, and only heats the amount of water you tell it to.
This has been a godsend over the past few years, I have MS, and my manual dexterity has been deteriorating steadily for at least a decade, so there's no risk of me picking up a kettle, dropping it and scalding myself (which I've done a few times over the years).
Maybe, when I get around to moving house (hopefully later this year), I might revisit the boiling water tap idea if I can afford one, otherwise I'll stick with my current machine.
B&Q supply a hot water tap - an Insinkerator. Utterly brilliant and boiling hot too and a fraction of the price of a Qooker. I could not be without it. According to the Sunday Times article on saving electricity it is cheaper to run than a kettle and can save quite a bit over a year.
Granarchist
B&Q supply a hot water tap - an Insinkerator. Utterly brilliant and boiling hot too and a fraction of the price of a Qooker. I could not be without it. According to the Sunday Times article on saving electricity it is cheaper to run than a kettle and can save quite a bit over a year.
How much do your replacement filters cost? I was quoted nearly £40 for a hard water one and advised to change it every 6-9 months, or when I noticed a change in the water taste. I found I could buy a cheaper compatible brand, but would that invalidate the warranty?
good point - that is the official price but mine will soon be out of warranty anyway so cheapest seem to be around £30.
DeeJaysMum I used those counter top hot water machines (three different types) upto the time Ihad my kitchen re-done. Three problems with those
1. They take up worktop space (in a small kitchen that is a nuisance.
2. Have to continuously re-fill them. Okay do this with a jug, but still needs doing if used a lot. Even with the bigger tanks it is suprising how quicklhy the water runs out.
3. None of them are really at boiling temperature. As I am a tea drinker, this really matters to me.
Another problem is that they are (deliberately, for safety reasons) very slowin pouring the hot water.
Having used these for the preceding three years I was very happy to have all these problems sorted out with the tap hot water (really boiling hot).
Filters are expensive, unrealistically so, perhaps as they become more and more common usage, then these will drop in price. Convenience is brilliant, so much easier and quicker than even the best of kettles. Can fill small and/or large hot water bottles direct as well as saucepans etc.
Love my boiling tap. Too high up and you have to press down before you turn it. So, no concerns about children.
Cup of tea / coffee made in seconds. Instant boiling water for veg. etc. etc.
Wouldn’t be without it.
Looks as though that wonderful phrase “I’ll put the kettle on” will soon be defunct. How sad!
At around £1000+ per tap it’s unlikely to be anytime soon GrannySomerset.
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