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Boiling water taps.

(34 Posts)
Franbern Mon 22-May-23 10:00:04

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!!!!!!

Hetty58 Mon 22-May-23 10:07:22

I think I'll just keep on with my (very old fashioned) hob kettle. It boils cheap and fast on the induction hob - in the same time it takes to get the mugs and coffee ready.

BlueBelle Mon 22-May-23 10:17:09

Me too hetty good old electric kettle, boils quick enough for me 😂
Hope you get it sorted fran it’s so annoying when things go wrong you really do have to go around the houses to get them sorted sometimes

ParlorGames Mon 22-May-23 10:24:29

My BIL fitted one when he refurbished his kitchen........and didn't tell us about it! Almost scalded my hand when I went to rinse out the dregs from the coffee cups!

Far too complicated and dangerous in my opinion, give me a proper kettle any day.

Foxygloves Mon 22-May-23 10:40:19

I don’t know how anybody could scald their hand “by accident”. It’s quite complicated- push down, turn to the right, wait a second or two but then expect boiling water
If you have one, you soon get used to it and it is not possible to scald yourself just by turning the (normal) hot tap on.
The one problem I have is filling a hot water bottle!

karmalady Mon 22-May-23 11:04:27

Franke is based in switzerland. I am loving my stainless steel franke sink and normal kitchen tap, however my sink corners at the front were both bashed in transit and I was determined to straighten them myself as it took so long for the sink to eventually arrive from frankeland. I did it, kept the packaging just in case

I am so sorry that you have hot tap problems Franbern, I know that a boiler tap was high up on your list of wants for your new kitchen. I am glad that I stayed with my kettle. I expect that filter auto switch- off was installed to prevent any damage from a scaled up water filter, including dangerous hot water-splash via a less than smooth filter

I do love my kitchen aid kettle and its adjustable temperatures

Franbern Tue 23-May-23 09:14:14

All sorted this morning. Even the professionals (who had installed it for me), had a bit of a problem working out how to re-set this. Took them a good time, and help from website.

Definitely confirms my idea that this is the first of this particular model they had installed. So, they also learned how to sort out this problem. I have written down their instructions as to what to do each year when I change the filter.

I must say in the defence of Hot Water taps that (when they work), they are wonderful. It really is instantaneous, so not just for hot drinks, but things like hot water bottles, saucepans, etc. etc. AND .......no picking up a heavy kettle etc.

For several years prior to having this installed I used those hot water machines that sat on my worktop. They were okay, problem was the space they took up. None of them really reached boiling point (and I am a tea drinker), and they required often re- filling up the tank.

Do think that these hot water taps are in their infancy and need to become a tad more consumer friendly. As it is probable that most people having them installed are more likely to be of my age (having them for safety reasons), they need re-set buttons more easily seen and reached. Problem with having comparative new technology early in its development.

So I can put my kettle away again - until next year?????!!!!

aggie Tue 23-May-23 09:30:55

At a gathering in Sons house my Sister offered to make tea for the tea drinkers , most were on the vino !
She did as we always do , rinsed the pot with boiling water from the aforesaid tap , emptied it out , put in the tea leaves , and filled the pot from the Boiling water tap , but it ran cold halfway !
Seems good for smaller amounts of hot water but not a big tea pot full ?

GrannyGravy13 Tue 23-May-23 10:11:09

I had my first boiling water tap for twenty years, updated three years ago to a Quooker.

I could never imagine going back to a kettle.

Franbern Tue 23-May-23 12:31:46

aggie there has never been any limit on the amount of boiling water I get from this tap.

GrannyGravy13 Tue 23-May-23 12:40:24

Franbern

aggie there has never been any limit on the amount of boiling water I get from this tap.

I have never run out of boiling water either, we had 20 people here over Christmas, filling of saucepans, teapot, soaking cooking pots and pans was continuous for at least 8 hours on Christmas Day.

Boz Tue 23-May-23 12:43:21

Are they expensive to run? I am thinking of the energy needed to provide immediate boiling water.

Grantanow Wed 24-May-23 09:25:31

Good question Boz.

annodomini Wed 24-May-23 10:29:18

DS2's family has a boiling water tap and when I visit, it's lovely to have an instant cup of tea without having to fill and boil the kettle. Another advantage is that it uses only just as much water as is needed. However, I have misgivings about having such a tap in a household where there might be small children, just tall enough to reach the taps and where there are absent-minded older people (potentially myself) living there. So I decided not to have such a convenient facility in the retirement flat I'm in the process of having refurbished.

knspol Wed 24-May-23 11:23:32

Quooker user here and love it. No hanging around for kettle to boil or heating up water to cook vegetables. So good to come in from the cold in winter and make a cuppa in no time at all.

twiglet77 Wed 24-May-23 11:27:15

I dog-sit for friends who have a Quooker tap. I had to watch a YouTube video the first few times as I couldn’t remember how it worked. I love it now, and I wish I could afford one!

Magrithea Wed 24-May-23 11:37:23

Our DD and DSiL have one, came with the house, and our DGC know not to use it - not sure they could as it's quite hard to push down twice and turn. If anyone scalded themselves it would surely be from the normal hot tap that had already been run, you can't just turn on a Quooker (or, presumably, any other type of boiling tap) by mistake

Funnygran Wed 24-May-23 12:02:20

We had a Quooker installed when we had a kitchen extension 14 years ago. Never had any bother with it and wouldn't go back to a kettle now. The kitchen supplier showed us cheaper ones but they delivered water just under boiling point which was a no no for us being big tea drinkers. If I'm making fresh coffee I do tend to put the water into a jug first as I found it seemed to mash the coffee grounds. My son has a much newer version that also serves as the hot and cold mixer tap. I have to admit to finding that very complicated to use and often boil water in a pan when I'm babysitting there!

Meta Wed 24-May-23 12:39:14

I had a Quooker fitted last year with my new kitchen - debated at the time as it was an extra cost but we absolutely love it! It’s so handy to have instant boiling water and energy usage doesn’t seem too bad at all.

cc Wed 24-May-23 12:53:43

I have a small kitchen and just didn't want to sacrifice the space required for the working parts under the worktop for a hot water tap. Also I really don't like the look of the taps, there are many much nicer looking "ordinary" taps available.

dragonfly46 Wed 24-May-23 13:05:03

I too have a Quooker and love it. It has quite a large tank for boiling water and also a filtered water cold tap. It is simple to change the filter once a year with clear instructions on the filter box.
Getting boiling water requires quite a complicated manoeuvre so no chance of doing it inadvertently or of children doing it.

Vintagegirl Wed 24-May-23 13:28:41

Could someone explain where the boiling water comes from? is there a tank of same sitting there ready for use or does it just heat a small amount continuously as used?

4allweknow Wed 24-May-23 16:10:16

Gosh, aren't we so impatient nowadays that we can't wait on a kettle to boil for a cup of tea. Explored a hot water tap about 8 years ago. Decided against and definitely not a hot/cold/aerated tap. Takes a long time to recoup cost never mind the cost of the replacement canisters for fizzy water system.

grannysyb Wed 24-May-23 20:22:22

A friend with very arthritic hands has one as she finds it difficult to lift a kettle. She loves it !

Mollygo Wed 24-May-23 20:30:08

4allweknow

Gosh, aren't we so impatient nowadays that we can't wait on a kettle to boil for a cup of tea. Explored a hot water tap about 8 years ago. Decided against and definitely not a hot/cold/aerated tap. Takes a long time to recoup cost never mind the cost of the replacement canisters for fizzy water system.

I’m with you on that, 4allweknow.
We decided against it a few years ago.
The sales person we talked to answered all our questions (albeit reluctantly) on replacing filters and equipment if you have hard water and the cost of that.
That person also answered our question on keeping the water at boiling point - he said 105° and it’s effect on energy consumption by saying that we should turn the tap off over night and when on holiday to save on energy use.
It looks amazing, and I’m still a little envious of those who have one, but I’ll have to live without it.