If you are thinking about buying a Quooker, or indeed any boiling water tap, there are one or two things you need to think about. We didn’t really consider these things before we bought ours recently so I thought it might be helpful if I wrote them all down!
We had been thinking for a long time that we would like a boiling water tap so when our old tap began leaking it was a definite sign that it was time to get one installed! But why have a boiling tap at all? Well:
Why get a Quooker boiling tap?
- Instant hot water, obviously. You can have a cup of tea or coffee, in seconds.
- Filtered water. Inbuilt filters mean that your water tastes better than if you had just filled the kettle from the sink.
- It saves time. Have you ever been boiling rice or pasta and realised you need more boiling water and then had to wait for the kettle to boil? No more, my friend.
- Energy efficiency. You no longer have to worry about boiling more water than you need and wasting energy. A boiling water tap gives you just the right amount, and it’s suggested that standby usage costs just 3p a day. Compare that to it costing 2.5p to boil a kettle of water (which we do several times a day) and it is easy to see the potential savings.
- If you, or someone you know, struggles to carry anything heavy such as a full kettle then this would make things much easier because they would only need to carry a mug full.
- You save water too because you won’t overfill the kettle and then end up ditching any surplus.
What to think about before getting a boiling water tap
- Which tap you want will depend on your preferences, and budget. You can get a straightforward boiling tap, or you could get one with a flex hose which makes it easier to fill pans beside the sink, or to clean the sink; and you could get an additional ‘Cube’ and have sparkling water on tap (excuse the pun).
- You will need to get it installed by a professional. You could do it yourself but it is quite a complicated task so really better to have it installed professionally, and obviously with this comes an associated cost (around £100).
- You will need to have space for the tank under the sink, which means you will lose cupboard space. If you go for the option of having sparkling water as well then there is additional piece of kit that means it is likely you could lose all of your under sink cupboard.
- You will need an electrical socket near the sink. You also need to ensure that the load on the socket isnt overwhelming so it would be worth chatting to an electrician to ensure the fuse can cope with the additional load.
- There are ongoing costs with having one of these taps, such as needing to have filters changed on an annual basis.
- And obviously if something goes wrong with it you will need to call an electrician or plumber out to diagnose and fix the problem. (Thought the Quooker does come with a standard two year warranty).
If you are worried about having “a boiling water tap” in the kitchen, don’t. We were slightly nervous because we thought that we might burn ourselves by turning it on “accidentally”. I don’t know how other boiling water taps work but with our Quooker you have to push down on the collar at the base twice, and then turn it before any boiling water comes out. It is highly unlikely, if not impossible, to do that inadvertently. If you just turn on the tap conventionally it’s just standard hot water, determined by your boiler, the boiling tap only works when you consciously activate it.
Nor is the tap itself hot so people won’t be hurt by touching the tap (though obviously it is advisable to always make sure small hands are well away from it).
All in all we are thrilled with the latest edition to our kitchen and our only regret is not doing it years ago.
Photo of Quooker tap, courtesy of Shutterstock