Boiling water taps – yes or no?

The boiling water tap is the new must have kitchen gadget, but costing £800+ they are only likely to be found in designer kitchens.

Appliance brands are all trying to jump on the eco bandwagon and Quooker, the UK’s most notorious boiling tap, is no different. However, we’re yet to be convinced that heating and storing 3 litres of boiling water can really be described as eco friendly.

All about the boiling water tap

The boiling tap is fitted in addition to regular hot/cold taps, supplying instant boiling water from an insulated tank under the sink, which is heated electrically. The tap also features a safety mechanism to prevent children, and adults, from burning themselves.

They have been hyped as the gadget that will replace the common kettle, however, factor in the cost of chopping up your worktop to fit the tap and you’re looking at a significant outlay. Considering their cost it’s not likely that these taps will be replacing the kettle any time soon. These gadgets are just that, a gadget, and best suited to luxury kitchen redesigns rather than a one off addition. Providers claim they pay back in energy saving costs over time, but just how long would it take to rekindle the cost of a 1k tap?

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The boiling tap is designed to save time and energy. People overfill their kettles all the time – you should only boil as much water as you need – overfilling is an eco no-no. The eco concept behind the boiling tap is that you only use as much water as you need, despite the 3 litre tank remaining constantly full and heated to a temperature of 100 degrees.

Boiling water on tap is a huge time saver and if it does achieve its dream of replacing the kettle, the idiom ‘a watched pot never boils’ will be a thing of the past. Cooking pasta, rice and vegetables will become a speedier process in-line with our modern fast-paced lives.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, it costs almost 1.5 pence to boil a kettle, but for the more discerning kettle user who doesn’t overfill, we think the only thing the boiling tap saves is time.

If you do decide to give the Quooker tap a whirl, post your job for free and one of our kitchen specialists will make sure you have boiling water on tap, quicker than you can make him a cup of builder’s tea!