Boiling water taps - filter unit

Kitchen refurb in progress and now the old units are out, some of the floor is up, and some of the ceiling gone, lots of pigs-ears done by the cheeseparing previous owner are coming to light.

We're looking at a boiling water tap and the recommendation is to also have a "filter unit" that the manufacturer sells, and use unsoftened water, via this "filter" to supply the boiling water tap.

What would this "filter" be doing that might be different from our standard water softener (which uses salt tablets)?

We also have a separate tap to provide filtered water. It uses the softened water supply at present but the idea was always to run unsoftened to it. This filter removes heavy metals and any residual chlorine and gets replaced every three years. Is such a filter likely to be what the tap people are talking about? If so it could supply the BW tap too.

Reply to
Tim Streater
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In message , Tim Streater writes

Hmm.. Wife wanted a Quooker for her new kitchen. Kitchen designer lady vetoed it on the basis that the installers don't tell you that the vessel needs replacing twice a year (very hard water here). They exchange your old one for a refurbished unit.......

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Reply to
Tim Lamb

Not if you add their "filter", according to the store we went to. Also: someone in the village here (on chalk downs) has one and is quite happy with it.

Reply to
Tim Streater

In message , Tim Streater writes

No direct experience. The general tone was .. this is something you only find out after the installation.

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Reply to
Tim Lamb

Just strap a couple of magnets to the inlet pipe and Bob's your uncle. ;-)

Just as an aside, a friend of ours has one and it's ruined the tea/coffee ceremony. There's none of that kettle filling, waiting for it to boil, gabbing a bit, etc., etc. It's just an indecently quickly made cup of tea or coffee.

Feels desperately wrong to my mind. ;-)

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

In our house, I do all the teas and coffees, so it should speed that up which is a plus. Just have to remember not to wash my hands with it.

Reply to
Tim Streater

Is it really such a problem boiling a kettle?

It's one of those toys I really can't see the point of. Except in a cafe, etc.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Who said boiling a kettle was a problem?

Reply to
Tim Streater

Given that is the normal way to get boiling water for teas and coffees, it would be fair enough to assume you think it so? If looking at alternatives?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Nah, more that this is the time to put one in, if at all. It's in reaction to our on-going astonishment at the cack-handed and cheeseparing way the previous owner did a conversion. So:

1) Ceiling joists that are suspended on those metal hanger jobbies, but those are not attached to anything - just hooked onto an RSJ. 2) A fat black cable for supplying power to an outbuilding - a cable with braided earthing underneath the outer insulation - mated to a fat power cable that goes to a CU under the stairs. The joint between these two effected using a bit of choc-bloc, the whole wrapped round with a bit of sticky tape and left under the floor. 3) Kitchen floor boards that are shy of the wall by a couple of inches. 4) Under the kitchen floor, what was presumably a booster pump for the downstairs CH circuit, now not connected to anything so acting as a blocker to water flow. 5) Large numbers of electric cables and pipework floating under the kitchen floor, in one case a copper CH pipe surrounded by nice sharp small pointy lumps of old concrete which dig into the copper.

IMO, doing a job properly is usually a lot easier than bodging it, so I wonder why they bother.

Reply to
Tim Streater

Are you feeling lucky?

Chris

Reply to
Chris J Dixon

The principal reason for having our Quooker is that the new kitchen is at the opposite end of the house from the hot water cylinder, so it was taking for ever getting hot water to the sink, and wasting a lot of water and energy in the process. The Quooker provides instant hot (mixed boiling and cold) water to the hot tap *plus* boiling water for tea and coffee making to a separate tap.

I'm not sure whether I could make an economic[1] case for it, but from a convenience point of view it's fantastic.

[1] PROs No waste of time, water and energy getting hot water to the tap No waiting for the kettle to boil when making tea and coffee No energy waste by putting more water than necessary into a kettle

CONs Water heated by electricity, which is more expensive than gas Some energy loss (small since very well insulated) from keeping 7 litres of water at boiling point 7x24

Reply to
Roger Mills

Not a question of luck, the motions you have to go through to get boiling water are impossible to do accidentally.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

We are arranging it so that hot/cold/filtered comes from one tap, and boiling from a separate tap. That felt safer.

Reply to
Tim Streater

[snip]

Very odd reaction. ;-)

I'd love to see some figures on how much those instant boiling water devices cost to run. Even with decent insulation. Including replacement parts over time.

From what I can find out they store about the same amount as a kettle, but take a lot longer to re-heat if exhausted.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

But can it provide a couple of sink fulls of hot water in reasonably quick succession? My kettle can't give a sinkfull when cold is added to bring it down to a decent hand temperature.

That bit surely is under the control of the user? So you'd need the same care not to waste boiling water from your Quooker.

I'd say most would use an electric kettle to boil water for tea, etc. But with an instant supply of boiling water, perhaps use it for filling pots etc rather than gas for all cooking?

And it would be good to know the exact figures.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

That's in part what SWMBO wants to do.

Reply to
Tim Streater

I wish you well, then. My guess is it won't store enough water for that purpose.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I guess we'll find out :-)

A friend in the village has one of these, with a 3 litre tank, which she also uses for the "cooking" purpose. She seems happy enough.

I also ascertained that the tank you get contains a charcoal filter, which will remove impurities. The extra device they sell, which the shop person seemed to think was a filter, is actually an ion-exchange softener. All this from the Quooker website (should have looked there earlier).

Reply to
Tim Streater

I think they come in various sizes, but ours holds 7 litres of water at a bit above boiling point (under pressure). The hot tap (which mixes boiling and cold) can easily fill a large washing up bowl. And, as the washing up water cools during the washing operation, a dash of water from the boiling tap quickly re-vitalises it.

No. You put boiling water directly into the coffee cup or teapot - so you only use what you need. With a kettle, you (we, anyway!) rarely use all the boiling water - so some of it goes to waste.

We do use it for filling saucepans for cooking spuds and green vegetables. That probably doesn't save energy vs our electric induction hob - but it saves time.

Quooker claim that the cost of keeping the water hot - assuming you don't consume any - is only a few pence per day, but I've never attempted to verify that. Obviously you have to pay to heat the water which you actually use, on top of that.

Reply to
Roger Mills

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