Quooker/Hot Tap Energy Usage

[Scam]

I'm quite liking the look of this one; https://www.pronteau.co.uk/3-in-1/protrad/configure?finish=antique-brass There's really not many in that antique brass/Victorian style surprisingly.

However I'm slightly dubious about the method for getting boiling water; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96e3B3MNDFM Seems like you'd have to warn everyone that sets foot in your kitchen, wouldn't everyone who wants to wash their house immediately reach for the left (hot) lever first?

 

[SpeedFreak]

I put one in about 2 months ago. Energy usage is negligible. Convenience is massive. We are in Bristol so went with the anti scale filter, I'll be interested to do a clean out in a few months and see how things look. I did the install myself so ran to about £1100 for a Quooker Flexi.

 

[LeeUK]

They are for folk who always boil a full kettle. I only boil enough for a cuppa and by time I get cup and tea bag out it's boiled.

 

[mattyfez]

I guess if you are using boiling water A LOT it's more efficient, but I can't see how it would be more efficient than boiling a kettle with the water level only up to the minimum line for the odd cuppa?

heating of 1 litre of water from 20oC 100oC at normal atmospheric pressure needs 330kJ (0.091kWh). That's just a fact, it doesn't change.

There is the argument it's worth keeping the water warmer/pre warmed for better efficiency, but I think that would only really come into play if you need frequent hot water, like 20 cups of tea throughout the day.

 

[mattyfez]

They are for folk who always boil a full kettle. I only boil enough for a cuppa and by time I get cup and tea bag out it's boiled.

Yeh, I play loose and fast and fill my kettle up to the minimum water line, which is approx. 2 cups worth, but I suspect I could run it a bit lower.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It's never about efficiency, the numbers I posted in this thread should demonstrate that. The holding tanks have heat losses and the use case to argue its more efficient probably doesn't exist in reality. You've also got to save a lot of electric to offset a £500-£1000 tap, even at todays prices.

It's all about convenience, it takes steps out of the process for making a cuppa/pot noodle/whatever. You can have a full pan of boiling water up and running on the hob in seconds. Forgot to boil the kettle for gravy? I'm sure you get the gist.

We very much like having it but I very much place it in the expensive kitchen gadget category rather than a game changing kitchen appliance.

I suppose one benefit is that if you have solar or battery storage, the unit we have only draws about 900w when its heating. That's about 1/3 less than a kettle and some single induction hob rings can pull 4kw in power mode. The lower power draw could keep you from drawing grid energy, particularly if you have other appliances going like an oven but like I said, its an expensive gadget, it isn't for saving money.

 

[Harnser]

Can you set these to be hot water temperature only (say 60 degrees max) or do they only work for boiling water? The plumbing in this house is a mess and I could be tempted to have hot water in the kitchen come from a Quooker tap or similar and ditch the connection back to the hot water tank. Even though it's expensive to install.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

That wouldn't really work and also most taps are not adjustable, mine is 100C only. They are typically 3 or 4 in 1 taps, that means they do the usual hot and cold as well as the boiling. A 4 in 1 will do filtered and/or chilled water too.

Plus a 2L or 4L tank is fine for doing drinks or cooking but you are not going to get very far filling a washing up bowl.

 

[SpeedFreak]

The quooker one allows you to blend boiling with the cold feed so would work. You may want a bigger tank though.

 

[mattyfez]

That's pretty crap then surely? Why would you want 100c water straight out of the tap.. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen to me.
If you could set it to say 60c or 70c it would be better.

When you consider how expensive they are I'd expect them to come with a fully adjustable thermostat that you can control manually and from your phone lol

 

[mattyg]

We've a https://www.appliancecity.co.uk/sin...mXewiCXS8DYf_aAwEhKO-amrKJ3AdQmwaAqEZEALw_wcB
Love it. Its connected to a smart switch that goes off at midnight and back on in time for the morning brew.
In 5 years its had a couple/half dozen of filters and a new tank.. I think we hadn't descalled it.
Now I know how to descale it, it gets done every year
I originally added a chiller unit to it for chilled filtered water but. Living under the sink cupboard it was too warm so didn't work..... I keep meaning to look at another alternative


or

QETTLE Signature Classic

www.qettle.com

 

[mattyg]

Can you set these to be hot water temperature only (say 60 degrees max) or do they only work for boiling water? The plumbing in this house is a mess and I could be tempted to have hot water in the kitchen come from a Quooker tap or similar and ditch the connection back to the hot water tank. Even though it's expensive to install.

Isn't the hot water from your boiler pretty much that temp

 

[mattyg]

That's pretty crap then surely? Why would you want 100c water straight out of the tap.. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen to me.
If you could set it to say 60c or 70c it would be better.

When you consider how expensive they are I'd expect them to come with a fully adjustable thermostat that you can control manually and from your phone lol

Then you'd still have to boil a kettle for your brew

 

[Harnser]

Plus a 2L or 4L tank is fine for doing drinks or cooking but you are not going to get very far filling a washing up bowl.

Good point ‍

 

[b0rn2sk8]

That's pretty crap then surely? Why would you want 100c water straight out of the tap.. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen to me.
If you could set it to say 60c or 70c it would be better.

When you consider how expensive they are I'd expect them to come with a fully adjustable thermostat that you can control manually and from your phone lol

Im not sure you ‘get it’. It’s a boiling water tap to replace a kettle. You can’t make tea with 60c water.

The taps have at least 3 outputs and you keep your existing hot water feed for normal hot water duties, cold tap for cold water duties and boiling water for kettle duties. Ours has 4 outputs so it does filtered cold water as well (you can hook a water chiller up to this if you wanted).

All that is visible is the mechanical tap, all the ‘magic’ happens under the sink and the 100c water is held in a holding tank at temperature ready to go alongside your existing plumbing.

On ours you can’t ‘accidentally’ draw the 100c water, you have to push in a little mechanical safety button before the tap can turn. The 100c water is on the opposite side to your usual hot and cold.

 

[Scam]

Just to point out that some of them say you can adjust the temperature, like the Abode one I posted. How easy that is I don’t know. I suspect you’d have to get on your hands and knees under the sink and use the panel on the boiler tank. I do agree they should be smarter in that respect

Anyone with a quooker (or other 100c tap), what are the downsides of 100c over 98c? I hear they can splutter a lot which sounds scary.

 

[mid_gen]

The most efficent option if you really must, is something like a Tefal QuickCup, Breville HotCup etc.

You don't waste energy maintaining a boiler 24/7, and only heats what you need. I had one years ago.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Just to point out that some of them say you can adjust the temperature, like the Abode one I posted. How easy that is I don’t know. I suspect you’d have to get on your hands and knees under the sink and use the panel on the boiler tank. I do agree they should be smarter in that respect

Anyone with a quooker (or other 100c tap), what are the downsides of 100c over 98c? I hear they can splutter a lot which sounds scary.

Why would you want to regularly change the temperature? I can’t ever say I’ve have felt the need to change the temperature on my kettle from boiling down to something lower. I know coffee snobs would say 100c is too hot for coffee but if your a coffee snob, you’ve probably got a dedicated machine, because you know, your a coffee snob.

They can splutter a little but unless you are trying to hold your cup as far away from the spout as possible, it’s really not anything to concern yourself about. The flow rates on the boiling side are slower than a normal tap, there is very little drama to it.

 

[Scam]

Why would you want to regularly change the temperature? I can’t ever say I’ve have felt the need to change the temperature on my kettle from boiling down to something lower. I know coffee snobs would say 100c is too hot for coffee but if your a coffee snob, you’ve probably got a dedicated machine, because you know, your a coffee snob.

I am a coffee snob and that is exactly the reason why However I also prescribe to the theory that boiling water is fine for coffee so I'm not bothered myself about changing the temperature. Some might though, depending on how they brew their coffee. For me it's probably more important to worry about whether you can tell the difference between a cup of tea brewed at 100c or 98c (I drink both). Although following the tests in the video there, the water temperature will be well under 95c by the time it hits your cup anyway.

 

[SpeedFreak]

Just to point out that some of them say you can adjust the temperature, like the Abode one I posted. How easy that is I don’t know. I suspect you’d have to get on your hands and knees under the sink and use the panel on the boiler tank. I do agree they should be smarter in that respect

Anyone with a quooker (or other 100c tap), what are the downsides of 100c over 98c? I hear they can splutter a lot which sounds scary.

The Quooker Fusion splutters a bit, but it doesn't seem dangerous to me.