Well, let us make one thing clear. We are extremely sceptical about anything billed as a latest must have kitchen gadget, and that includes the Pot Filler, an item we have studied closely.
Pot Fillers are taps, typically articulated, which are usually plumbed into a backsplash behind a range oven or hob.
It’s purpose is to make filling up a pot on the range oven or hob easier. Essentially it means you don’t have to take the pot to the main sink to fill up with water, hence its alternative name, Lazy Tap.
In theory this sounds sensible. But at Guild Anderson we don’t do theory. We do practice (or ‘lived experience’ as is the current phrase of the year).
There are several flaws with Pot Fillers in our view. Firstly, they only deliver cold water. And in most kitchens we design in the UK, our clients will also opt for a Quooker tap, the only fully boiling water tap on the market.
From client research undertaken, we know that customers with both a Pot Filler and a Quooker tend to revert to the Quooker to fill their pot up with instant boiling water, not cold water from the Pot Filler. This makes the Pot Filler redundant. We’ve actually recently removed one from a client house in Hampshire.
Our theory is the reason Pot Fillers are still so popular in the USA is that the boiling water tap has not taken off there in quite the same way.
The other flaw is that they are a tap like any other, and they drip as their washers wear out. A Pot Filler doesn’t drip down a sink, however. It drips on your range oven or hob. And if there was a real disaster, and the washer failed completely, the water would gush all over your kitchen. Sods law would dictate that this would happen just as your flight was taking off for your well earned 3 week holiday.
In our view the Pot Filler can be an expensive and unnecessary addition to any kitchen with a Quooker nearby. However, for large kitchens with Quooker taps far from the oven, they definitely have their place.