Boiling water tap - Quooker alternatives

[canalsiderenovation]

So, we had a Quooker tap along with the cube that came with our kitchen. It's been quite problematic to be honest and expensive though Quooker have been out a few times FOC and sorted it. At the last visit this week they recommended a scale control add on thing at a special offer for £100. Now we have lots of scale issues and the boiling water tank has scaled up badly but if we add this on their replacement cartridges are £90 which need doing 12 to 18 months. The Cube we had needs frequent filter changes at £80 a time too and we drink a lot of filtered water. All the filters seem bespoke and not able to get elsewhere (particularly the Cube which is an older one) and then the co2 cannisters although we have about a dozen of these still unused so hopefully don't need to buy any for a while.

 

I'm so tempted to do away with the whole thing and sell it and get a cheaper replacement where we can get generic filters/scale control filters. We dont really drink fizzy water and whilst I do really like the boiling water tap and filtered water, the filtered water doesn't need to be ice cold, just drinkable!

 

I'm therefore looking at alternatives that have boiling water, filtered water (not necessarily ice cold, tap temp is fine) and something to control the scale as we live in a very hard water area (or at least something that is easy to maintain, clean tank etc. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

This one has popped up (it also offers free installation too, but this isn’t necessarily a deciding factor).

 

https://fahrenuk.com/4-in-1-boiling-water-taps/celsius-brushed-nickel-swan-neck-4-in-1-boiling-water-tap/

 

Thanks 

[ProDave]

8 minutes ago, canalsiderenovation said:

This one has popped up (it also offers free installation too, but this isn’t necessarily a deciding factor).

 

https://fahrenuk.com/4-in-1-boiling-water-taps/celsius-brushed-nickel-swan-neck-4-in-1-boiling-water-tap/

 

Thanks 

That is a Proboil 2, the same as I have supplied by Howdens under their own brand.

 

Ours was originally the Proboil 1 but the boiler was replaced under warranty as it failed in the first year and replaced with the Proboil 2.  Ours only has ordinary hot and cold and boiling (actually 98 degrees)

 

We are in a soft water area so no scale issues and I didn't even bother installing the supplied in line filter.  There are also instructions on the Proboil site to dismantle and descale the boiler if needed.

 

Our Proboil 2 has been in use for about 6 years now.

 

Get a price from Howdens before buying.

[nod]

A friend has a insincuted boiling tap

It went wrong after two years and they replaced it free of charge 

a cup of tea tastes the same out of his boiling tap as ours 

£350

[canalsiderenovation]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

That is a Proboil 2, the same as I have supplied by Howdens under their own brand.

 

Ours was originally the Proboil 1 but the boiler was replaced under warranty as it failed in the first year and replaced with the Proboil 2.  Ours only has ordinary hot and cold and boiling (actually 98 degrees)

 

We are in a soft water area so no scale issues and I didn't even bother installing the supplied in line filter.  There are also instructions on the Proboil site to dismantle and descale the boiler if needed.

 

Our Proboil 2 has been in use for about 6 years now.

 

Get a price from Howdens before buying.

Ahhh so its the same tap?

 

I'll get a price from Howdens too and see if its any different. Can you send me the link for it I can't seem to find it! Thanks

[canalsiderenovation]

2 hours ago, nod said:

A friend has a insincuted boiling tap

It went wrong after two years and they replaced it free of charge 

a cup of tea tastes the same out of his boiling tap as ours 

£350

 

Do you have a link for this? Do you mean InSinkErator? https://kitchensinksandtaps.co.uk/h3300-brushed-steel-boiling-hot-water-tap-only

[nod]

22 minutes ago, canalsiderenovation said:

 

Do you have a link for this? Do you mean InSinkErator? https://kitchensinksandtaps.co.uk/h3300-brushed-steel-boiling-hot-water-tap-only

I don’t sorry 

I may have spelt it wrong also 

I can ask 

[nod]

1 minute ago, nod said:

I don’t sorry 

I may have spelt it wrong also 

I can ask 

[Russdl]

@canalsiderenovation I’m guessing you don’t have anything to counter the hard water?
 

As it seems you have a working Quooker/Cube combination for the time being and their after sales service is pretty good perhaps you should tackle the hard water issue first as that is going to kill any replacement boiling water tap you install.

 

We are in a very hard water area as well and we have a Combimate in line before our Quooker. So far have had zero scale issue in 4 years (but we have enjoyed Quooker’s after sales service for numerous other faults - we’re on our third Cube already!!) If you were to go down the Combimate route and still decide to replace the Quooker then at least the replacement tap wouldn’t be killed off by the hard water.

 

The Combimate can do the whole house or just one appliance, as in our case. If it’s just for the one appliance then you only need a half fill of the Combiphos balls every 12 months which would cost around £17/year at current prices. 

[canalsiderenovation]

2 hours ago, Russdl said:

We are in a very hard water area as well and we have a Combimate in line before our Quooker. So far have had zero scale issue in 4 years (but we have enjoyed Quooker’s after sales service for numerous other faults - we’re on our third Cube already!!) If you were to go down the Combimate route and still decide to replace the Quooker then at least the replacement tap wouldn’t be killed off by the hard water.

 

Thanks, I'll look into this as an option rather than the Quooker limescale attachment. Unfortunately it's not just the Limescale, the Quooker had had so many problems (from the pull out hose on the tap leaking to the boiler breaking). Last time we had them out for a service they did lots of other things that apparently needing doing but without asking us telling us of any additional costs and then presented a bill for over £500, needless to say we complained and did not have to pay).

 

It seems some other taps have the water filter/limescale filter on them already which you can just replace every 12 months. I guess we need to make a decision on whether to keep the Quooker or ditch it in favour of a different tap/seperate limescale filter. 

[Kelvin]

Worth thinking about a wholehome water softener too. Limescale can cause all sorts of other plumbing issues long term. 
 

We have a Quooker and have had no issues with it. However I know of two people that both have had a lot of problems and they also live in hard water areas. Not a big dataset to draw any conclusions of course. 

Edited Wednesday at 08:08 by Kelvin

[canalsiderenovation]

2 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Worth thinking about a wholehome water softener too. Limescale can cause all sorts of other plumbing issues long term. 

 

I don't know enough about whole home water softeners but we suffer terribly. We are consistently descaling the coffee machine and regularly cleaning washing machines etc and citric acid in the loos.

Edited Wednesday at 10:29 by canalsiderenovation

[Nickfromwales]

5 minutes ago, canalsiderenovation said:

 

I don't know enough about whole home water softeners but we suffer terribly. We are consistently descaling the coffee machine and regularly cleaning washing machines etc and citric acid in the loos.

Why hasn't your plumber advised you to fit one? At a certain PPM all your manufacturers warranties are voided for shower valves and taps etc etc. Get one fitted el-pronto!!!

[canalsiderenovation]

17 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Why hasn't your plumber advised you to fit one? At a certain PPM all your manufacturers warranties are voided for shower valves and taps etc etc. Get one fitted el-pronto!!!

Because he was sh!t and in fairness we didn't realise it was going to be so much of an issue and our water quality in terms of hardness has got much worse. Severn Trent have been to the neighbourhood a few times testing it

[Thorfun]

My Quooker boiling tank stopped working. Support said it was scale buildup and sent me a free kit to descale it. Was pretty simple to do and has been fine since. I’m sure I’ll need to do it again in the future but they can just send a new free kit again!

 

 

[Kelvin]

Our softener is quite industrial but it’s in the garage but you can get relatively compact softener. If your water is that hard I’d definitely look into getting a softener installed. It’ll save a lot of grief down the road. 

[Russdl]

2 hours ago, canalsiderenovation said:

I don't know enough about whole home water softeners but we suffer terribly.

As well as the Combimate for drinking water we have a MiniMax (aka Harvey) Water Softener for the rest of the house. These water softeners do not require a mains connection, but do require the block salt being topped up every few months. 
 

I highly recommend the set up for an effective defence against hard ‘as nails’ water. None of it is cheap in the short term, but even factoring in the salt/phosphate refills I reckon it’ll end up a very reasonable price to pay in the long run to keep the lime scale away. 

[Nickfromwales]

4 hours ago, canalsiderenovation said:

Because he was sh!t and in fairness we didn't realise it was going to be so much of an issue and our water quality in terms of hardness has got much worse. Severn Trent have been to the neighbourhood a few times testing it

Time to get one fitted............  

[canalsiderenovation]

16 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Time to get one fitted............  

@Nickfromwales have you heard of these? Just wondering as an alternative to one thats electric or meeds filling up with salts etc how good they are? https://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/product/stuart-water-conditioner-c3-22-44617

 

Or similar

 

https://halcyanwater.com/

 

I just don't know where it would be fitted if we wanted it to do our whole house, I'm not sure where our water comes in as I think we have two points (kitchen and utility)...

Edited yesterday at 07:36 by canalsiderenovation

[canalsiderenovation]

I have found this local company that seem to offer a range of options, salt based and others. I'll message them but they may be able to give some ideas.

 

https://wrekinwatertreatment.co.uk/collections/salt-free-water-softeners

 

I found the halcyan water thread...waaaay over my head!

Edited yesterday at 09:25 by canalsiderenovation

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, canalsiderenovation said:

@Nickfromwales have you heard of these? Just wondering as an alternative to one thats electric or meeds filling up with salts etc how good they are? https://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/product/stuart-water-conditioner-c3-22-44617

 

Or similar

 

https://halcyanwater.com/

 

I just don't know where it would be fitted if we wanted it to do our whole house, I'm not sure where our water comes in as I think we have two points (kitchen and utility)...

There’s a WWIII type thread on here from when the good folks from Halcyan tried to get these snake oil type devices ‘green lighted’ here.

 

They left defeated.

 

To not beat about the bush, these things are all shite.

 

You need a proper, water SOFTENER, and with the level of hardness you have there’s no way around it. 
 

Eventually this will cost you in damaged / perished items so better to bite the bullet and just do this properly. 

[Nickfromwales]

Ah. Crossed with your reply. But yes……it’s a no. 

[canalsiderenovation]

We have booked with Wrekin Water who are going to come out as they are only down the road, test our water, do a home survey, bring the different bits of kit and go through differences of a softener and conditioner and go from there.... I see they do the kinetico which I've seen on here...

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, canalsiderenovation said:

We have booked with Wrekin Water who are going to come out as they are only down the road, test our water, do a home survey, bring the different bits of kit and go through differences of a softener and conditioner and go from there.... I see they do the kinetico which I've seen on here...

Kinetico are more for single appliances like a drinks dispensing fridge or filtered drinking water tap.

 

With the hardness you state and the amount of caretaking you have to do(!!) I'd expect the to jump directly to the recommendation of a proper, whole of house water softener.

[canalsiderenovation]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

With the hardness you state and the amount of caretaking you have to do(!!) I'd expect the to jump directly to the recommendation of a proper, whole of house water softener

I thought something like this would be a whole house system? https://wrekinwatertreatment.co.uk/products/kinetico-supersoft-twin-tank-non-electric-water-softener

[Gone West]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Kinetico are more for single appliances like a drinks dispensing fridge or filtered drinking water tap.

Not actually true. We've used Kinetico in the past as a whole house water softener. The twin cylinder softeners are good because they can soften water using one cylinder while the other cylinder is being regenerated.