I think you may be talking about the Zip Hydratap and matching font kit, which is like a floor waste fitted to the benchtop. For the money that they are asking, which is about $2K for the tap and heater, and another $300 for the font benchtop waste it seems a lot. A very small sink, without a drainer would be about the same price, and be much more practical, especially if draining saucepans off the stove. I don't think the Zip font will work very well for overflow and spillage without making a mess of the rest of the benchtop.

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The tap will need its own miniboil unit which is quite large and bigger than a large shoebox, plumbing connection, sewer connection and power supply so there won't be much room underneath for a usuable drawer. However the cost of a specially designed drawer to fit around all of this underbench stuff won't be too much extra in comparison to the $3K you will need to pay to purchase and install the tap, heating unit, sink and connections.

Best of luck

Dr Retro

of Dr Retro House Calls

I was going to say, if it's only about hot water then you're essentially setting up a very expensive fixed kettle, but ultimately should be alongside a sink that you'll be putting in either way so you're not spending on additional on sink/plumbing just for that tap - On certain projects however these can be justified and the Billi taps have been successful when we've used them when people need (want!) both chilled and hot water literally "on tap"

I looked into these briefly and was put off by price, space taken up in cupboards and the poor reliability judging from the many online user reviews.

I think they will be very dangerous. I predict many people will end up with burns / scalds.

I installed a hot and cold zipp in my Beach House and it’s one of the best things ever! They are not dangerous as the hot water has an inbuilt safety operation.

We have a very open plan (and I know from my home, that even a whisper quiet jug makes a noise while boiling) and it’s just so quiet, quick and efficient. We also had the electrician install an extra switch at the end of the island where we can turn the zipp off when we are not there. I love it so much that we are going to install another one in our kitchen here in the city, which we are about to renovate. I have been quoted $3450 from winning appliances.

We have installed the Insinkerator hot & cold water taps in our last 3 kitchens and they have all worked well. Only once did we have a problem with the boiler, which was fixed quickly under warranty. Yes, you do need some space under the sink so a little planning is required, but the effort is well worth it,

We thought we'd have one in our new kitchen, until we worked out the size of the mechanism etc which needed to go beneath the sink - we have a small space across and already needed to go a 45cm dishwasher so decided this was just one thing we didn't need enough to pay the price and do without the other things we needed.

My problem with this is that you are cooling and/or heating ALL the time - a waste of energy and something to consider in this day and age.

The solution to the 'always on' problem is a timer set to switch on / off for the period you are most likely to use it. Its unfortunate that a work-around is required, but I guess adding a timer to the tap would increase the price.

So basically, you either have to pay highly for the gadget, then the electricity. Environmentally a good kettle/jug and keeping a good supply of ice blocks and/or cold water in your fridge would be better environmentally and as jugs boil in a minute or two, hardly a long time.

Especially if you only boil the amount of water you will be using and not 2 L for a cup of tea/coffee

Can't argue with that.

I have a Hannover instant hot water dispenser which is great. It is a stand alone item for kitchen bench which instantly dispensers a set amount of water - 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, full cup and continuous. The tank is filled manually with cold water via a jug every few days. Apart from not needing to be plumbed in, the beauty of this unit is it much safer. We got it because a house member is blind and it can be used easily without the risks posed by other boiling water dispensers. www.facebook.com/HannoverTechnology

From personal experience I would suggest a simpler/cheaper version of the zip tap which you can find for around $800, I have used the zip at work and did nothing more than a cheaper version. Being a mother of twins this instant hot water was a life saver when warming a bottle for feeding, no waiting around for the kettle to boil, with a crying baby we actually installed a filter system under the sink so that the water for the tea didn't have the chlorine taste and I knew that the cold water was filtered as well. Instant filtered boiling water straight in to the saucepan to cook vege's is fantastic for busy mums. I haven't owned a kettle for about 5 years now and have since installed another hot water only version in my office, and will be installing another in my holiday house reno for sure. Personally its one thing in my kitchen I wouldn't live without.

These taps are very costly in every way: Initial purchase and installation, the space they take up under the bench, the much increased power usage, and the annual maintenance/repair bills. Makes for very expensive cups of tea!

I work for a very large plumbing company and while we use them literally every hour of every day at work, I have a kettle at home and personally wouldn't install one. Cartridges for simple filtering are $200+ and need to be replaced yearly or more often depending on your usage. The room they take up in your cupboard is kind of ridiculous also. The convience they do offer is attractive, but I like to see it as something like, you're having a scullery so you'll have a nice neat area to have your kettle set up all the time. In the 3 minutes it takes you to fill, boil and actually pour the hot water into your cup, you'd have to be drinking tea and coffee all the time to warrant the cost per use.

Sad to see every one is so time poor.......needing instantanious everything and willing to pay out a lot for the unit installation and ongoing electricity..........There are many quick boil and great looking designer kettles theses days ....... but each to their own ......its probably why i moved to live in the french countryside ....

I'm thinking about installing one as I thought it might be safer than an electric kettle for a partner who is in the early stages of dementia....

Thanks kisdslam and Louise for your thoughts. I like the way that you have to deliberately turn on the boiling water on these units. Also, the unit seems to help with one of my worries which is the kettle being emptied into the toaster or being put on the stove by mistake (although of course there are other ways of dealing with those issues). I will contact the dementia and carer's associations for their advice too.

If I were in your situation, I would have a plain, single, cold water tap installed on the wall behind the stove (like they have in restaurant kitchens) with no waste - you just make sure you ONLY turn on the tap when there's a pan or pot beneath it! AND then just use a boiler kettle if you must have hot or boiling water in your cooking pot. Think about how often you would use this convenience, but this seems the most sustainable solution.

We have a zip built into our ceasar stone bench top next to our sink. We opted for the font (the mesh waste) and riser (it attaches to the bottom of the zip to give it extra height) We have instant boiling water (you can only use it when you press the safety switch located under the boiling water switch) chilled filted water and sparkling water. The sparkling water is sensational. We worked out the ratio and it is of equal value (replacing the canister as to buying X amount of bottles of mineral water over the same period) and we drink a lot of it (we are a family of 5) The unit itself sits under the sink and is smaller than a case of beer, and next to it is a C02 canister (resembling a small tube) We now don't have any empty water bottles in our fridge or cupboards, we no longer have a shelf full of mineral water (the filter water is so pure and clean) and I don't have a kettle on display day and night!! Yes the initial outlay is expensive but it looks fantastic is easy to use and I would highly recommend it.

we installed a small round sink with the dual filter and hot water in a dead corner and love it. drawers next to it have coffee tea etc and close to the fridge for milk. was the older insinkerator one and started spitting steam after just under 2 years. thermostat fut. was replaced for free with a newer quieter model. really missed it just those few days it wasn't working. luckily had an old jug.