kaismom - not to tell you what you should like or how it should be made but, in tea circles it generally acknowledged that only black teas get steeped with "boiling water" with the exception of "bagged" black tea. Most of the others get bathed in much cooler water, especially green teas which generally get steeped in 175 degree water or thereabout. Well below boiling. SO, these hot shots could even be fine for tea snobs not making a pot from loose black teas. Some of the heaters even get real close to boiling, too so they'd be fine for non purists wanting a fast cup, which is pretty much the point of an "instant hot water heater" ! A much bigger variable in a good cup is the water quality and the steeping time. Besides, people use these for instant cider , hot chocolate, filling the pasta pot for a quicker boil, gassing up the hot water bottle, and a few other things. I'll agree with you that these things are not really for the ritualistic tea connoisseur. (S)he is probably not going to to even consider this anyway as a cup is just as much about the "process" and the vessels as it is the nectar.

We just wanted a basic water filter too, I use it for my coffee maker, drinking water and dogs water as well as for my plants, since it removes chlorine. We had another brand, which was about the same, but when we remodeled, my husband insisted on a different system, I guess the old type was much harder to replace the filter and you had to unscrew something to replace the filter, he says this is much easier, so you might want to factor that in, if you will be installing this on back cabinet wall. We have a separate faucet for it, but on this particular one you don't have to use a separate faucet, but I wonder if that means you are filtering all water? I don't know the answer to that, but it seems like you'd need to change filters much more often and you don't always need to use filtered water for everything.

I'd say it depends on where you are living. I'm in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, which is notorious for contaminated tap water, so I have both an Aquaversa and a Brita Filter for pitchers. I also try to stay away from the bottled water too because of the environmental issues. But I would find out how clean the local water is before making any major changes or paying extra money.

We are in the middle of a renovation/house expansion. Would it make sense to include a water filter? Is it worth getting a whole house water filter or just one that goes under the kitchen sink? We don't have well water, just regular city water in Maryland. I'm leaning towards under the kitchen sink. Any brands one should get or stay away from?