Do you need actual chilled water? It's simple enough to have a filtered cold added on to your instant hot, but a chiller does require a bit more expense and energy.

Right now I have filtered cold at the sink, but plan to get the sz 30" all fridge with filtered water inside. The freezer drawers with icemaker will be next to it, with glasses in upper cabinet. I think it will be more convenient to have water and ice in one area, plus I can avoid another hole in my counter.

I have a KitchenAid Fridge with filtered water and ice in door. In our floor plan its nice because it keeps everyone away from the kitchen sink/cooking area for water. We have a u-shaped peninsula kitchen. I created a beverage station by the fridge where we have all of the glasses, cups, coffee maker, wine etc.

NYC, what brand do you have for your instant hot and cold water filter? Anyone else want to recommend theirs?

Thanks

I have a Waterstone hot/cold faucet that coordinates with my Waterstone pull down faucet . One hole--two handles. We have a Waterstone hot water tank. We didn't didn't bother with a filter or have room for a chiller, which is fine with me.

I have the 36" Integrated SZ with water inside. It's great for us. I'm not familiar with what your options are, but if you're doing a unit at your sink that can chill, I'd think it'd be a better fit than having to open the fridge door.

I had water/ice in the door of the fridge in my previous home and DH really disliked it because he said the water took too long to fill. All he wanted in the new kitchen was chilled water at the sink. He didn't ask for anything else. When I started researching them, I was told by every single plumbing supplier that they couldn't recommend water chillers because they are so unreliable and are prone to bursting. I also have Waterstone faucets and have an instant hot/filtered water dispenser at the sink just like nycbluedevile. I talked to the people at Waterstone about their recommendation for a chiller and was told they absolutely recommend you don't use them because of their high failure rate. In fact, Waterstone's lifetime warranty is voided the moment you hook a chiller up to one of their faucets. I was told that, if I insisted on using a chiller, they recommended hooking it up to a vented faucet (one meant for instant hot water).

After remodeling the kitchen in my previous home due to a flood caused by a failed faucet (to the tune of $27,000 in damage!), I decided against taking the chance on a chiller. My poor hubby ended up not getting the one thing that he really wanted. Dang it.

I have filtered water at the sink, and no fridge dispenser. My dh and kids like cold water and keep a pitcher in the fridge, not an ideal solution.

They are energy hogs and will require a dedicated electrical circuit. And are prone to failure. 90 seconds in a MW will give you hot water, and a pitcher in the fridge pours out cold pretty instantly with no floods.

I don't recall the poster asking for advice about whether to get the instant hot. Her query was about the best way to get the cold water.

But since you brought it up....

For me, getting the instant hot was a big plus for daily life. I make French press coffee a few days a week. I run the Bodum pot under the hot water for a few seconds to get it nice and hot and then make the coffee. Thirty seconds of prep time. When I want to use broth concentrate to make a cup or two of broth and don't want to open a fresh box, the instant hot lets me make the broth in a flash. It is great for adding really hot water to a simmering pot that needs liquid replenished. And it works great in a really hard to clean pan.

I had never understood what the big deal was about the instant hot. But now that I have it, I think it provides a great deal of convenience. Sure, it uses energy, but so does a dishwasher. But few people suggest that a dishwasher is a frivolous use of energy.

I still don't get why chilled water is such a big deal. It seems to come out of the tap pretty cold already and there are always ice cubes. But there are people who drink water all day long and want it really cold right then and there.

So I guess it is all about what is important to you.

Yes, it uses energy

I love, love, love our new fridge with ice and filtered, chilled water through the door. It's our second fridge with the dispensers and I can't imagine living without it. We use them constantly. I did not want another hole drilled in the counter for soap, instant hot water or anything else...just my preference.

Nycbluedevil, we agree that different things are important to different people and that sometimes we don't know how neat things are until we try them.
In our Florida home, water isn't very cold out of the tap and we don't use much hot water. I am fascinated by the idea of heating an island as at least one GWer has, but it wouldn't make sense here.

In our kitchen remodel we went with the 36" Sub-Zero which as you know has no water dispenser and we were coming from only having refrigerators with ice and water in the door. NO regrets. I do keep a Brita pitcher in the fridge but it is barely used. Instead we have filtered water at the sink and use it often. If someone prefers it colder, we add ice. No big deal.

We have both at the sink and fridge. We started out with the insta hot ONLY which I LOVE but my DH wanted to add the cold at the sink so we will be replacing insta hot with the insta hot/cold by WATER INC.
We also have Body Glove that filters this water. And, we have water/ice dispenser on our side by side counter depth fridge. I don't know that I would change a thing about this arrangement if I were to do it again.

Thanks for all the input.

It certainly doesn't make my decision any easier; although the chilled tank seems to be a nonstarter.