Undercounter water filter / insta-hot / chiller

12 years ago

We're putting in a new kitchen and want an undercounter water filter. We're in New York so our water quality is basically fine but we'd like it to taste better. We're not looking to eliminate everything.

Also we currently have a Franke little butler and love the insta-hot but the tank has failed many times. It looks like many brands (like everpure) use the same tank.

We'd also like a chiller for cold water.

I'm a little lost with the options - any positive or negative experiences?

Thanks

Featured Answer

brnstn
Original Author

12 years ago

We actually have space on the other side of the under the sink area as this is an island. In our current place we have a 30 inch sink base with a garbage disposal, water filter, insta-hot tank and a pull-out for garbage and recycling. It's a tight fit but doable.

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Comments (10)

bahacca
12 years ago
My only thought is will all of that stuff fit under a sink?
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sophie123
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dianalo
12 years ago
We got the filtered water setup for under our sink and love it. I am not home so can't tell you what brand off the top of my head. I know I got it in Lowes and it has 2 filters. It cost approx $100. We had considered going with a bottleless water cooler but decided against it because it would take up counterspace and the cost of purchase and installation would have broken our busted budget further.
Our freezer has an icemaker and the water from the filtered faucet comes out fairly cold. I do not think we need to chill that water further. If someone wants really cold water, they can just add some ice. The freezer works to keep things cold either way. The chiller would be another appliance using energy....
davidro1
12 years ago
It's a new kitchen, so what about getting the kind of fridge that has cold water in the door?

The instant scalding hot tank has to be undercounter near the tap. Also a water cooler if you get one. But a fridge can replace the water cooler.

Here are a few details that may be good to know, brnstn.
1.) The water filter can be far far away, up high or down low somewhere not under the sink. So you could put it in the cabinet above the fridge or ....
2.) There are several kinds of water filter. Some are two large cylinders in series, and they give you a strong flow that *could* feed all the faucets. Some are tiny cylinders that produce a small flow; these then require special low-flow taps.
3.) In either case, the filtered water line could feed the IHW tank. This keeps the IHW tank cleaner as there is less sedimentation of gunk in the tank; then in turn this helps the tank last longer because there is then less corrosion. Any tank is a sedimentation device because the tank holds water, and every day, overnight, when all is quiet, particles and stuff will fall out of the water onto the bottom of the tank. (With house water heaters this is a big problem.)
dilly_ny
12 years ago
I have a 3 cylinder, reverse osmosis water filter system like the one Davidrol describes. It runs water to a slow flow tap on my kitchen sink, separate from my main faucet (not chilled). It also runs to my fridge ice maker and water on the door. The water tastes great, but if you can get a stainless steel system, it would be better than plastic. We occassionally have problems with ours and water leaks out of the cylinders or flimsy hoses. We will be addressing this in our remodel, at least in terms of the hoses. DH purchased our system on Ebay and it only is for drinking water (5 gallon tank).
davidro1
12 years ago
There are other systems (not reverse osmosis) that produce a high flow. (Reverse osmosis is a special animal.)

The tubing used to carry water to the fridge can be "cheap" or high quality. Low cost tubing can be damaged accidentally, e.g. if you store cookie sheets next to the fridge. I've seen this. The leak was minor and undetectable. After a few years it rotted the house.
brnstn
Original Author
12 years ago
Sorry for the slow response to the helpful replies. I lost the post and Gardenweb's search seems to be about the worst I've ever used.

We are doing an integrated fridge so all of the fridge options are out.

Our city water is really quite good so filtering everything and RO are probably over-kill.

I am curious about some of the appliances like Everpure's Helia which does hot and cold. I have no idea how it does this efficiently, it it works well or who makes it. I've found 0 reviews. I know other groups make similar things.

As a simpler alternative I may go with the ISE solution. Anyone with recent experience?

Thanks
sigfod
11 years ago
The Everpure Helia is made by Pentair water, a megalith in the recreational water industry. They also make Pool Heat Pumps with Chillers with a good reliability record.
akcorcoran
11 years ago
This is really timely because I'm considering the Everpure Helia system as well. It's pricey but looks to be really reliable? Wish there was more information - It makes me nervous that Insinkerator discontinued their water chiller product...

I was able to find a beautiful faucet to go with the Everpure - link below. I'm still not sure what to do, however-

I saw EverHot and EverCold, but then you need two systems.

You would think this product would be more popular?

Here is a link that might be useful: Everpure Classic Faucet