We have one. We bought a finished new construction house, and the builder put it in. We've lived in this house for 6 months now. Honestly, it's taken some getting used to - I was so accustomed to going to the sink for water. If you do alot of cooking, I think it's a neat gadget. I find myself using it more. The only thing is that I prefer filtered water (our town water taste of chlorine, IMO). We have an undercounter water filter, so if I'm boiling tea bags, etc., I tend to use the filtered water from the kitchen faucet. However, earlier this week I canned some tomatoes, and that pot filler was awesome. I put my big canner on the range and filled it up while doing a few other things around the kitchen. Our previous house had a pull-out faucet, so to fill the canner up, I'd put it on the counter top (b/c it's too big for the sink) and would pull the faucet over and fill it up, then have to lift it to the sink. The pot filler was much, much easier, although, I did still have to lift it when I was done to carry it over to the sink to pour out. Could I live without it? Absolutely, but for some tasks, it's really handy. It's more of a conversation piece than anything because alot of people (at least in our area) have never seen one. BTW, we have a Brizo one that does NOT have the swing joint (looks like all of their current models do). Having a joint would be handy, but I don't think not having is a big deal. We have a 5 burner Thermador cooktop under it, and if I have a big pot on the center burner, then it will swing over that just fine.

No, the difference b/w a prep sink and a bar sink is not location, the difference is size. Bar sinks are usually shallow, small sinks - sometimes as small as 9" or 10" wide and only 6" or 7" deep. Prep sinks, OTOH, are deeper and wider. They should be at least 15" wide - interior width, not overall width, and as deep as a larger sink - 8" to 10" or more (bottom of sink to top of counter). Mine is 15-3/4" square and 10" deep. Prep sinks should require at least an 18" sink base (for the sink to be big enough), and even better would be a 21" or 24" sink base. Bar sinks don't have to be that big b/c they're primarily used for filling/emptying/rinsing glasses and the like. Prep sinks need to be bigger b/c you're prepping food - which means there needs to be enough room for the food + your hands + any tools you use while prepping. Location, though, will determine how you use it, so even if you have a decent size prep sink, if you put in the wrong place it will probably not be used or it will be used for other uses (maybe even as a bar sink!) I'm chuckling at all the comments about how much space people have but adamantly refuse to put in a prep sink. Whether you actually need one or not, I cannot say b/c I don't know your layouts, but so many people put in large amounts of counterspace that is a waste of far more money than an extra sink will cost b/c the counters are located where they're useless - whether b/c there's no logical work zone in that location or b/c there's no water source to make it work. Those counters then become very expensive drop/clutter zones or maybe just dust collectors! I reiterate - just b/c you work a particular way today, doesn't mean you can't make it better with a better layout in the future nor does it mean that you will work the same way if you have a different layout. Yes, it may be all you know, and something that you've made do with for years - after all, human beings are very adaptive, we can make do with almost anything, regardless of how bad something it is. We're also resistant to change and new ideas and we often have a hard time seeing other ways to do things - even if they would be so much better! We hang on to what we know and either can't see the better or don't want to b/c we're convinced that we want can be had b/c someone has convinced us it will work when it really won't (like those islands that people cannot fit with adequate aisles & seating overhang b/c someone told them they could skimp on either or both and "it'll be fine" - those someones who often have a monetary gain b/c of that island or b/c they don't have to live with it, so talk is cheap and it makes you happy to hear them say it). That's why places like this Forum with people who can look at layouts objectively and give good critiques are so important and invaluable. There are several people here who can give you good advice and even do layouts for you. (No, not all advice is necessarily good advice and if you read enough layout threads you will learn which posters are better at layouts than others....ditto for aesthetic advice, while I will do layouts, I generally stay out of aesthetic threads b/c I'm not the best at aesthetics - others are far better!) Anyway, this whole prep sink discussion, while interesting in some cases, has brought out an interesting mix of people. Oh, and I don't recommend roughing in a prep sink at a particular location b/c you don't know where it might be needed in the future - so there's no point to it. If you know you are going to put one in in a particular location in the future, fine, but I wouldn't do it "just b/c".

MrsPete, they do have island/deck-mounted potfillers! Yes, but they're funny looking and extremely expensive (unless you're also placing the sink in the island and are bringing water into that area), which is why I called them "possible but not realistic". Be sure you have easy access to the water shutoff valve so you don't have to run to the basement (or wherever) to shut it off. I also wonder how long it would take to discover you have a pipe leak (pinhole or other) - especially if the leak is not enough to noticeably reduce the pressure. If you don't use it every single day and use a large quantity, I would think the water sitting in the pipes would be an issue - and since you don't have a drain beneath it, you can't run the water for a minute or two to get fresh water. Finally, if you must have a pot-filler, then be sure you can access the plumbing behind it in case you have problems with it - I don't think you'd want to have to chop a hole in the wall to get to it. I think these are "cons" to all plumbing. For example, I had an "invisible leak" behind my dishwasher and didn't know it until damage was done -- yet no one says, "Get rid of dishwashers because this could happen!" The fear of leaks is over rated. Definitely. Two valves would have to fail before you'd have a leak. You're right that you're much more likely to have a leak in the ice maker.

I have the Scotsman nugget machine and it is great. It has a gravity drain so it makes almost no noise at all, the only thing I hear is the little nuggets falling into the bin and you have to listen real hard to hear that. If you need the pump to get the water out that will make some noise. The nugget machines are not as bad as the regular machines for water use. They use 100% of the water that comes in for ice production, the only water that goes down the drain is from the ice that melts inside the storage bin. The ice quality will only be as good as the water coming in so you do want to have the water on a filter or RO system to remove as much of the junk in your water. If you do chew your ice or need it for ice pack on your aches and pains there is nothing better.