TJ wrote:
: Anybody install one of these? They sell for about $199 at Home Depot. How
: did it work out for you?

My wife resisted the idea of installing one of these for years,
preferring to use a tea kettle or microwave. Now that we've had one
for a year or so, the tea kettle went to Goodwill because we both love
our insta-hot.

I first bought a 1 piece model where the tank and spout were a single
unit that mounts through a standard sink knockout, but I didn't have
enough clearance behind the sink and had to exchange it for a model
with a separate spout and tank/heater. It works great and we love it,
but my only gripe is that the spout that came with this model does
have a locking position for the valve, so you have to hold the knob in
the on position rather than flipping in on and leaving it until your
container is full, which is a bit of a pain when you need more than a
coffee mug full of water. Some day I will look into swapping the spout
for a different type. My unit has a thermostat adjustement, so it can
be lowered (and in fact should be) if boiling is observed, as another
poster complained about. The water temp is supposed to be set to
about 190 degrees so it doesn't boil, which can cause overpressure and
dribbling from the spout.

BYW, I also have an undersink reverse osmosis water filter and I
tapped into the output of that as the source for the inst-hot. As a
result, the water has no noticeable taste. If you have a lot of
minerals in you water, you might notice an off taste or odor from the
hot water, although probably no worse than heating it in some other
way.

Is it any better or more convenient than an automatic kettle you fill
and set on the counter, as suggested by another poster? Not a whole
lot I guess, although it saves the filling and waitiing steps. But
counter space is always a premium at my place, so I like the built-in
approach for that reason.

HTH,

Paul