Which Kitchen Tap Do I Need?

When designing your dream kitchen, it can be easy to overlook the basics. Items like taps or sinks might pose an uninspiring prospect when there’s slabs of work surface, or stacks of tiles to choose. Compared to these dominating kitchen features, picking what kitchen tap to buy could slip from your mind completely.

But creating a kitchen that works is all about the details. A whole room aesthetic will be completely undermined if the small touches, like taps, don’t match with your design. Stick an ultra modern square chrome faucet in a classical country cottage kitchen and you could ruin the whole vibe. 

It’s about far more than appearances as well. Taps are functional items, you need one that suits your lifestyle and the way you use your kitchen. If you enjoy endless hot drinks, then an instant hot water tap could revolutionise your life. If you despair at the sight of a pile of dishes dripping suds on your work surface, a pull-out spray tap is going to change the way you think of washing up!

When it comes to the question of what are the best kitchen taps, it’s about looking at your needs, your kitchen, and working from there. 

There are a lot of options out there, so to help you decide what is the best tap for you, we’ve put together this buying guide. It’ll look at the different types of tap, discuss which kitchen tap is best in quality when you suffer with really high, or really low water pressure. 

And, hopefully, it will show you exactly what the best kitchen taps for the look, and lifestyle, of your kitchen.

Types of Kitchen Tap

When you’re trying to decide what kitchen tap to buy, the first thing you need to do is pick the type of tap you want. Before shape, colour or finish, you need to choose between the many, many types of taps that are now available.

Here are the main options:

• Pillar Tap

Pillar taps come in pairs and supply the water separately. There’s one tap for hot water and another tap for cold. 

Pillar taps come in a wonderful variety of designs, and can be found to suit any kitchen. They’re ever so easy to install, and are usually a very cost-efficient option, making them perfect for people on a budget who don’t want to compromise style.

• Bridge Mixer Tap

A standard bridge mixer tap basically works like two pillar taps that are joined together. They feed the water in separately but pour it out of the same spout.

With a bridge (or deck) mixer tap, there are two separate levers or knobs to control each flow of water. They are an excellent choice because you control the water flows independently, allowing you to tailor the temperature exactly. 

Bridge mixer taps also come in a wide range of styles, from a traditional vintage look like the CDA TT56 tap, to a flash modern one. 

• Mono Mixer Tap (Monobloc Tap)

A monobloc kitchen tap also releases hot and cold through one spout, like a standard bridge mixer. However, it adds another level of control or customisation to the flow as well, as it allows you to determine the flow of the water too.

This extra manipulation makes them a little more costly than your average bridge mixer, and a lot more than a pillar option. But there are plenty of styles or designs to choose from, and you can usually find one to fit any interior.

• 3-in-1 Instant Hot Water Tap

A 3-in-1 hot water tap doesn’t just supply cold and hot water out of one faucet. It even supplies scalding hot, almost boiling point, instantly as well.

This hot-hot water can be up to 98 degrees, which makes it ideal for preparing food or making hot drinks like tea or coffee

There’s no way of saying which kitchen mixer tap is best for everyone. But a 3-in-1 mixer tap is a fantastic, space-saving alternative to cluttering your worktop with a kettle, and also a time-saving solution for anyone who likes to fill their day with steaming cups of tea.

It is the most expensive tap option, but its convenience is completely unrivalled.

Kitchen Taps for Low Pressure Systems

Most of the factors impacting your choice of tap will be personal. The appearance, the features you want, and even the basic type, can all be defined by your own preference.

However, there is one external factor you must take into consideration: water pressure. If your water pressure is around 0.2 bars you have to make sure you buy kitchen taps suitable for low pressure systems, otherwise they will not function correctly.

A low pressure system is usually one that involves a hot water cylinder (or tank, usually located in an airing cupboard). This is also called a gravity-fed system. If there is no other pump to support the system, it can lead to very low water pressure.

Luckily, this is a relatively outdated system type, so will only be found in older houses without a combi-boiler. If your house does have this set-up you have to make sure that you purchase kitchen taps for low pressure water systems. Otherwise the flow of water out of your tap will be frustratingly weak. 

There is no blanket way to identify the best kitchen taps for low pressure. If you identify a need for them, you should check individual product requirements to see if your system can support them.

You should be particularly careful when it comes to mixer taps. Cold water will generally have the same pressure whatever system you have, because it is drawn directly from the mains. If you have a mixer tap and low pressure, you may struggle to get enough warm water through at the same rate as the cold, to achieve a flow hot enough for use.

Kitchen Taps for High Water Pressure

When it comes to picking a tap for a high pressure system, you have a lot more freedom. 

If you have a combi-boiler you will probably have a high pressure system that would allow you to use 95% of modern taps. Mixer taps, 3-in-1 taps, all options will be available to you though we still recommend checking the individual requirements of the tap before purchasing.

If you are unable to identify what kind of heating system you have, or are concerned about the pressure of your water system, consult a plumber who will be able to test your water pressure.

What Else Should I Look For in a Kitchen Tap?

After you’ve picked a type of tap, there are still plenty of variations to set apart the taps on offer. There are still plenty of decisions to be made and factors to consider. 

• Budget

As it is an item that is so heavily used, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that taps aren’t always cheap. You don’t want to pick a tap with the lowest price on the market because it won’t just look low cost – it could leave you with a weak trickle of water, and have a very short life.

Look at your budget, look at the average cost of the type of tap you want, and don’t be afraid to hit higher on your scale. You’ll reap the rewards when you have a strong, long-lasting tap.

• Function

Modern taps have loads of functionality options that can make your life easier, make your kitchen more efficient, and even change the way you use it.

We’ve already discussed the 3-in-1 tap with its instant access to scalding hot water. 

You could also get a tap with an in-built filter, that delivers clean, pure water with less metals to taint the taste of your water.

You could also consider whether you’d like a pull out tap with a detachable hose. That added ability to manoeuvre makes cleaning dishes a breeze and with a task that dull, anything that makes it easier is an invaluable improvement.

• Style

Once you’ve chosen a type of tap, that gives you all the functions you want without breaking your budget, it’s time to think about style.

Do you want a tap with classical curved lines? Or more modern straight lines and sharp angles? A cylindrical shape or something more square and flat?

These kinds of aesthetic choices could be the ones that make or break the vibe of your kitchen, so spend some time thinking about what suits your style and the design of your kitchen.

• Finish

The final choice to make is finish and colour. Most people will think of shining chrome taps, but this isn’t all you have to choose from.

Duller, brushed steel options exist, as well black coated or gun metal. If you’re looking for something more unique, or suited to an unusual kitchen you might want to consider antique brass or copper.

The devil is in the details when it comes to interior design. A kitchen is no exception to this. Picking a tap that works as well for you as it adds style to your room is not necessarily an easy task, but one that will pay off for years after the decision is made. 

Take some time, think about what type of tap you want, what water pressure you have, and consider the extra design options like function and finish. Find a tap that fits your kitchen, and fits your needs.