View the following video guide which will answer many commonly asked tap questions, plus a few more you may not have thought of. The page also contains notes for your reference.

Finishes

Taps come in a variety of finishes, the most common being chrome. Silk Steel/Stainless Steel/Pewter finishes have a fine grain whilst other finishes e.g. Gold, Bronze are self explanatory. Silk and Stainless Steel taps are considered to give a contemporary look to your kitchen and Chrome is the hardest wearing finish. We cannot advise on which finishes match each sink as this is personal preference.

Water Pressure

The majority of taps will work on the average British domestic water pressure. If you live in a low or high pressure area, there are taps designed for your water supply. Please check the specifications for further details. Water Pressure can be shown in three measurements - bar, psi or Head (in metres). In an unpressurised system, the water pressure is governed by the height of the storage tank (usually in the loft). The Head (in metres) can be calculated by measuring the vertical distance from the tank to the tap, not the the length of the pipes between the two. You can easily calculate the head from this measurement and then convert to bar which is the most commonly used unit of measurement. The following formula is used to convert head to bar 1m = 0.1 bar e.g 5m of head = 0.5 bar. Also 1 bar = 14.5 psi which may be the pressure given by your water company in a mains fed system. Homes with tanks installed low, for example bungalows, may require low pressure taps. Also long or twisty pipe runs will reduce the pressure. In mains fed system, contact your local water supplier and they should be able to give you a figure for the water pressure in your area. This tends to be higher than gravity fed systems (a common reason why hot and cold taps in the kitchen are at different pressures - hot unpressurised system, cold from the mains). Don't forget that the setting of the mains stop cock can affect the pressure available in your home.

Design

Designs are usually catagorised into modern and traditional. Within each of these categories are a variety of designs to suit all tastes and styles. Some sinks have matching taps e.g. Franke's Mythos sink and tap.

Handle Type

The majority of taps are of the crosshead or lever type.

• Crosshead - the handles of these taps are in the form of a X and are the traditional design.
• Lever - lever taps have levers to turn on the flow. These taps are further broken down into single lever, where one lever on the tap controls water flow and temperature and dual lever where there is one lever for hot and one for cold!

Abode have a paddle control tap and it’s very simple to use. Since you flick the controls, the tap is called the Fliq and is a true design revolution that incorporates new ceramic technology offering uncompromising smooth operation.

Water Filter Taps

Each manufacturer produces taps which have a water filter built into the tap system. The filter cartridge, or inline filter, sits in the cupboard under the sink and gives filtered water on tap, rather than having to keep filling the Brita type cartridge filter jugs. Inline filters need replacing approximately every six months on average useage, being quick and easy to change. These type of taps are known as Triflow/Trispray (Franke), Aquifer (Abode) and Springflow (Astracast). Usually lever operated, some filter taps have three levers for each supply hot, cold and filtered while other have two levers; hot and a dual acting cold/filtered. Which one to go for is personal perference.

Hot Water Taps

Hot Water Taps do exactly that – provide Hot Water on Tap. This saves you having to boil kettles and is cost effective if you drink 6 or more cups of tea a day. Some models can dispense more than 100 cups an hour. For more information on Hot Water Taps please see our Hot Water Taps Guide.

Spray Taps/Pull Out Heads

In each range there are a number of taps with spray heads to prvide a fine rinsing spray. Many of these have pull out heads as well so the end of the tap detaches from the main spout body on a hose (usually hidden in the spout) and can directed where required. There are a couple of alternatives to this, a serarate spray head mounted in the sink/work surface or a more industrial styled unit e.g. Abode's Alto

Fitting

Simply Kitchen Sinks recommends taps should be fitted by a professional plumber and is not able to offer advice on the fitting of sinks as individual installations vary.