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lbucelli

Touchless kitchen faucet?

5 years ago

Touchless kitchen faucet - yes or no?

If yes, which manufacturer & model do you like?

If no, want to share your make & model and story?


Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Comments (28)

  • 5 years ago

    I just recently had an experience using a touchless faucet. I was helping an elderly friend wash her hair at the kitchen sink. Maybe there is a learning curve but it was a complete pain in the neck to get that faucet to work. Just that brief experience would make me never want to have one.

  • 5 years ago

    Most of them are glitchy - better option is a tapmaster or similar.

  • 5 years ago

    Love my Kohler Sensate (Costco model $249 sometimes on sale for $200). If you decide 'touch' isn't for you it can be disabled and used as a conventional faucet. Might want the optional $30 AC adapter (comes with a battery pack).

  • 5 years ago

    Brizo makes excellent touch faucets. I believe they are a division of Delta.


    Excellent quality, lots of choice of styles and finishes.


  • 5 years ago

    Only had mine a week but so far I just love it. No more water dripping on counter when you turn off with wet hands. Faucet stays nice and clean. No more touching faucet to wash hands after touching raw meat.

    Features I like about mine:

    - When you pull out hose water automatically goes on. No need to use sensor. Then it automatically shuts off when you are finished with hose.

    - There is a switch on sensor box that is under the sink that disables the sensor should you not want to use it.

    - The sensor on faucet is situated down low near sink facing you. Also you have to move your hand quite close to sensor to activate it. Thus you are not likely to accidentally turn on water.

    - Water shuts off after 3 minutes should you forget it's on.

    But I did have my plumber show me how to use it after he installed it. There is a trick to it: You have to leave faucet lever in the 'on' position. You only use the lever to adjust temp or strength of flow. Turning water on and off is determined by the sensor. I don't know if all touchless faucets work like this or just the particular brand I bought.

    I bought mine online at costco. It was on sale for 119 when I bought it but I see the sale has ended and it is now 159. Still a good price.

    https://www.costco.com/Flow-Motion-Activated-Pull-Down-Kitchen-Faucet.product.100401278.html

    lbucelli thanked zeld
  • 5 years ago

    My sister has a touch faucet. It has a handle on the side to adjust the water volume and temperature. However, the handle is not independent of the touch surface: If the faucet is on and you touch the handle to change the temperature or volume, the faucet turns off. Before buying a touch faucet, I'd verify that I could adjust the temperature and volume without turning the faucet on or off.

  • 5 years ago

    I also have a Kohler and love it - no regrets at all. It works flawlessly, and it still works like a regular faucet for people who want to just turn it on/off with the handle. When it's just my immediate family at home, we leave the lever in the "on" position, on warm/hot, and only use the sensor to turn it on/off. I touch the actual faucet only to switch between stream and spray. It's so much easier to keep the faucet and sink area clean with no drips from reaching to the handle!

  • 5 years ago

    Thank you for your feedback.

    Do you prefer having a sensor in the neck of the faucet to turn on water, or do you prefer that you can touch anywhere and the water comes on?

    What's your favorite make & model?

    Prefer battery, AC, or hybrid that uses both?

  • 5 years ago

    (Check out Tapmaster. Works with any faucet. Not touchless, but hands-free.)

    lbucelli thanked Fori
  • 5 years ago

    I prefer the motion sensor in the neck so that it's touchless (most of the time). The only time this poses a problem is when I drain steaming pasta water - the steam activates the on/off, so I actually touch the handle to turn the water off prior to draining pasta.

    I also prefer AC power to battery power. I used to have a battery-powered one and got sick of awkwardly climbing under the sink to change the batteries. Even though the AC-powered sensor won't work if the power goes out, the lever for on/off and temperature selection still works as a manual lever.

    lbucelli thanked salex
  • 5 years ago

    We are on our second touchless. We started with a Kohler Sensate. We had it for about 7 years and in that time we had to replace the soleinoid at three times and the valve assembly as well. We liked the faucet but ours required too much repair.

    We recently (within the past month) replaced the Kohler with a Moen. So far we are very happy with it.

    Differences: The Kohler sensor (at least on ours) was on the underside of the faucet arc. This meant that steam would turn the faucet on and off. So if you dumped a pot of hot water or ran hot water for a while, the faucet kind of did its own thing. The Moen sensor is on the left side of the base. I am still adjusting to the new location but that is just a learning curve. You can also use the Moen without the sensor just by using the handle.

    Ultimately I do love the touchless faucets. But we were fed up with Kohler and are happy with the Moen.

    lbucelli thanked sarahsocal
  • 5 years ago

    Thank you for all the helpful info. Which model Moen did you get?

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I hate the idea. the more complicated, the sooner it will probably break down (esp compared to a regular faucet that doesn't need electricity). for touchless, I like faucets with a long handle I can hit with my wrist or elbow.

  • 5 years ago

    I have 2 Koehler touchless faucets in my new kitchen I picked the ombré finish, rose gold to stainless. You pass your hand behind the head to switch it on or off or you can operate it manually. I really like it and keep waving my hand behind the other faucets in the house expecting them to turn on.
    My cat gives it 2 thumbs up as she quickly worked it out and now it provides hours of entertainment switching it on and off. We just as quickly learned not to leave bowls or plates in the sink which might cause deflective water flow from them when the cat activates the water flow.
    So if you have mischievous smart cats, you might want to take that into account.

  • 5 years ago

    Have one and love it. Think it is a delta, but not sure.

  • 5 years ago

    Another vote here for the Kohler Sensate. We've had one for four or five years and like it a lot. Steam from pasta does turn it on, but that doesn't come close to outweighing the ease, convenience, cleanliness, etc. of the touchless. I really like its blade spray too, which was one of the things I considered when comparing faucets--that's of course not a part of it being touchless, but it's part of it being a useful faucet. Couple it with a servo motor on the trash drawer and you won't have to touch a thing!

  • 5 years ago

    This is the Moen that we chose:


    Moen Touchless


  • 5 years ago

    We hate ours (I think it is a Moen). It is super sensitive, so if we brush it at all when doing the dishes it shuts off on us. This happens dozens of times a day, and it is such a pain. I fondly hark back to the days when I had a regular faucet that just turned on and stayed on!

  • 5 years ago

    @isabellagracepan: "We hate ours (I think it is a Moen). It is super sensitive, so if we brush it at all when doing the dishes it shuts off on us."

    So you operate this faucet by touching it, not by waving your hand in front of sensors on the top and front of the faucet (so-called "reflex and "motion sense")?

  • 5 years ago

    @isabellagracepan - I don't know which Moen you have but ours has the ability to completely disable the sensor. Maybe you should look into that. It could get you back to a "regular" faucet.

  • 5 years ago

    Yes, ours is a touch faucet. Sorry, I misread your post and didn't realise that you were talking about a faucet that you didn't touch at all. Perhaps that will work much better for you.

    Sarahsocal, I will look into that. It is definitely the most annoying feature in our kitchen!

  • 5 years ago

    I have this model from Koehler. It works perfectly. Note you need an electrical connection under the sink. When I leave town I just turn it off by pushing in the handle. To operate you just wave your hand or move a pot or bowl under the sensor. Go to the Koehler site to watch video. I’ve had it about 2 1/2 years with no issues. Note it is expensive but the quality is excellent. No something you will find at local box store. It is also heavy. My plumber said it was good quality

    https://www.build.com/product/summary/1632478?uid=3873519&jmtest=gg-gbav2_3873519&inv2=1&&source=gg-gba-pla_3873519!c9985097409!a106468653491!dc!ng&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0c6N3a6Q7wIVC8zICh3REQNKEAQYBSABEgJEDPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

  • 5 years ago

    Posted wrong model. Mine it touch less note voice activated

    https://www.build.com/product/summary/821914?uid=2137047

  • 5 years ago

    @Toni Hamlett: "No[t] something you will find at local box store."

    Home Depot and Lowes will happily sell you that Kohler Sensate faucet.

  • 5 years ago

    FYI purchased the Koehler at local Koehler store and received 25% off list price. Note this was one of several items purchased as I was doing a kitchen and bath in same project so they gave me a discount

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Touchless faucets are great and luxurious but a faucet in my friends house got glitchy and did not stop. Though it was fixed afterwards.

  • 5 years ago

    I bought a tap master in 2005. It was fantastic. It worked by a discrete tap panel on the base of the sink cabinet. Never had a problem with it for the 7 years we lived in that house. Plus side: my kids' friends all believed my kids when they would tell them to clap to turn on the water. LOL