How to choose a kitchen faucet
Water mixers are quite complex devices that have significant differences in design, appearance of models and purpose. How to choose a kitchen faucet, what to look for to get a reliable, durable, convenient and beautiful device? We will tell everyone about this in this material.
Content:
- What type of kitchen faucets is better to choose
- Spouts - which are most convenient for kitchen faucets
- Spout nozzle - which is better and more practical
- Types and types of construction of fastening kitchen faucets
- What material mixers are the most durable
- Mixer Manufacturers
- Video: How to choose a mixer
What type of kitchen faucets is better to choose
First of all, it is necessary to determine the type of structure. At first glance, it might seem that everything is very complicated, but now we will put everything on the shelves.
Tap-type kitchen faucets
Externally, this mixer is a traditional device with two valves for mixing flows of hot and cold water.
Faucet-box mixer for kitchen sinks.
But according to the design of the locking mechanism, there are two types of crane-boxes - worm and ceramic. When they are mounted in a mixer, it is not possible to distinguish between them, but the difference in their design is still significant.
Worm gearboxes
- 1. Stock;
- 2. O-rings;
- 3. The slip ring;
- 4. The piston;
- 5. Locking gasket (rubber, silicone);
- 6. Case;
- 7. Fat chamber;
- 8. Protective shell;
- 9. Screw for fastening the locking gasket.
The principle of operation of such devices is quite simple. Turning the stem 3-4 turns, the user presses the locking gasket on the valve seat, inside the mixer body, blocking the flow of water. The main advantage of this type of crane box is its extremely high maintainability. In the vast majority of breakdowns, repair is limited to replacing the gasket, which can be cut from a piece of rubber yourself or bought ready-made in a store.
Ceramic axle boxes
- 1. A bracket;
- 2. The stock;
- 3. Silencer;
- 4. Top ceramic plate;
- 5. The axle box body;
- 6. The lower ceramic plate;
- 7. Rubber ring;
- 8. Ceramic crane assembly.
Two ceramic discs inside the tap have slots. One of them (adjustment) rotates relative to the other (input), fixedly mounted in the housing. The intensity of the water supply depends on the size of the hole coincidence. The operation of such a crane is more convenient, since the rotation of the valve must be carried out only 180º (half-turn) or 90º (quarter-turn). However, such mechanisms, although reliable but significantly less durable. When a failure occurs, you will have to change the entire karan-axle box.
+ Pros of axle box faucets
- Simple design and high maintainability. Replacing parts on their own is not difficult;
- Relatively low cost.
— Cons of axle box faucets
- In order to replace the crane box entirely, it is often necessary to go around a lot of stores with a failed model, since there are a lot of models of these mechanisms, but there is no single standard.
- Large overspending of water. During temperature adjustment, water flows out but is not used.
- Not too convenient controls.
Single lever mixers
They are also called monocommand or joystick. Having entered the market not so long ago, single-lever mixers quickly gained popularity. A huge number of models of single lever kitchen faucets are produced, how to choose a reliable product mechanism?
Single lever kitchen mixer.
There are two types of single-lever mixing mechanisms - ball and cartridge mechanism.
Ball mechanism
- 1. control rod;
- 2. adjustment ring;
- 3. ball cuff;
- 4.adjusting cuff;
- 5. water intake (a-cold, b-hot);
- 6. release of water;
- 7. rubber saddle;
- 8. ball sleeve.
- 9. a hollow ball;
The ball has several holes. turning it, you can adjust the amount of incoming cold and hot water, temperature and pressure of the outgoing stream.
The main disadvantage is the excessive design complexity. The main breakdowns are the quick abrasion of the cuffs and gaskets and the weakening of the spring support of the regulating cuff, due to which the tap starts to leak.
Cartridge mechanism
It has the same principle of operation and basic construction as a ceramic box crane.
Consists of two ceramic plates having holes. The lower still (A) through which hot and cold water enters and there is a drain hole and the upper movable (B).
The water temperature and its pressure depend on the area of alignment of the holes on the two plates.
By the type of housing design, such mixers can be divided into fixed and rotary.
1. Fixed (cast) housing.
The mixing mechanism is in a non-separable molded case. The control lever is located on the side at an angle of 45 - 90º from the housing. A movable spout is used to adjust the direction of the jet. The advantages of such a case are its high reliability and maintainability. The disadvantages are less convenient control and a large jet force, which can be sprayed. The main types of breakdowns are loosening of the spout, the need for periodic replacement of gaskets on it and pulling up the fixing ring.
2. Swivel housing.
The main advantages are convenient control and significant water savings, since the joystick is initially in a position of uniform flow of flows for mixing. The spout moves smoothly and has a reliable fastening and low height.
The main disadvantage is the need for periodic replacement of the gaskets of the rotary part of the housing.
+ Advantages of single lever kitchen faucets
- Simplicity and ease of use;
- Profitability
- Functional design.
— Disadvantages of single lever mixers
- High cost;
- Quick wear of seals (for some not very successful types of construction);
- Quite a high complexity of the design and, accordingly, repair.
IMPORTANT! Regardless of the type of mixing mechanism, single lever mixers are very sensitive to solid particles in water. In order to significantly extend their operation period on the water supply pipes, it is strongly recommended to install a coarse filter.
Electronic faucets
This is the latest in the plumbing market. Such devices have significant functional differences from simple mechanical devices. There are volatile models that require connecting to a 220 V network via a 12V adapter and stand-alone, which operate for several months on battery power, the functionality of such devices is quite limited. Their main disadvantage is the cost of such mixers is still too high.
The main functions of electronic mixers are, first of all, adjustment of water temperature. Regardless of the change in temperature of the incoming flows, water of a given temperature will flow from the mixer.
Non-contact inclusion, provides an infrared sensor. Just bring your hands to the mixer and the water of the set temperature will turn on itself.
The advantages of such devices are obvious - this is a significant saving of water and ease of use. However, when choosing them, it is advisable to give preference to devices with a manually controlled water supply duplication system.
The budget option for upgrading the existing mixer can be a special nozzle attached to the spout instead of the aerator mesh.
Manufacturers claim that its use will save up to 20% of water. Such a device works from an ordinary battery, which must be replaced once every six months.
Which faucet for the kitchen is better to choose, you decide, based on the above features, advantages and disadvantages.As a rule, housewives prefer to have a single lever mixer in the kitchen, but if you need a budget option, then crane-box mixers will help you.
Spouts - which are most convenient for kitchen faucets
Depending on the location above the sink, they distinguish:
Low spouts
High spouts
The size of the spout depends on the depth of the sink; the greater the depth, the higher the bending of the spout is allowed. If the jet falls from a great height, the water will be sprayed, respectively, for shallow sinks, which are theoretically designed for high-height taps, they will not work at all. When using devices with a low spout, there is a problem when filling dishes of a significant volume with water.
They tried to solve this problem by developing several variants of spouts with variable geometry. The most popular are telescopic.
They consist of several tubes held together by permeable joints. Their main drawback is the unreliability of the design, a large number of hinges and gaskets. The more connections, the greater the likelihood that a leak will form somewhere.
The next type is retractable. They look like a shower handle in the bathroom. A flexible hose with a depth of 1-1.5 m is hidden inside a decorative short tap.
This type of mixer is almost universal. Some models have additional control, which is equipped with a retractable element, this gives additional water savings. When choosing such devices, it is necessary to pay attention to the material of the decorative crane, in particular to the place of attachment of the retractable head in the socket of the decorative spout. Many cheap models are made of plastic, which quickly fails.
A budget, but high-quality option may be a crane with a movable flexible spout on an elastic holder.
They are very functional and reliable, but their design is not suitable for any kitchen interior.
Spout nozzle - which is better and more practical
Despite its small size, this is a very important part of the mixer. The most popular retractable watering cans and small aerators. These devices operate on the principle of cavitation, mixing water with air. This provides significant savings, as water consumption is reduced to 8 l / min.
There are devices with a static arrangement of gratings, and there are devices with an adjustable one, in which the density of the air-water mixture can be changed. Many models of faucets are equipped with nozzles with a variable direction of water flow. This idea turned out to be so successful that special nozzles were developed with wide ranges for adjusting saturation and jet shape, which fit most models of kitchen faucets.
However, progress in the development and modernization of kitchen plumbing does not stand still. Many ideas are just beautiful decorations, some can bring undoubted benefit.
Simple or LED illumination on the crane. It will allow not only to decorate the kitchen, but also to better wash the dishes.
Electronic thermometer and water temperature meter. It will help not to burn yourself and significantly save water. A feature of this FaucetBuddy device is that it is completely independent. The nozzle receives all the necessary energy from a stream of water.
Types and types of construction of fastening kitchen faucets
Most kitchen faucets are installed either on the sink or on the countertop. Fastening can be done using a fixing nut or one, two studs with curly half washers.
Crane-box mixers have a collet for fastening - a split sleeve with thread. A nut is screwed onto it, which attaches the mixer to the surface.
At the lever mixer, threaded holes (one or two) are located at the base of the housing. Studs are screwed into them, then the floor washer is attracted by a nut.
Typically, vertical connections are made using flexible hoses. But if it is necessary to connect the mixer directly to the pipes exiting the wall, then eccentrics are used for correct positioning, and in order to hide the fasteners, conical decorative plates are used that should be included in the mixer kit.
What material mixers are the most durable
The mixer has many parts and various materials are used for their production. As the material of the body using various alloys. The most common are brass and steel. Mixers from them are one of the highest quality. Mixers made of copper and bronze are not inferior to them, but their cost is very high.
Budget models are made of zinc-aluminum-copper (ZAM) and silumin alloys, the resulting products do not differ in strength and durability.
Many modern manufacturers are experimenting with high-strength and heat-resistant plastic and cermet. The performance of these products is very high, but in comparison with metal mixers, their impact strength is much lower.
The same problems arise when choosing the coating of a metal mixer. Chrome plated are more durable, but the dirt on them is more noticeable, and the color scheme is very limited. Enamelled ones have a wide palette of shades, but the coating is less reliable, it can peel off or change color from exposure to cleaning agents.
Mixer Manufacturers
How to choose a faucet in the kitchen, among many models, the best price and, most importantly, high-quality. The answer is the weight of the product. A reliable product is never easy. You should also pay attention to the brand. This is the option when the name of the manufacturer’s company is not a fad, but a guarantee of a quality mixer.
- Manufacturers in Germany: Grohe, SIEMENS ag, Viega, Kaldewei, Dornbracht.
- Production of Italy: Jacuzzi, Roca, Bonomini, Duka, Rifra.
- Production France - Jacob Delafon,
- Sweden - Alfa Laval.
