The two side by side
| Boiling water tap | Hot water dispenser | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £299 to £3,693 RRP, fitting extra | Not in our data. Read the price on the product page. |
| Installation | Tap on the sink, tank in the cabinet, cold water feed and a power socket | Stands on the worktop or the floor and plugs into a socket |
| Standby | 9 W to 35 W | Not in our data. The wattage is on the product page. |
| Yearly running cost | £46 to £108 | Use the standby wattage in our running cost calculator |
| Space | A tap and a tank under the sink, 2 to 7 litres | Worktop or floor space for the whole unit |
Tap figures come from the manufacturers' stated RRP and standby wattage in our library. Running cost uses 10 cups a day at 27p per kWh, the same rule as our running cost calculator.
Price
A boiling water tap is the dearer purchase: the cheapest current model in our library has an RRP of £299 and the dearest £3,693, before fitting. A dispenser has no tank to fit and no tap to buy, so it is normally the lower price at the till. We hold no dispenser prices, so we do not quote a figure for them. For the cheapest taps first, see our budget picks.
Installation
A countertop dispenser needs a socket and a place to stand, and you fill it yourself. A boiling water tap is a fitted appliance: the tank goes in the sink cabinet and needs a cold water feed and a power socket, and the tap takes the place of your mixer or sits beside it. What is involved is set out in our installation guide.
Energy
Both keep water hot, so both draw power when nobody is using them. For taps the stated standby runs from 9 W to 35 W across the 24 models that give a figure, which comes to £46 to £108 a year in our rule. For a dispenser, find the standby or keep-warm wattage in the product specification and enter it in the calculator to get the same yearly figure on the same basis.
Space
A dispenser takes worktop or floor space that a tap does not. A tap moves that space under the sink instead, where the tank sits (2 to 7 litres in the models we list), so check the cabinet depth and what already lives there before you choose.
When a dispenser is the more sensible choice
A dispenser suits a rented home where you cannot change the sink or the plumbing, a small budget, or a spare room, office or caravan where the hot water is only needed in one place. It moves with you when you leave, which a fitted tap does not.
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When a boiling water tap is the better buy
A tap suits a home you own, where you want the worktop clear and hot water at the sink where you already fill kettles and pans. It costs more to buy and to fit, and the standby draw runs all day. Our guide on whether boiling water taps are worth it shows how much of the yearly cost is standby at few and at many cups, and the instant hot water tap guide explains how the tap types differ.