Franke Maris Water Hub 3-in-1 Mechanical

The mechanical Maris is the tap Franke sells to people who do not want a lit panel on their kitchen tap. The control is a knob with a red collar: pull it out, turn it, and boiling water runs for as long as you hold it. Let go and it stops. Push it down until it clicks and it stays open for a pan fill, then pull again to release. There is nothing to learn and nothing to charge, which is the argument for it.

Underneath, it is the same system as the electronic Maris. The 4-litre tank is rated energy class A, draws 1,650 W to heat and 14 W to hold temperature, and takes 15 minutes from cold. Franke puts the usable boiling capacity at 2.5 to 2.7 litres and the recovery at about 8 minutes, which is the honest version of what a 4-litre tank does when you fill a pasta pan. The boiler is a cylinder 229 mm across and 340 mm tall, so it stands in a corner of the cupboard rather than taking a whole shelf.

What you give up is filtration on the cold side. The Pro M cartridge sits in front of the tank and protects it, and it cleans the water that gets boiled, but a 3-in-1 gives you no filtered cold drinking water. The electronic version can be upgraded to 4-in-1 with Franke''s filtered water kit; this one cannot, so the decision is permanent at the point of purchase. Guarantee is two years on tap, tank and filter housing, and Franke asks for proof that cartridges were bought on schedule before it pays out, which makes the roughly £80 a year a condition rather than an option.