Franke Mythos Water Hub 5-in-1

This is the tap for people who looked at the Mythos Water Hub, wanted the sparkling water and worked out they would never use the boiling side. Franke sells the same hub in two forms: the 6-in-1 with a boiler, and this one without. You get filtered ambient water, chilled water, sparkling, a lighter sparkling setting for people who find full carbonation harsh, and ordinary mains hot and cold. What you do not get is boiling water at any temperature, so this is not a kettle replacement and we have kept it out of our boiling tap rankings for that reason.

The numbers behind it are modest because there is no tank to keep hot. The chiller holds 2.2 litres and takes about 8 minutes to bring water from 20 to 10 degrees, it draws 230 W while working and 5.5 W on standby. That last figure is the interesting one on a site full of boiling taps: the 6-in-1 version of this same hub sits at 33 W because it holds four litres at boiling point around the clock, which works out at roughly £78 a year against about £13 for this one. Sparkling water is held as 0.6 litres and will pour about 2.8 litres in a run before the system needs to catch up. The Pro M Connect cartridge runs 12 months and the tap reminds you when it is due.

At around £2,199 against £2,599 for the 6-in-1, the boiler costs about £400. That is the whole decision. If you already have a kettle you are happy with and what you actually want is cold, filtered and fizzy water on tap, this saves the money and the standby energy. If you want to clear the worktop, the [6-in-1](/models/franke-mythos-water-hub-6-in-1) is the one to buy. Either way the tap needs both a hot and a cold supply at the sink, and this version comes in stainless steel only.