RALEIGH - KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!!
Raleigh, North Carolina. Hands-Free Faucets No Longer Just For Public Rest Rooms. Hands-free faucets for kitchens and bathrooms are coming to homes near you; perhaps yours. These faucets are LONG over-due. While they have been available for commercial use for nearly 20 years they have not been user friendly for home use. The hands-free variety are activated when a hand or glass in placed under the faucet and near the activating sensor. Early units had infrared sensors that could even be triggered by variations in background lighting or by the color of a user’s clothing. Some new units use technology used by auto-focus digital cameras. The sensor measures the distance between your hands and the faucet and turns the faucet on accordingly. One manufacturer, Kohler, for example, has features such as a high-temperature limit stop and a temperature adjustment lever on the side of the faucet so users can regulate the temperature to suit themselves. Their use of flexible supply hoses and above-the-deck electronics and valving also ensures easy maintenance. Some faucets can also be manually set to cold for hands-free delivery of drinking water.
Convenience is certainly not the only benefit of touchless faucets. Other benefits are water conservation, improved hygiene (because you don’t have to touch controls with your grubby paws) and temperature control. The sensor activation system is powered either by a plug for a standard outlet or a 6-volt lithium-ion battery. Another neat thing you can add is a low-flow aerator which flows at 1.5 gallons per minute vs. the usual 2.2 gallons per minute. With so many areas short on water that’s a 30% saving and not to be sneezed at. With regard to kitchen faucets, Keith Kometer, director of product marketing for Kohler Faucets says, “A hands-free faucet isn’t intended to replace a primary kitchen faucet where the user controls water flow and temperature. Instead, our Wellspring Touchless faucet is task-oriented to offer enhanced convenience, functionality and water conservation in the kitchen work zone. It’s perfect during food preparation, for example, when you don’t want to risk cross-contamination after handling meats and other raw foods.”
Currently, hands-free faucets are expensive and not many of the manufacturers offer them. The need to conserve water, alone, will be reason enough to see other manufacturers get on board. The added competition will also cause prices to come down. At the moment Kohler and Moen are the two main producers. Others include Danze and Brizo who offer the more accurate sensors; side-mounted handles; manual overides for more control and built-in battery packs with no electrical work required. For more information try www.us.Kohler.com or call 1-800-4-KOHLER and www.Moen.com. Danze is www.Danze-Online.com and Brizo Faucet is www.BrizoFaucet.com. At the moment the online information that I could find, regarding the Danze and Brizo touchless faucets was very limited. If reps from any of these companies pick up this post and would like to add or update info. I would be happy to do so.
John Fish (919) 696-3474 Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com Website: www.JohnFish.com
