Todd Hawkins, of BuilderFish, explains why the touch faucet is a great addition to his own home and why it should be part of every house you build or remodel.
One great benefit: It is a staple of Universal Design.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Hi. This is Todd Hawkins with BuilderFish. I'm going to show you one of the most convenient things we have in our home—the touch faucet. It is as magical as a garage door opener. If you're building a new home or remodeling, or if your current faucet breaks, you should seriously consider getting one of these. Obviously, there's the user-friendliness and convenience—any person of any ability can use this—but also because you're not touching it as much, so you don't have to clean it as often. And because you're not touching it as much, it is more durable over time. We had to replace our faucet because the kids worked on the other one till it finally broke.
This particular model is a Delta Touch 20. I believe Delta came out with this three years ago. Oddly enough I learned about it after seeing a full-page ad in Sports Illustrated, of all places, but all the major manufacturers have these, either touch- or motion-activated. They can be hard-wired or like this one, battery powered—it takes six AA batteries, which the manual says should last two years (we'll see about that). Otherwise, it has pretty standard features. It has a hose—this one has a magnetic seating on the nozzle so when it's up in there, it stays secure. It has the toggle switch on the back side where, if you want the shower versus the standard stream, it can to do that. And look at how lightly I have to touch this to get it to go. And you can touch anywhere on the fixture to make it work. Toggle in shuts off the water flow; it has to be out to get it to go. You control the velocity through the toggle. Up is cold, down is hot, and the light starts to glow from blue to red as the water warms up.
A concern some people have is: what if a pet grabs or touches it inadvertently; well, it doesn't complete the circuit, only your finger can do that. If you accidentally leave it on, it shuts off after a certain amount of time.
So we've been very happy with this. This is a great example of universal design making home life easier. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. You can reach me, Todd Hawkins, through our contact page at builderfish.com.
—BuilderFish (Fine Innovative Sustainable Homes) specializes in private service of estates and dream homes in Northern Virginia.