Faucet to Faucet: A Battle Between Two Touchless Options

We may not be in the world of Minority Reports, but it seems that the new hottest trend in consumer products for improving user experience is touchless operations.

From Ford’s rear lift gate to technologies for dental surgery, touchless controls are seemingly everywhere.

In many cases, one could argue that we're approaching Wall-E world by increasing the number of ways for the lazy consumer to accomplish more while moving even fewer muscles.

And with touchless faucets, marketers of Touchless technology for kitchen appliances are aimed at convincing us that this is not only an issue of water efficiency, but also of personal hygiene... But one area this may actually make sense, especially if you cook, is for the kitchen – which is precisely why I don’t roll my eyes over the dueling commercials now out from Kohler and Moen.

The new faucets use powered sensors to control the faucet water flow, so unlike a conventional faucet, you'll need both plumbing and AC or battery power to install.

Yet, I had to wonder – are these products efficient, both in terms of water usage and convenience, and are these fancy faucets worth the hefty price tags?

Moen Brantford MotionSense™

The Brantford MotionSense features two sensors, one on top of the neck and one at the base on the front, as well as three stream densities for your various needs, this faucet has options. The sensor at the base at the front allows users to, say, place a pot in front of the faucet and have it fill automatically, then stop when the pot is drawn away. The Brantford touts Moen’s unique eco-performance design which "uses less water without sacrificing performance" for inherently efficient service. The MSRP for this baby is $680.

With the MotionSense (and the Kohler below), you're free to wave your hand above the neck to start water flowing or use the handle to operate the faucet at any time, like a conventional faucet would be used.

A pro of the Moen is that it's listed as being water efficient. A con is that batteries are required and the AC power connection is only an option, not included as a piece of hardware.

The battery pack requires 6 AA batteries to operate. This is kind of a deal breaker for me... If I was ready to do some cooking or do dishes and discovered that the faucet wasn't working properly, prompting me to go under the sink, troubleshoot it and then change 6 AA batteries, I'd get pretty irritated, pretty quickly. Also, batteries are not only expensive, but also disposing of them is a pain.

So if you want to avoid this scenario, either buy the Moen's AC package (sold separately) or consider a ready-to-go hard wired option, like the Kohler below.

Kohler Sensate™

Unlike Moen’s offering, Kohler is currently only touting one motion sensor faucet in two finishes. But don’t let that fool you into thinking the technology is not ready for prime time... Indeed, Kohler's Sensate faucet is impressive. Among other features unique to this little beauty is the temperature memory, which allows you to save a specific temperature setting for the water and turn it on and off at the setting from the prior usage.

While Kohler earned a 2014 Sustained Excellence award from EPA WaterSense, in terms of efficiency, the Sensate isn't listed among the water saving faucets approved by the EPA WaterSense system.

As mentioned above, the Kohler Sensate deliberately does not offer a battery option. This means it's hard wired AC power is required for proper installation.

For those without 120 Volt power nearby to the faucet, a power supply extension cable is available from Kohler. So, even though AC power is required for the sensors to function, meaning you could get frustrated in a power outage, at least you won't have to go rooting around to change any batteries.

Sensate rings up at $675.

But now the real question – are these faucets worth the money overall? Probably not if you're looking for the type of ROI associated with many green building technologies. Then again, these are beautiful, functional toys, first and foremost.

That said, since it's digital technology, you’ll likely see the cost tumble dramatically over the next year or two, just like flatscreen TVs!! :)

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Images from Moen and Kohler