Quick Guide to Choosing Industrial Kitchen Faucets
Designing and planning commercial kitchens can be as challenging as is choosing the best industrial kitchen faucets to place in them. Proper research and planning are key. Today, we’ll focus on answering vital questions such as, “How many faucets will the commercial kitchen I’m planning need?” and “Which faucet brand will provide the types of faucets needed in the proper budget range, and be backed up with a great warranty?”
Our pros created this quick guide as a handy reference for builders, contractors, specifiers, and plumbers getting ready to take on a project that involves one or more commercial kitchens. We hope this guide will also come in handy for homeowners who are chefs or aspiring chefs looking to upgrade their current kitchens in order to improve the cooking experience in their own homes.
The first step in the process is to understand the various types of faucets available for commercial use along with which tasks each is designed to fill in a commercial kitchen.
Types of Commercial Faucets
A bar faucet is generally simple in design and conserves space. It’s meant for tasks such as hand washing or rinsing small items like handrags or beer and wine glasses. You’ll often find this type of faucet installed behind a small, single-compartment sink. A well-designed bar faucet looks equally as nice in areas that are customer-facing (such as behind a traditional restaurant bar) or at the back-of-the-house (such as a sink dedicated for the sole purpose of washing hands). For example, the Two Handle Bar and Laundry Faucet by Central Brass is a minimalist faucet that checks every box: form, function and quality. Central Brass also offers a goose-neck bar faucet with an even smaller footprint, the Two Handle Cast Brass Bar/Laundry Faucet.
It can be troublesome or impossible to fill a large pot with water in a standard-sized sink and simply unsafe in a busy commercial kitchen to carry pots of water away from the stove area. Pot-fillers, also referred to as pot-filler faucets, fill pots or buckets more efficiently and safely. These faucets are often mounted above the stove and have jointed necks with maximum flexibility so a person needn’t even move the pot from the stovetop while filling. Some pot-filler faucets have a mid-height gooseneck that allows for mounting lower on the wall without giving up needed under-faucet space. As an example, the Wall Mount Pot-Filler Faucet by Central Brass is made in this style. The busy environment and potential for safety hazards linked to carrying heavy pots of water in all commercial kitchens make a pot-filler faucet a must-have.
Extra spraying power and the convenience of flexible design are the primary advantages of a pre-rinse faucet. These are great for rinsing dishes that have just arrived in the kitchen, or ones that have been splattered with food and unfortunately set to the side. A pre-rinse faucet boasts strong jets of water able to power-off heavy amounts of food. Its unusually tall and incredibly flexible hose is ideal for reaching around and under large, awkwardly shaped dishes to get into every corner, nook and cranny. One of our commercial customers’ favorites is Two Handle Wall Mount Pre-Rinse Faucet by Central Brass.
The disposal of liquid waste is best done in a service sink. Service sink faucets are built to an industrial standard and are wall-mounted to maximize the space needed for the dimensions and weight of buckets and mops. All commercial kitchens must be cleaned daily (even several times a day) and janitorial equipment cannot be cleaned in a sink where food preparation takes place. In kitchens, a service sink faucet is mounted over a specialty service sink for the purpose of rinsing out and filling up mop buckets as well as washing mops and other water-safe cleaning equipment. Central Brass manufactures a Two Handle Wall Mount Service Sink complete with a built-in ultra-convenient pail hook. It is braced for heavy duty with extra wall-mounted support as well.
Commercial Faucet Design
Widespread faucets, sometimes called three tap hole faucets include two handles and one spout as separate units. Three separate parts to one faucet might make life easier when it comes to cleaning up or replacing the handles or spout without replacing the entire faucet. Calcium deposits build up at the base of faucets and can be difficult to remove if all parts are connected. Having three separate pieces gives a kitchen designer the ability to customize the look and function of the faucet. Concealed ledge faucets are generally minimalist in style with the smallest footprint possible. For example, Central Brass’ Two Handle Concealed Ledge Kitchen Faucet is a commercial kitchen designer’s dream.
Wall-mount faucets free up space behind the sink if space is tight in the commercial kitchen leaving more room on the countertop for dishes, soap, or anything else needed. They are also perfect for keeping a kitchen organized and organization saves time and reduces on-the-job injuries. Many faucets by Central Brass include a dish soap tray for extra space conservation and organization such as the Two Handle Wall Mount Kitchen Faucet. Depending on the plumbing requirements and previous faucets installed in a kitchen (if remodeling), a wall-mount faucet may solve a variety of potential problems or prevent them entirely.
Instead of having hot and cold water meeting beneath the countertop or at the base of the sink, bridge faucets link the hot and cold water together above the sink in a horizontal line, as seen here with the Two Handle Ledge Kitchen Faucet. The raised pipe structure allows for more storage space below the sink and can make it more convenient for the user to adjust the water temperature. It also adds extra height to achieve a similar objective as that of the gooseneck faucet, which is to clean or fill taller dishes and pots.
Touchless faucets are the future for a reason, the addition of an automatic sensor allows for better water conservation and hygiene. By installing a touchless faucet kitchen workers and chefs will not need to turn a handle to activate the faucet, reducing the spread of germs and bacteria as well as making clean-up easier. Often used for hand-washing sinks, these faucets will turn off automatically, thus saving water, time and money. They usually require only one-hole installation, like the Single Hole Deck Mount Electronic Sensor Faucet by Central Brass, making installation quick and easy.
Don’t get stuck with a stationary faucet if you have multicompartmental sinks or large pots or buckets that need filling. Swing faucets can move from left to right, like the Two Handle Shell Type Wall Mount Faucet by Central Brass, and work brilliantly for switching from a rinse sink to a washing-up sink. They also work great for larger items that need the space for lifting, where a stationary faucet would just get in the way.
A gooseneck faucet has a high, arched neck, suitable for deeper sinks used to wash bigger dishes. Filling items like pails or cooking pots require extra room in the sink and the added height of a gooseneck faucet provides the space necessary. The Gooseneck Concealed Kitchen Faucet by Central Brass does both with a swivel gooseneck spout. Gooseneck faucets can be swing, stationary, wall-mounted or deck-mounted.
Building a Plan
Now that you have an idea of what options are out there, it’ll be much easier to decide which faucets are vital, which are helpful, and which are bonus additions. Consider the layout of the plumbing fixtures you have now in your establishment and the goals you need to achieve to decide which faucet works best for you. Whether it is rinsing dishes, filling taller pots, or conserving more space, Pioneer’s Central Brass is guaranteed to have a faucet that suits the plan perfectly. Need help? We’re a form or phone call away.
We’ll Save You Money and Time
There are many ways to the same destination. This saying applies to multi-family housing builds just as much as to anything else in life. The ultimate goal is save as much money as possible while delivering a great finished project – that’s simply showing smart business sense. But, finding a one-off deal or sacrificing quality isn’t the only way to get a healthy ROI. We have a better way.
Pioneer works with professionals every day to develop specification packages and plans that save our valued partners both time and money, sometimes in surprising ways. It’s our goal to ensure your project meets or exceeds its expected outcome. We want to get to know you and your company and show you how we can save you money. Please reach out via our website form or call us at (800) 338-9468.
Consider choosing these industrial kitchen faucets that are as strong as they are aesthetically pleasing and functional.
