Bath Products Review: Hands OffAre electronic faucets finally ready for the home?

Home products spend an eternity on the cusp of being the next hot thing, but never seem to gain enough mass appeal to make them viable. You can add electronic faucets for the home to this list–that is, until now.

Manufacturers are bullish. They say the new technologies are far superior to the older ones, and they believe that hygiene will become more of an issue as the threat of an outbreak of a super-flu virus grows.

"Part of what we do is think ahead," Joan Bostic, president of KWC America, says. "People are busy, and they want things clean. They don't want to have to think about touching a faucet."

Electronic (a.k.a. hands-free) faucets first appeared in Chicago's O'Hare Airport in the 1980s–or so the story goes–and can now be found almost everywhere from restaurants to rest stops to hospitals and hotels. Because they're activated by a wave of the hand, the faucets' most obvious benefit is hygiene, but they also save water and operate at a preset temperature.

Despite the familiarity with e-faucets in public restrooms, Americans have balked at putting them in their homes: They understand the faucet, but they simply don't trust it.

"The technology has developed a bad reputation that comes from people's exposure with the faucets," says Ed Detgen, director of marketing for faucet manufacturer Danze. "It has been an imperfect technology."

One reason for this unreliability, manufacturers say, is that the motion-sensing infrared technology most faucets use does not read dark colors well. Shiny, reflective surfaces such as stainless steel or glass also confuse the faucets and contribute to unpredictable activation.

Meanwhile, the hygiene argument has not resonated with home buyers as manufacturers had hoped. "Contamination is much less of a concern in a residential bathroom," says Mark Tegge, product manager for commercial faucets at Kohler.

But in the kitchen, a hands-free faucet may make a lot of sense. "So many people are paranoid about working with raw meats," says Irwin Nudelman, director of construction for the MG Group of Cos. in Colts Neck, N.J. "The nice thing about working with this faucet is you don't have to touch it to wash your hands." MG Group installed an e-faucet in a model home. The builder chose it to impress upscale clientele, Nudelman says.

Then there has always been the issue of price and aesthetics. A typical unit starts at around $400, but the cost can go a lot higher. And for that price, consumers got a cumbersome-looking faucet that's short on style. "The products looked commercial," says Tegge.

Manufacturers finally got the message and now are churning out hands-free faucets that they claim offer high performance as well as high style. Delta, for example, recently introduced the Pascal to its Brizo luxury brand. "The unit combines hands-free and touch technology," says Bob Rodenbeck, research and development product manager. "The sensors look down the water stream and know how far things are in the sink." As a result, it differentiates between a moving and static object so placing something in the sink will not activate the faucet, the company says.

Danze's new dual electronic faucet, Parma, operates hands free or with a conventional single control. "We designed it to be reliable," Detgen says. "It is not affected by color." The faucet is proximity-based so the sensor activates when the hand or an object is within 3 to 3-1/2 inches.

Kohler's Wellspring secondary kitchen faucet uses Tripoint technology, which measures the distance between a user's hands and the faucet. Commonly found in auto-focus cameras, the technology works even if the strength of the beam is weak, Tegge says.

Builders agree that aesthetics are improving. "A lot of people equate [hands-free faucets] to the airport bathroom...but a very pretty faucet," says Scott Bates, co-owner of Christopher Scott Homes in Indianapolis. Nonetheless, Bates adds, "it's a very expensive faucet."

Bates also says he's not worried about the technology because most faucets can be operated manually.

New e-faucets are more stylish than their cumbersome predecessors and manufacturers are hoping the cool designs and improved technology will give the category a shot in the arm. Prices are still high–with some topping $800–but most of the brands target the high end of the market so the price is relative, manufacturers say.

"It seems that there is some sort of yearning for hands-free faucets," Detgen says. "The question is, will [the new products] capture attention and move markets?"

–This story first appeared in BUILDER magazine. Lindsay Kishter contributed to this report.