A pot filler is a folding tap mounted above the stove, so you fill heavy pots where you cook instead of carrying them from the sink. Simple idea. Easy to get wrong, because the measurements have to be decided before the wall is closed.
1. Reach: Can It Get Over the Back Burner?
Measure from the wall behind your range to the centre of the furthest burner. Your pot filler's fully extended reach must exceed that number, with margin.
Most ranges need 18 to 24 inches of reach. A 30-inch range with a deep counter can need more. Buy short and you will be filling only the back burners forever, which is the single most common regret with pot fillers.
Also check the folded depth. A pot filler that projects too far when folded gets knocked by cabinet doors and passing shoulders.
2. Height: Above the Tallest Pot, Below the Hood
Standard mounting height is 18 to 22 inches above the cooking surface. Work it out from your own equipment rather than the standard:
- Measure your tallest stockpot.
- Add 3 to 4 inches of clearance so it slides under without tilting.
- Check the result still leaves room beneath your range hood or backsplash detail.
Too low and your stockpot will not fit. Too high and water splashes on the way down.
3. Rough-In: The Part You Cannot Change Later
A pot filler needs a cold water line brought to a specific point inside the wall. This is plumbing and drywall work, and it must happen before tiling.
Give your plumber three things before they open the wall: exact height above the finished cooking surface, exact horizontal centre relative to the range, and the fixture's rough-in specification. Ask us for the spec sheet if it is not in the listing.
Centre the fixture on the range, not on the wall. Those are often not the same point, and an off-centre pot filler is obvious forever.
Single or Double Valve?
Double-valve models have a shut-off at the wall and a second at the spout. The second valve means that if the first ever weeps, water stops at the spout rather than running down your backsplash. On a fixture mounted above a heat source and behind tile, that redundancy is worth having.
A Note on Finish
Pot fillers sit directly in the path of steam, oil vapour, and heat. Unlacquered brass handles this well. It patinas, which above a stove is a feature. A lacquered or plated finish in the same position tends to cloud and flake where the vapour hits it.
See our solid brass pot fillers, or send us your range dimensions and we will tell you which reach you need.