Although this isn't an answer to your question - I recently found a Quick and Hot at my local Costco for only $79 (cheaper than on their website). At that price I thought I would give it a try.

There are only two residential instant hots out there - Insinkerator's and the Quick and Hot. The latter is sold under at least a dozen brand names, but they're all the exact same unit.

Insinkerator seems to have a terrible reputation, and they design their faucets and tanks to lock you in to only Insinkerator parts. With the other system, you can use ANY instant hot faucet out there with the tank, and the tanks are more widely available too.

Frankly, any instant hot tank is going to fail eventually. The Insinkerator ones seem to fail more often, at least from all the reviews I've seen, but ANY instant hot tank should be installed where a failure won't damage your cabinets, etc.

Installation is super easy and a Quick&Hot/Waste King/etc tank is $150 with the faucet, a little less if you just buy a replacement tank. At that [rice I'm okay with replacing it every few years.

Here is a link that might be useful: WK instant hot @ Amazon

We have such hard water that I want to install both a hot and cold filtered water unit. Does WK make one and does anyone have any suggestions?

learningguru - I too was looking for the same -- here's what I've found:
http://www.insinkerator.com/product/product.php?id=24&template=hwd
also one from Franke - Little Butler

I'm interested in filtered chilled plus insta hot. Has anyone tried the doulton unit?

Here is a link that might be useful: doulton hot and cold

I've ordered a Filtered Insta-hot/Chilled system for our remodel. It's supposed to be delivered on Tuesday next week so I can't say anything about the quality, but I can tell you what/why I ordered.

I looked all over, and wanted to find a single source to buy the entire system so that they could help verify the configuration and provide after sales support if needed (less fingerpointing). I finally chose Freshwater Systems because they had everything I wanted at a good price.

Even though all of the components are important, the faucet itself was a driving factor because we wanted a modern looking faucet in black, and that's very hard to find. I ended up with the Waterstone 1400HC. They sell the Quick & Hot insta-hot system to go with that. For the chiller I chose the Proselect R1P, and for the filtration I'm using Everpure's H-104. The chiller required a pressure regulating valve and a check valve (they had some diagrams - just ok, I thought) to explain the setup.

The thing that suprised me is that after flowing from the cold water valve to the filter, that first the water passes through the chiller, and goes up to the faucet. From there, the (now-chilled) water goes back down to the hot tank, then back up to the hot input on the faucet.

To complicate things, I wanted to put the components in my basement instead of under the sink. Freshwater advised, and Waterstone agreed that the filter and chiller could go there, but the hot tank should be under the sink.

Here's a schematic of how we're planning to install:

Here is a link that might be useful: Waterstone 1400 HC @ Freshwater Systems

We got the Insinkerator HC View:

http://www.insinkerator.com/product/product.php?id=207&template=hwd

Dispenses hot and cold water. Looks great, works great. Had it a year with no problems. Comes with a 3-year, in-house warranty. Glad we didn't know they had a bad rep!

I've only had my Insinkerator for about 6 months. I can't comment on long-term durability, but they sure had excellent customer service after my GC burned out my tank by not following directions.

We had the old-style, twist top Insinkerator Instant Hot Water unit in this house when we bought it, and used it daily for at least ten years with no problem. Over time the tank in the cabinet below leaked and made an incredible mess. I was shocked when I researched replacing the unit (the chrome finish on the faucet was chipping as well). Not only was the system expensive, the reviews were dreadful! We took the system out, installed a soap dispenser in the hole on the counter, and are planning the addition of an induction cooktop for out future boiling water needs.

I have to admit, I still miss it ...

I've had a kitchenaid instant hot water dispenser for over 11 years. Use it several times every day. Never had a problem w/it. It's in the sink on my island--small tank inside the cabinet. 11 years ago it was @ $100 if I remember correctly. It's the one thing in my kitchen I wouldn't be without.

Vate,
Awesome granite!! What type is it?

--Andy

Say what you want. We replaced the twist top Emerson HWD. It was almost twenty years old. I got a H-Wave Insinkerator for $160. No need for filtered cold water version since we have the best tasting water, a proven fact. I guess if it has a problem with the HWD, I can drive up the street & complain to Emerson. Only time will tell.

For the penny pinchers like me. The HWD was well worth it. We use it All the time, morning and night! We got a water heater a few years back. I found we could keep it set very low now. No point on heating up all that water to be hot, hot. Most of the time I drain the HWD tank to use in the washing of the dishes. So instead of wasting the water while waiting for the hot water to come up from the hot water heater, I use the HWD. And if you have a jar that the lid is stuck, I use the HWD. It's a must have it for us too.