What Is a Pot Filler and Do You Need One in Your Kitchen? Everything You Should Know

You might have noticed a trend in today’s kitchen remodels, particularly high-end ones, is the addition of a pot filler: that secondary faucet typically mounted onto the wall right behind the kitchen’s cooktop or stove. But is it really a necessity from which every home cook can benefit or a luxury and high-maintenance splurge?

Read on to learn more about this feature, its pros and cons, and approximate cost of adding one to your kitchen before you embark on a renovation.

What Is a Pot Filler Over a Stove?

Also known as a pasta arm or kettle faucet, the pot filler is a faucet mounted right onto the backsplash of a cooktop or range.

It comes in a wide variety of styles to match most kitchen aesthetics, and can have either a fixed or articulated arm, the latter of which allows you to swing and position the spout over the various burners. Most pot fillers today have the swing arm for convenience.

The point of this faucet is to speed up filling pots with water and cut out the step and strain of filling them in the sink and transporting them over to the cooktop.

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Why You Should You Get One

The main advantage of a pot filler is having access to water right over a stove, cutting out the step (and potential strain) of filling a pot in the sink and transporting the heavy container to the cooktop. By eliminating this step, you may also eliminate the minor inconvenience of having to wipe up accidental spillage on the countertop, floor, or other surfaces between the sink and the cooktop.

Having this feature also allows you to easily and swiftly add water as needed to something that’s already been heating up on the stove, removing the need to equip oven mitts to carry a scalding-hot pot, saucepan, or skillet to the sink and back.

Pot fillers usually have a higher gallon-per-minute (GPM) flow rate, so you can fill pots much faster than you would using the sink faucet. And for special occasions, when you might be using a cooking vessel that’s extra wide or tall, a pot filler is much more convenient as it can be cumbersome to position the extra-large pot in the sink and under the spigot (if you have a fixed faucet).

Essentially, if you find yourself cooking a lot of pasta (hence, its other moniker of “pasta arm”) and other recipes calling for copious amounts of water or tall stock pots, a faucet over the stove might be the most convenient option for you.

Why You Shouldn’t Get One

There are some disadvantages of having a pot filler and you’ll need to consider these as well.

Like any other faucet, a pot filler has the potential to develop a leak, and if not caught in time, this can lead to some serious damage to the appliances below, whether the oven or cooktop. Keep in mind that even if the cooktop is a gas range, it likely uses electricity for ignition and certain functions and displays such as a built-in oven timer. The last thing you need in the kitchen-renovation process is to replace a big-ticket appliance.

Cleaning is another problem you might encounter. As a fixture situated near the cooktop, the pot filler will come into contact with and collect grease on the spout, arm, and arm joints, making cleaning a real hassle. Don’t forget that you’ll also have to reach over the cooktop to clean some parts of the arm.

Lastly, consider whether the high cost of adding a pot filler is worth it. Every home is different, but there may not already be plumbing access in the wall behind the cooktop, so installing a pot filler will require much more than creating a hole and connecting pipes. Also know that you’ll likely have to completely redo the backsplash or whatever wall treatment you currently have behind the stove.

If your cooking routine doesn’t frequently include filling pots that are cumbersome to carry over to the stovetop, you might want to skip adding such an expensive feature to your dream kitchen.

How Much Does It Cost to Install a Pot Filler?

Depending on whether the wall you plan to place it already has plumbing, the installation can cost anywhere from $280 on the low end to $3,500-plus on the high end (according to Angi), with the average being about $1,650 for projects where there’s existing plumbing.

This pricing will of course vary further by geographic area as that will correlate with cost of labor and what additional materials—be they tiles for the backsplash or copper plumbing pipe—your project will require.

The low-end cost only reflects installation of a new faucet where there’s already one in the same spot. Installation that requires minor plumbing changes costs an average of $400. Adding the pot filler while making major plumbing changes costs approximately $1,200. Making major plumbing changes as well as necessary minor structural changes will cost about $1,900 on average. Installing the filler with both major plumbing and structural changes can cost upwards of $3,000.

Note that these numbers reflect the installation work but not any of the additional materials nor backsplash repair or retiling work.

Before You Buy the Fixture

Naturally, if you’re not working with an interior designer and not leaving design decisions to the contractor, you’re going to want to shop around for the right pot filler (style, finish, color, etc). Don’t forget to take measurements of the backsplash behind the stove, clearance height above it, and approximate distance between the spot where you plan to install it and the burners. This is to ensure that your purchase is the right size for your cooktop and has a reach that’s convenient for you.