There are many faucet types on the market like pull-out widespread, single-handle, pull-down, or centerset. However, these products are just varieties of touch vs touchless faucets.
Due to many products on the market, customers may feel a bit challenged to decide which kind of faucet to apply for their house. Don’t worry, as our thorough comparison below will help you out.
Touch vs Touchless Faucet Comparison
As you can see from its name, the most obvious difference between these two kinds is the physical contact with users. While a touch faucet will require physical touch for activation, a touchless one can turn on and off automatically thanks to its smart sensors.
Yet, the comparison won’t end here. You can rely on some distinctions to make up your mind on which model will satisfy your demand best.
Installation
Compared to other types of faucets, touch faucets have a distinct structure and design, so it will require a bit of experience and effort to install this one by yourself. Besides, you have to pay extra money for a plumber when installing a touch faucet.
Despite being more complicated in structure with many electric parts, touchless faucets require easier installation. You can complete the assembling process by carefully following the provided tutorial along with the package. Especially if you have had experience installing faucets before, installing a touchless faucet can’t trouble you.
Water Conservation
A touch faucet will release a specific amount of water when users touch random parts of the faucet. Also, a touchless faucet works by utilizing its sensor to recognize appropriate motions.
Therefore, compared to traditional faucets, which involve users’ pull or push to activate, these two models save more water. Even when we forget to turn off the tap, the water flow still automatically stops.
The water conservation will depend on the default amount of water released in each activation of these faucet types. Many researchers have thoroughly tested the default water release in each type for the best efficient and economical usages. Generally speaking, both touch and touchless faucets are the optimal solutions for saving water.
Convenience
By having the latest technology and user-friendly design, both of these faucets are convenient. Especially when compared to the traditional sink faucet, the touch and touchless one are far superior in terms of convenience. However, it doesn’t mean that these two are perfect. Each type of faucet has its advantages and disadvantages related to ease of use.
Children and the disabled may face difficulty pushing or pulling a traditional faucet because the faucet is out of their reach. Thanks to the touchless faucet, they don’t need to have any physical contact to activate it. Just a slight movement over the faucet’s sensor will help.
At this point, touchless faucets gain an advantage over the touch ones with the hand-free manipulation. However, some over-sensitive sensors can cause minor irritation at use.
A touch faucet can realize your human-like skin touch like how the smartphone screen works and release water afterward. In contrast, a touchless faucet with over-sensitive sensors can release water even when they detect unintended motions. These might include medium-sized insects flying by or dishes moving around.
From this disadvantage, we can see that the water-saving feature of a touchless faucet may not be as efficient as that of a touch faucet.
Source Of Power
Both of these faucets run on electric sources like house power supply or batteries. Usually, a middle-grade battery for touch or touchless faucets can last for three years, and some more high-budget ones can work well for five years. We recommend that you run these two on a house power supply for some reasons below.
When the battery runs out and you are not aware of preparing an instant replacement or recharge, the faucets will become useless. All of their sensors will shut down, so you can’t get the water you need.
Besides, some people are afraid that the touch faucet, when operated on electricity, may cause electric shock. This opinion is not true because the amount of electricity to activate a touch faucet is no more than 1.5 volts, and this amount is harmless to any living creature.
Cost
Having more features means the touch and touchless faucets cost more than the traditional faucets. Apart from the purchasing cost, users also have to spend money on extra fees while using these two faucets, like the electricity bills and installation costs.
What’s more, if you use a touch faucet, you will need an additional purchase for a plumber.
Hygiene
The faucets are in charge of washing your hands when they get dirty. You will have to pull or push the traditional faucet to get water and accidentally leave more bacteria and germs on the tap. Consequently, the tap, somehow, becomes a favorable environment for the bacterias. As a result, they will end up in your hands when you close the tap after washing your hands.
Dirty tap is no longer the problem if you use the touchless faucet. Without direct physical contact, you can still wash your dirty hands and keep the faucets hygiene at the same time. On the other hand, you still have to touch to extract water with the touch faucet, but just a slight touch with your wrist, your arms, or your elbows. Once you finish the washing, you don’t have to close the tap.
Honestly, a touchless faucet has no rival in terms of utmost hygiene when using.
Quick Rundown Of Touch Faucet
Pros
- Water conservation
- More affordable than the touchless faucets
- Convenient and suitable for almost everyone
Cons
- Difficult installation
- A minimal chance of getting germ and bacteria
Quick Rundown Of Touchless Faucet
Pros
- Effortless installation
- No additional parts required
- Retain the glossy outlook
- Utmost hygiene
Cons
- More costly than touch faucets
- Malfunction due to over-sensitive sensors
Bottom Lines
Touch vs touchless faucets are becoming the most widely used faucets globally and gradually replaced the traditional faucets. Though each of these types has different benefits and downsides, they are still worth your money.
If we have to choose the winner here, it will be the touchless faucet. Although there are chances to cause water leakage, it’s still superior to its rivals for the characteristics of convenience, economical water usage, easy installation, and hygienic.
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