kettle advice.

yorksherpud

I am a noob to posting and money saving in general, so hope I've got this in the right place.

Here's the thing, my kettle is leaking so I need a new one but do I go for a standard version or has anyone had any experience of a more energy efficient one like the Tefal Quick Cup?

There are a few things I should point out, I work from home so often make several cups of coffee throughout the day and secondly my husband doesn't get the gist of only boiling enough for what you need. He seems to think the kettle won't work unless it's full to the top (Arrrgggghhhh!) This is probably why the kettle is on it's last legs too.

Kind regards

Pud x

El_Sid_III

The best thing for efficiency is to boil only as much as you need. Any inefficiency with electrical devices tends to go to heat, which is what you're after anyway. So doubt there's much in it.

The solution with your husband is never let him make tea/coffee, which is your job anyway! :rotfl: :rolleyes:

yorksherpud

Thanks El Sid, although my hubbie would agree with you it's my job to make the brews I'm not so sure, being a modern chick an all!

Joyful

The Tefal one cup does not give you boiling water. It's just hot so I wouldn't waste my money on one.

liitleblackcat

They reckon that a straightforward jug kettle is most efficient especially one with a transparent bit that shows you how full it is. You can boil enough for a single cup in one very easily and they only cost around £10 (and they are all made in China before you ask). Try any of the big supermarkets or Comet, etc.

andrew-b

The laws of physics dictate that a fixed volume of water at a given temperature requires a fixed amount of energy to raise it's temperature to boiling point...so be wary of kettles claiming to be energy efficient. A lower rated kettle will take longer to boil.
The only real way of saving energy with boiling water is to only boil what you need and when you need it. For those requiring a constant "drip feed" of caffeine, it might actually work out cheaper to put more than one cup of water in the kettle as less energy will be required to boil the 2nd cup than the first as the water will already be warm in the kettle.
There are some kettles with a "keep warm" function that keep the water at a constant temperature (of around 70C) after boiling ...but again whether this is energy efficient or not depends on your usage...for a busy kitchen in an office environment that may be more appropriate than a domestic kitchen.

I've started trying to boil only what i need but the problem i've found with that is you can end up pouring the limescale dregs out of the kettle into your cup (not helped by having put my finger through limescale filter). See my recent thread asking for recommendations for kettles myself. I'd be interested to know the make of your kettle that has sprung a leak so i don't go buying one myself.

Andy

lauranurse

Hiya

I won a tefal quick cup kettle a few months ago! But while I was eagerly awaiting it's arrival I found myself reading reviews about it that were not very encouraging. It doesnt actually boil the water so if you want it for tea then it probably wont be any good, although coffee would probably be OK. As Im a big tea drinker I decided not to bother with it, and it is still sitting its box waiting for me to put it on ebay! I guess the idea behind it is good though.

guineapig

We bought a Tefal one cup thinking of the money/electric savings and I wish we hadn't bothered!

The water is very hot rather than boiling, which means the tea cools down very, very quickly:mad:

My Dh tends to drink his when it is warm rather than very hot ( like me) so he has taken it to work to use there, just so we can convince ourselves that it wasn't a total waste of money ( which it was!)

I am now now back to using my cheapo Argos £5 kettle, just filling it to minimum level.

Surfbabe

We have an eco kettle which you can boil very quickly enough water for just one cup. You can get them from ethical superstore or other web sites and they are really good. Just boil the amount you need.

emujuice

Not really money saving, but my new kettle makes me very happy - it's a breville spectra like this:
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=1500001001&productId=1500172575&langId=-1&engine=froogle&keyword=Breville+White+Spectra+Kettle
It's soooo pretty in the kitchen (when it's getting dark) changing colours merrily. It only takes 1W to do the light changing thing (less than a penny a week - I checked with my energy meter). It takes about 3p on my electricity rates to boil enough for 3 mugs and does it quickly (and prettily). I've not checked how much it costs to do the keep warm thing...will do that and and get back to you.
I love it though!