Electric Kettle Problems

Ifan

"Eco" electric kettles generally have problems. Some are too heavy for old or infirm people. If you are poor at guessing the correct amount of water for the number of cups/mugs you can mark levels on your kettle.
However the main kettle trouble is the time and energy wasted in making steam before the power is switches off. I have asked the EST and others in vain about a kettle with a thermostat to switch off at boiling point. Also be aware that some makes will take double the time to switch off than a greener one.
Lastly the water does not have to boil in Britain to brew tea. There is no altitude problem. It doesn't do us any good drinking liquids which are almost boiling. I switch off as the water nears boiling point. Try it. The kettle generally uses about 3KW.

moonrakerz

Ifan wrote: »

"Eco" electric kettles generally have problems.

Agree - they are a "green gimmick", and an expensive one at that !

Ifan wrote: »

I have asked the EST and others in vain about a kettle with a thermostat to switch off at boiling point................
the water does not have to boil in Britain to brew tea.

There is a fault in your logic here - anyone else see it ?

Cardew

Originally Posted by Ifan
1.I have asked the EST and others in vain about a kettle with a thermostat to switch off at boiling point................

2. the water does not have to boil in Britain to brew tea.

moonrakerz wrote: »

There is a fault in your logic here - anyone else see it ?

1. The OP needs a kettle that will switch off below the boiling point if 2 is the case!!

However the boiling point will vary according to the height above sea level you use the kettle. I always have this little equation handy!;)

If the heat of vaporization and the vapor pressure of a liquid at a certain temperature is known, the normal boiling point can be calculated by using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation thus:

where: TB= the normal boiling point, KR= the ideal gas constant, 8.314 J · K-1 · mol-1P0= is the vapor pressure at a given temperature, atmΔHvap= the heat of vaporization of the liquid, J/molT0= the given temperature, Kln= the natural logarithm to the base e

moonrakerz

It is not helped by the fact that the real tea "experts" say that for "conventional" black tea the water should be boiling.

However, for green teas boiling water destroys the taste - AND each tea actually requires a different temperature.

Ifan

moonrakerz wrote: »

Agree - they are a "green gimmick", and an expensive one at that !


There is a fault in your logic here - anyone else see it ?

There is no fault in the logic. I did not specify that the kettle should switch off at some temperature below B.P. I just pointed out that water generally does not need to boil to make tea. The kettle should not waste energy generating steam after boiling.

mech_2

I solve the problem by not drinking tea.

I have a coffee machine which heats only the water you use to a point below boiling point as it passes through. Pretty standard for a coffee machine, even a dirt cheap one, but for some reason tea drinkers have to pay a huge premium for a kettle that gives the same benefit.

I wonder what would result if I loaded it with loose tea? Hmm.