Is it cheaper to boil water in an electric kettle or on my lpg hob?

poohbear59

I have tried to pare down our family spending to the bare bones. My latest idea to save on electricity bills has been to boil the kettle on the gas hob. I only ever boil the amount of water needed so have been saving there. I also make a pot of tea in the morning and put it into a flask for the rest of the day. It is not as good as fresh tea but I am doing my bit!

My sons are now laughing at my money saving attempts and reckon that the electric is cheaper because it is faster. I can't remember how to calculate amount of gas used, and as it is bottled gas I don't have a meter to compare the amounts used with the electric meter reading.

Are there any energy savvy people out there who can answer my question and stop our arguments?

Pink.

Hi Poohbear,

There are number of people who post on the Gas and Electricity board who may be able to help so I've moved your thread over there.

Pink

molerat

An electric kettle is pretty efficient i.e. almost all of the energy is transferred to the water. A gas hob will be heating the room as well so not as efficient. It depends how much 1kWh of each costs.

edit

Googling I found that bottled lpg costs about 6.5p per kWh, electricity about 10.5p. It suggests that a gas hob will use 3 times the energy to do the same job as the kettle so will cost almost twice the amount.

macman

The speed is not relevant, An electric kettle is certainly faster, but it consumes more Kw. If we assume that maybe a gas ring is 1Kw and a kettle 3Kw, then if the kettle does it in a third of the time, the energy usage is the same. However the cost per KwH is more for electricity.

timmmers

What about a microwave then ?

Cup of coffee, kettle vs MW. ?

t

poohbear59

Mmm... still lots for me to think about. I hadn't considered the extra bonus of the room being heated at the same time molerat

timmers, now we get into a completely different set of calculations......
I think I like macman's answer because it is what I wanted to hear. Thank you all for thinking about this for me.

Cardew

macman wrote: »

The speed is not relevant, An electric kettle is certainly faster, but it consumes more Kw. If we assume that maybe a gas ring is 1Kw and a kettle 3Kw, then if the kettle does it in a third of the time, the energy usage is the same. However the cost per KwH is more for electricity.

I suggest the speed is relevant!

The longer it takes to boil the more heat is lost. Don't forget the hob will also absorb heat.

However we are just talking about fraction of a penny.

Rikki

I would boil the kettle and fill a flask.

timmmers

Rikki wrote: »

I would boil the kettle and fill a flask.

I fill a cup then microwave...waste no hot water and a cup of coffee doesn't need boiling water anyway

t

thornbridge

Rikki wrote: »

I would boil the kettle and fill a flask.

I;v been doing that for years. Took some getting use to but now it's just second nature to boil the kettle and if any is left pour it in a flask then next time say 3 hours when you fancy another it's still hot

Robert2009

I would boil the kettle and fill a flask.

Has anyone actually found out how much they are spending on boiling a kettle versus saving the water and putting it in a flask?

I don't mean saying the kettle is 3 kWh so it uses 3 kWh for every hour it has been used, I mean have they timed it to the exact second and totalled up the time per year or have they used it through a plug in monitor and recorded how much they have used in a year?

A rough calculation of a 3 kWh kettle being used for 10 mins a day is 182.5 kWh per year which if paying 10p per kWh is £18.50. So how much are you saving by using a flask?

Robert