Kettles most expensive thing in the kitchen?

pink_chilli

Hi,

I just read that the kettle is the most expensive thing in the kitchen to use, is this true?

If it is do you have any tips on how to cut the use? would microwaving/ hob boiling cost less?

Thanks,
Claire.

melipona

Tip of the day,
Put the same amount of water into the kettle as you do normally before you make a cuppa, then pour it and see how many cupfuls you would actually have boiled, and how many you really needed.

Most people would have boiled twice as much water as they needed. As long as the element is covered modern jug kettles can boil just a mug full quite happily.

It is said that if you can reduce the amount of water in the kettle by 1/2 the saving is equivilent to what it costs to run the lights in your house.

black-saturn

I've just invested in a stove top kettle and I measure out the water to go in it.

dixie_dean_2

Would it be cheaper to microwave? Anyone?

black-saturn

No probably about the same sadly.

cattie

I'm a black coffee drinker & any excess boiled water from the kettle goes into a fllask towards my next cup of coffee.

Although I have a kettle with level marks I usually end up boiling at least half a cup more than I need and over the course of a day this can amount to about 3 extra cups. It's easy enough to tip the hot water from the flask into the kettle to bring to the boil again the next time a hot drink is needed.

Becles

Is it cheaper leaving a pot of coffee keeping warm on a filter coffee machine, or cheaper to boil the kettle each time?

chrisw

It takes the same amount of energy to boil the same amount of water regardless of how you do it. What makes any difference is heat loss. A plastic jug kettle should be the most efficient because the element is in direct contact with the water and heat loss from the plastic is relatively small.
On a hob, the element has to heat the hotplate, then the kettle, then the water while losing heat from all metal surfaces.

Heat loss is greater at higher temperatures so maintaining something hot will use more energy than allowing it to cool in between.

Having said all that, the differences are probably very small and the biggest factor is the quantity of water as mentioned above.

Sujamjen

My son is the most expensive thing in my kitchen! He absorbs food just by walking past the fridge and larder! Cost of boiling water in kettle just pales into insignificance!!:rotfl: :rotfl:

JezCooke

Hmm, thought I'd do a little maths on this one to see what the real figures come out as (and any excuse for a cup of tea!).

Filled kettle with enough water for about 4 medium sized mugs (for Tea for the wife and me, very wasteful I know but it's in the name of science!). The 3KW rapid boil kettle took a few seconds over 2 minutes to boil. Ok so 3KW for 2 mins = 0.1KW/h (3KW x 2mins / 60mins).

Grabbed a leccy bill (from Jan so probably a bit out of date but should be close enough) says it's 7.45p per KW/h, so four mugs of tea = 0.745p, put another way if I do this once a day it will cost the grand total £2.71/year. Of course I only made two cups so if I'd put just the right amount of water in it would save £1.35/year, hardly the money saving tip of the century, but I guess if you drink lots and lots of tea/coffee it could build up a little bit.

Incidentally a good electric kettle will be the most efficient way in terms of energy used to boil the water as it should be well insulated and almost all of the energy from the element should end up in the water. A hob top kettle will use slightly more energy as more is lost from around the outside of the container, however in monetory terms (assuming a gas hob) it will cost less since gas (even at current rates) is still substantially cheaper per KW/h than electricity.

tomstickland

What we need is an insulated kettle - say 15mm of insulation around the outside of the kettle and a flap to pour the water out of. Then any excess water could stay warm for longer inside the kettle.

I fill my kettle in a minimalist style.