3kw kettle using less electricity than a 2 kW kettle

forgotmyname

r2015 wrote: »

My cheepo 2kW Tesco kettle blew up so I bought a new 3kW kettle and found that it actually uses less electricity overall than my old kettle.

Using a plug in energy monitor the old kettle used about 996 watts of electricity a day and the new one uses 808 watts of electricity a day.

This is because when heating water for a couple of mugs of coffee with the old kettle it took so long to boil that I wouldn't stand watching it and when it boiled by the time I got back to it I always switched it back on again to bring it to the boil before pouring it in the mugs.

The new kettle takes less time to boil the water for a couple of mugs of coffee and that is just over the time it takes me to get the mugs and spoon the coffee in them so I don't wander away or do something else.


It also takes less time to boil a full kettle of water for a pot of tea.

The new kettle also switches off when I remove it from it's base so the second it starts bubbling I lift it from it's base and make the coffee.

So saving about £6 a year on electricity.

I found the opposite to be true, bought a 2KW kettle after having a 3KW kettle and it takes longer to boil so i gave up drinking tea and its saved me £200 so far.

Your maths and method seems flawed.

Yes it takes less time to boil, but its using 1/2 as much power again to get there. Do you really boil your 2KW kettle for over 10 minutes extra per day because you forgot it?

cranford

Your savings can only be calculated when you factor in the cost of the two kettles. cheap kettle less than £10, 3k kettle could be about £33.

redux

Hengus wrote: »

I am somewhat surprised that with the combined IQs on this forum that nobody has mentioned the effect of atmospheric pressure on the boiling point of water. Moreover, how do we know that a full 2kW kettle has the same volume of water as the 3kW kettle? We need answers.

Why? Unless someone drinks more in bad weather it will average out, and it's only a degree either side anyway.

Unless they live up a moumtain, but in Britain even that can't be much more than a couple of degrees effect.

r2015

Your savings can only be calculated when you factor in the cost of the two kettles. cheap kettle less than £10, 3k kettle could be about £33.

But the 2kW kettle needed to be replaced and the 3kW kettle cost £23.

[Deleted User]

lstar337 wrote: »

What about the insulation levels of each kettle? Since a better insulated kettle will lose less heat, it will boil quicker and use less energy.

Most kettles still seem to be a thin skin of either steel of plastic though, what is that about!?

If you're asking why they don't insulate kettles, the answer is that it's just not worthwhile.

An uninsulated kettle uses about 2% more energy, and changing from 3kW to 2kW uses another 1% on top of that.

Cardew

jack_pott wrote: »

If you're asking why they don't insulate kettles, the answer is that it's just not worthwhile.

An uninsulated kettle uses about 2% more energy, and changing from 3kW to 2kW uses another 1% on top of that.

Don't start messing up this thread using statistics and logic!

[Deleted User]

Come to think of it, my kettle wastes more than 2% just because it's slow to switch off after it boils.

r2015

Don't start messing up this thread using statistics and logic

Quite so, no logic to this thread at all, just my observations based on my plug in energy monitor indicating that for the same amount of water boiled and used, when I replaced the kettle from a 2kW kettle to a 3kW kettle, there was a decrease in the electricity usage as recorded on the energy monitor.