Efficient way to boil water

Xbigman

r2015 wrote: »

Per kWh it is but just think of all the wasted heat going up the side of the kettle from the gas hob.

So is it worth getting a pressure cooker or one of those free standing multi cookers instead of a pan? And will it boil water?



Darren

dogmaryxx

You could buy one of these or you might make this

No running costs at all.

forgotmyname

19p 2L bottle of water, reusable many times.

£1.99 for some black paint.

Paint the outside of the bottle and place in a sunny spot away from the wind. It gets very hot and fairly quick also.

Refill from the tap and no more bills and far cheaper than the options mentioned above

Eventually the bottle will need replacing but at 19p its cheap.

A_Nice_Englishman

forgotmyname wrote: »

19p 2L bottle of water, reusable many times.

£1.99 for some black paint.

Paint the outside of the bottle and place in a sunny spot away from the wind. It gets very hot and fairly quick also.

Refill from the tap and no more bills and far cheaper than the options mentioned above

Eventually the bottle will need replacing but at 19p its cheap.

I like the idea of using the sun's energy directly rather than via windmills, solar panels, rain and hydro electric power or fossil fuels

that

Xbigman wrote: »

So is it worth getting a pressure cooker or one of those free standing multi cookers instead of a pan? And will it boil water?

Darren

the pressure cooker will take longer to boil water because the pressure raises the boiling point which is about 120C when under max pressure. So it will use more energy.

You will save energy by heating you veg in stacked pans, as the escaping energy heats up the pan above it.

Disregard losses, you still need the same joules to boil a specific mount of water (or anything else) no matter how you split it up.

I have a friend whom bought a Japanese vacuum cooker for over £360. You heat the food up to temperature, sling it all into this vacuum pot, and over a few hours the residual heat of the food will cook itself. My friend tried to impress what a fantastic device this was, how economical, and how much electricity it saved compared to a slow cooker.

neilmcl

that wrote: »

I have a friend whom bought a Japanese vacuum cooker for over £360. You heat the food up to temperature, sling it all into this vacuum pot, and over a few hours the residual heat of the food will cook itself. My friend tried to impress what a fantastic device this was, how economical, and how much electricity it saved compared to a slow cooker.

I've seen the same thing done with a wooden box and loads of blankets, straw etc. It's quite an old (ancient) technique for slow cooking.

Gloomendoom

neilmcl wrote: »

I've seen the same thing done with a wooden box and loads of blankets, straw etc. It's quite an old (ancient) technique for slow cooking.

Called a "haybox".

Bigphil1474

Apparently for a perfect cuppa tea, you shouldn't re-boil water, but use fresh water - oxygen concentration?
I drink cheap coffee, so wasted on me. We replaced our kettle a couple of months ago and this one has 3 red level indicators inside, as well as the usual water level indicator on the outside. If I fill the kettle from the tap, I can see the level indicators inside, fill it up to the middle one, and that's enough for my pint of coffee and her cuppa tea. Much easier to get the right amount in, than filling and then having to check the level on the outside.

RandomQ

Raxiel wrote: »

We bought one of these http://amzn.eu/aPI40b0

Like all electrical elements, it's close to 100% efficient at turning electricity into heat, but the kettle's construction means a lot more of the heat remains in the water.

Less escapes during boiling
Water stays hot for longer, so less energy wasted re-boiling water, all stainless steel so the water tastes fine even after being sat in there a couple of days.
'only' 1.2 litre so even full its not heating masses of water, which is just as well because it's element is a lot less than 3kw, but it still only takes seconds to 'top up' heat water that was boiled within the last hour.

Of course it'll take a long time to pay for itself in terms of energy savings, but it's a nice, well made item so we're happy with it.

Lot of BS in that product description.

I like my large capacity, is needed for hot water bottle and for pans if I am in hurry.

The clue to the OP is the lack of a genuine Eco kettle product that can boill water cheaper.

All such products have are visible indicators, e.g. for 1 cup or a temp guage to make you not bother reboiling.

So we are back to only boiling what you need, that means 250ml to 300ml, basically empty kettle (boiling previously boiled water creates more limescale), fill cup to desired level where you add milk, pour into kettle and wait.

Descaling a kettle can make it take less time to boil, mine always comes up like new, 3 for £1 at Poundland or Poundworld.

psychic_teabag

RandomQ wrote: »

boiling previously boiled water creates more limescale

Really ? I had assumed that limescale was caused by minerals coming out of solution and depositing on the surface. So previously-boiled water contains less of that mineral, and so should deposit less next time. Wouldn't fresh water therefore have more minerals available for deposit ?

Previously-boiled water might have slightly elevated concentrations of soluble minerals (due to evaporation) but I'd have thought that effect would be fairly small.