New kettle advice.

phoebe1989seb

coffeehound said:

Is your Alessi kettle a stove-top or electric, phoebe1989seb?

Manufacturing quality for a lot of products has taken a nosedive in the last decade or so.  My 2010 Asda £5 kettle continues to soldier on without missing a beat, in which time my parents have got through kettles like an elephant gets through sticky buns.  And theirs aren't cheapies; they are sort of £20 to £40 range.

When the Asda kettle finally goes north, I have a vintage 1970s Dimplex waiting in the wings.  No plastic, no automatic switch-off mechanism, and a replaceable element.

It's the electric version, coffeehound 😊

It's true what bala says.....when it eventually dies (which I'm sure it will one day!) it's going to be a pig to replace, especially as our colour way (cream trim) is no longer available and I wouldn't want a white trim one. To that end I've already begun searching fleabay for a gently used second hand one.......

Jellytotts

We've got rid of the kettle and opted for a boiling water dispenser. Ours has a plastic water holder (but is suitable for doing so) and it takes around 3 seconds for the water to start coming through.  Much more economical for us as we are home all day, drink lots of hot drinks at different times but are only ever heating the water we need.

Prices will very but we spent £35 on ours 18 months ago.

ninna3

I love my Dualit Lite 1 litre kettle - light, compact and simple to boil enough just for one cup. 

purpleivy

Purple_kitten said:

Ironically I have just had to replace ours, I used to shell out 40 / 50 but found out it seemed to be a waste of money, they were not superior and lasted less time. The one that lastest the longest was the cheapest six pound one from Tesco I think. Our latest one is an Argos one paid for using Nectar points.

The Dualit and Sage kettles seem to have superior write ups but also a price to match.

The Dualit also has the benefit of being able to get spares readily. Only you can get one of their kettles reconditioned/refurbed for less than the price of most of the parts.  

GaleSF63

For years I had supermarket c£5 kettles as that was what I could afford. I have always preferred the look of the traditional wide-based kettles so when I could afford it, that's what I bought (£20-30, nothing outrageous). But since I had it I was always aware that I could be boiling an unnecessary amount of water because it needed more to cover the wide base element. 

So I would recommend that a single person get the tall shape.

My last kettle gave up recently and I now have a very nice "tall" type and the nagging feeling has gone!

balabooberlies

Dualit, big name in commercial catering equipment.  They took their excellence into the home market.  Their toasters go on forever.  Elements easy to change.

wort

We have dualit toasters at work , but had lots of problems with them, which put me off! Maybe just unlucky!!

richardw

I fancy a quiet one https://quietliving.co.uk/quiet-kettles/

Siebrie

My husband bought a cheap one recently when our old one (Philips - 12 years) died. The new one has the water level indicator in the handle, which is a nuisance, and does not have a little ball indicating the level of the water. As there is almost always condensation in the indicator, and the kettle lives in a dark corner of the kitchen, it's very hard to actually tell how much water is in it. My hand obstructs the view when filling from the tap. GRRRRRR.

MrsStepford

Another happy Dualit kettle customer here.