Economic kettle

hubb

Now gas prices are far higher than electric, we are due a new kettle so obviously an electric will be more economical. Can anyone recommend the best electric for fast, efficient boiling please ? Time to ditch our gas we have so may as well go with an electric until gas drops down again. 

Bendo

Gas is still far far cheaper than electric.

As for what kettle is more efficient, they will all be pretty much the same, just fill it with only as much water as you need

Farway

They are all efficient, speed will depend on wattage, higher = quicker, the rest is down to size in litres, style, what colour do you want, see through window, etc

I have a George  from Asda, £10 when I bought it which works just as well as the Russel Hobbs fast boil with a snazzy blue light I previously owned but died on me

The main economy is only boil what you need & not a kettle full just for one cup

ballisticbrian

The specific heat capacity of water is 4,200 joules per kilogram (litre) of water. No one can build a kettle that avoids this.

You could use gas boiler for warm water and pour that into the kettle?

In summer (and winter as well if you have a warm kitchen), if you have cold pipes, fill the kettle with a little water AFTER pouring each cup of tea so the water in the kettle comes up to room temperature before you start boiling.

If you have black coffee like me, stop the kettle boiling before it reaches 100 degrees and burns your mouth out. (someone did try to design a microprocessor controlled kettle that did this, if it's still around?

Only boil one or as many cups as you need.

matelodave

Probably the most efficient kettle is one with a flat element rather than a coiled one as you can just boil up a cupful rather than having to cover a coil, otherwise they all use thesame amount of leccy to heat the same amount of water to the same temperature

As said above it's still cheaper to use gas even though it may use 50% more energy to boil the water - leccy being 4-5 times more expensive than gas

Aylesbury_Duck

It will take the same amount of energy to heat a given volume of water from tap temperature to boiling, no matter what the kettle.  Tiny differences in design will make marginal differences in heat loss, but they will be miniscule.

The best way to save money is to measure out only the water you need, and don't let the water boil for drinks like coffee or hot chocolate, where boiling water isn't needed.

daveyjp

Is the OP on bottled gas?

RecoveringAndy

As others say, the laws of thermodynamics are constant. It takes the same amount of energy to boil 1 litre of water regardless of whether it's in a electric kettle of on the hob.

An electric kettle will deliver that energy with more efficiency compared to a gas hob burning underneath a kettle but gas is much much cheaper per kW.

The key thing really is to only heat what you need. I've got a 3kW "one cup" kettle. It uses a lot of energy but only runs for approx 10 seconds before delivering 250ml of boiling water. 

t0rt0ise

ballisticbrian said:

The specific heat capacity of water is 4,200 joules per kilogram (litre) of water. No one can build a kettle that avoids this.

You could use gas boiler for warm water and pour that into the kettle?

In summer (and winter as well if you have a warm kitchen), if you have cold pipes, fill the kettle with a little water AFTER pouring each cup of tea so the water in the kettle comes up to room temperature before you start boiling.

Ooh yuck. Water that's been standing before boiling has an odd taste. Has to be freshly drawn water.

FreeBear

ballisticbrian said: You could use gas boiler for warm water and pour that into the kettle?

Very inefficient way of heating just one cup of water. You need to run the hot tap for a while before warm water starts coming out (a waste of water). You then have a long run of pipe full of hot water which will just sit there cooling down after turning the tap off - In the time you have faffed around waiting for hot water to come out of the tap, the kettle would have boiled enough water for a cup of coffee.

In addition, if you have a HW tank rather than a combi, the water shouldn't really be used for drinking - Stewing in a header tank & cylinder, there is a risk of bacteria breeding.

ballisticbrian

It's not a "one size fits all" solution. Just throwing it out there, that's why there's a question mark on the end.

I did see a youtube where the guy boils two eggs in his kettle to boil water for tea and boil 2 eggs simultaneously. I'm sure it saved a lot of electric but boiling bird poop is not for everyone.