The kettle debate

silverwhistle

Why not, it's no effort? I have a handy watering can by the back door as I need to water the garden and run the tap to get the hot for washing up so might as well fill the washing machine too. I'd rather not waste the water running it down the plug as here in the South we're in a water stressed area and my water butt is looking a bit sad at the moment and so will my local stream this summer..

wolvoman

My recent comparisons - across about 40 cups of tea / coffee is that heating in a microwave uses about 40Wh of energy to heat 1 mug of water. A kettle uses about 50Wh if you pour in exactly 1 mug plus a dribble to leave some over at the finish (which I pour into a thermos and use for washing up later in the day).

Even at 1,000 cups a year the kettle might only cost an extra £3 of electricity - small enough for convenience to reign.

edwink

silverwhistle said:

Well, my tea is sacrosanct and is always from freshly drawn water but I also put hot water into the washing machine via watering can. I run the water first, and that initially goes on the garden, and when hot enough into the machine. As it's all from solar PV from March to October it means the diverter can then get to work heating the tank again via the immersion heater rather than exporting the power.

I'm on a water meter and this technique still makes sense for me.

We have solar too so we run the tap and save the water until the hot appears then we switch the washing machine on. We have our washing machine connected to the hot supply and not the cold as it is supposed to be, it's been that way for 10 years now. Our washing machine has an economy wash setting which does the wash in cold water so we use that setting every time knowing of course that it will wash in hot water and not cold but therefore it also rinses in hot.

For the first 10 years of living here, we heated our hot water via the solar panels mainly from March to October and via a multi-fuel burner with a back boiler from November to February. For the multi-fuel burner, we only used logs which we didn't need to purchase, thankfully. So with both ways of heating our water all through the year, we have never used the heating facility in our washing machine ever. The only downside is what is being washed gets washed in whatever the hot water temperature is available to use at any given time throughout the day. I've only ever shrunk a few items of clothing with the wrong heat temperature 🤣🤣

We use a 1kw kettle which takes longer to boil of course but the electricity is mostly covered by the solar panels.

Edwink

Olinda99

interesting read this thread. 

for a flat bottomed kettle the advice seems to be boil exactly what you need eg one cup.of water for your morning coffee. Repeat for your second and third cups later on.

The energy saving way is, of course, to boil 3 cups at once, use one for your coffee and store the rest in a thermos for your later cups.

Section62

Olinda99 said:

for a flat bottomed kettle the advice seems to be boil exactly what you need eg one cup.of water for your morning coffee.

No, it is boil exactly what you need plus whatever extra is needed to reach the minimum fill level, if applicable.

If your kettle has a two-cup minimum then you need to boil two cups, even if you only need one.

In which case, consider alternatives like using a microwave.

victor2

Olinda99 said:

interesting read this thread. 

for a flat bottomed kettle the advice seems to be boil exactly what you need eg one cup.of water for your morning coffee. Repeat for your second and third cups later on.

The energy saving way is, of course, to boil 3 cups at once, use one for your coffee and store the rest in a thermos for your later cups.

The true energy saving way is to drink less coffee!

Astria

jvjack said:

Just spent 15 mins obsessed with kettle.

One normal mug of water poured in doesnt cover heating element at bottom. And doesnt even show up in level. Is it that when people say they use just use what they need they are meaning they fill it to minimum. I think so.

Our kettle has a concealed element and no minimum line, so we can literally empty kettle, empty one cup of water into it, boil, tip into cup, done.

Astria

silverwhistle said:

Well, my tea is sacrosanct and is always from freshly drawn water but I also put hot water into the washing machine via watering can. I run the water first, and that initially goes on the garden, and when hot enough into the machine. As it's all from solar PV from March to October it means the diverter can then get to work heating the tank again via the immersion heater rather than exporting the power.

I'm on a water meter and this technique still makes sense for me.

How do you know how much water to put in? As the washer measure measure the water it obtains via the mains to ensure the correct amount. If you put too much in you will water down the washing liquid (or powder, or tabs) which means less efficient cleaning, and also means more energy doing the actual washing.

Effician

Astria said:

silverwhistle said:

Well, my tea is sacrosanct and is always from freshly drawn water but I also put hot water into the washing machine via watering can. I run the water first, and that initially goes on the garden, and when hot enough into the machine. As it's all from solar PV from March to October it means the diverter can then get to work heating the tank again via the immersion heater rather than exporting the power.

I'm on a water meter and this technique still makes sense for me.

How do you know how much water to put in? As the washer measure measure the water it obtains via the mains to ensure the correct amount. If you put too much in you will water down the washing liquid (or powder, or tabs) which means less efficient cleaning, and also means more energy doing the actual washing.

A washing machine doesn't measure the volume of water flowing through the inlet pipe , it measures what is in the drum.

Issues could arise if you add to the drum before selecting a weight measured load, but if you do add hot water just select a none weight measured programme.

Section62

Astria said:

jvjack said:

Just spent 15 mins obsessed with kettle.

One normal mug of water poured in doesnt cover heating element at bottom. And doesnt even show up in level. Is it that when people say they use just use what they need they are meaning they fill it to minimum. I think so.

Our kettle has a concealed element and no minimum line, so we can literally empty kettle, empty one cup of water into it, boil, tip into cup, done.

What make/model is it?  A list of which kettles don't need at least a specified minimum quantity of water could become the next money-saving must-read.