The kettle debate

Tranboy

But on some instant coffee jars it says to use hot not boiling water, I just put some coffee granules in a cup with water and microwave for 2 minutes leaving me with a cup of coffee I can drink immediately at 50 degrees Celsius, If I want two cups it works out cheaper to use my electric kettle, it has a minimum fill level of two cups and I turn it off before it boils again giving me cups at about 50 degrees Celsius.  I used a plug in power meter to determine the electricity used. If I want tea I will let both the microwave and kettle boil the water before adding a teabag. My mum uses PG tips tea granules that don't require boiling water only for ease of use not economy of electricity or gas.

Section62

Ultrasonic said:

Section62 said:

A 'debate' of this type is problematic because there is rarely one 'right' answer to a simplistic question. 

Did you read the actual question asked?

Yes. Did you read the thread title?

Ultrasonic said:

My kettle has no problem boiling a single cup of water, and I even boil less sometimes. It has a flat base rather than an exposed element and no indicated minimum fill level.

Mine has a flat base, no element, it has a minimum fill level equivalent of two mugs, indicated by a metal 'tag' inside.  We can hopefully agree that there are lots of different types of kettle owned by different people. The debate proposition didn't specify the kettle type.

Ultrasonic said:

The advice of just boiling what you needs remains correct. If someone can't do this then you can get into discussing the least-worst alternative

I have already said that some people can't do that, I'm sure I'm not the only one.  So I appreciate you giving me permission to discuss this, although I don't believe it was needed.

The link you posted was based on tests to make 24oz - which seems to be about 3 cups/mugs.  This will be significantly more than "Only boil what you need" in a lot of cases.  As 'evidence' it is problematic.

I think my point has been made.  There isn't a single 'right' answer to a simplistic question.  The fact you have a one-cup kettle and I don't demonstrates the point.

Applying an artificial constraint of only using a kettle doesn't reflect the real world.  As you said, it is important to be accurate with energy saving advice right now, IMV that includes people considering alternative approaches to achieve the same result (rather than sticking with their kettle).  If you disagree then we will have to agree to disagree.

wittynamegoeshere

It doesn't need a road test, heating more than you need then leaving it to cool will definitely cost more than boiling what you need.  Even with a cosy, heat is constantly leaking out into the room.

Keep it descaled every couple of weeks in hard water areas.  Scale is a good insulator, which means that the heat gets lost to the outside of the kettle instead of the water.  If there's enough it can make the element overheat and burn out, because of all the heat trapped inside it.

Descale with citric acid, no need to waste money on "descaler", just buy a 1kg bag online that will last for years.

lohr500

Life is too short to worry about it and right now I am sure there are more pressing issues to focus on than fretting over the lowest cost option to boil a cup of water   

Mstty

Quite interesting to see people opinions and what they do.

This is all part of the energy saving mindset and looking at saving every single bit of electricity.

So here's my 2p (it's all about the pennies you know) all based on current capped rates in my sig.

The bean to cup coffee machine is efficient it doesn't overheat the water and produces a ready to go very good quality coffee. 2p per cup

When we want tea or a hot chocolate we know exactly where to fill the kettle (solid element base) and let it do its thing. Costs us 3p for two large cups.

I am happy with the costs above and certainly since taking on energy saving ideas on this forum we have reduced previously wasteful ways.

anotheruser

Ultrasonic said:

There is not debate to be had. No matter how you try to insulate your kettle the water in it will cool down to some extent from when first boiled and so you need to use additional energy to heat it up again.

But what the person is saying is that heating half a kettle of warm water will use less energy than half a kettle of cold water.

Zandoni

The bottom line is if you want decent tea you have to boil fresh water, the most economical way to do that is only boiling what you need in a kettle. Any other method will not create a good cup.

A kettle on a gas hob seems to use slightly less energy but only if you turn it off when it boils.

Astria

Zandoni said:

A kettle on a gas hob seems to use slightly less energy but only if you turn it off when it boils.

Even though most of the heat from the flame with be going into the air rather than heating the kettle which then heats the water?

Sounds perfect in the winter when you need the heat, but not so much when it's warm outside.

Zandoni

Astria said:

Zandoni said:

A kettle on a gas hob seems to use slightly less energy but only if you turn it off when it boils.

Even though most of the heat from the flame with be going into the air rather than heating the kettle which then heats the water?

Sounds perfect in the winter when you need the heat, but not so much when it's warm outside.

Yes it appears that gas is slightly cheaper, have a Google.
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/cutting-your-energy-bills/article/save-electricity/saving-energy-in-the-kitchen-a9vpj2W40RVJ

QrizB

Zandoni said:

A kettle on a gas hob seems to use slightly less energy but only if you turn it off when it boils.

More energy but at less cost.