Kettle boiling

MalMonroe

If you have a microwave could you heat a cup of water cheaper in there? Just a suggestion. I read somewhere that that is quite a cheap option. But then again, should we believe all we read? Oh dear, sorry, making matters worse! 

Alnat1

Just pay 1.3p and boil a cup of water in a kettle! lol

There's much better ways to save money, how about use the teabag twice?

Benny2020

You throw it away after 2 uses?

Astria

MalMonroe said:

If you have a microwave could you heat a cup of water cheaper in there? Just a suggestion. I read somewhere that that is quite a cheap option. But then again, should we believe all we read? Oh dear, sorry, making matters worse! 

Kettle is just a heating element, Microwave typically includes a turntable and some kind of lighting, plus other supporting circuitry for the magnetron. It's definitely going to be more costly than a kettle.

Olinda99

From a physics point if view, boiling multiple times means heating the kettle multiple times as well as the water.

jvjack

@Astria said "for maximum savings always refill the kettle after using it"
Good point. Dont think that got brought up in the kettle debate that brewerdave in second post links to.

born_again

Full kettle. 
Make a full pot of tea. (1 tea bag, if you like it strong leave a while) take out once at required strength. Leave pot on side.
Then as you need a cup of tea. Fill cup & just put in Microwave for 30 secs. 👍

Spoonie_Turtle

born_again said:

Full kettle. 
Make a full pot of tea. (1 tea bag, if you like it strong leave a while) take out once at required strength. Leave pot on side.
Then as you need a cup of tea. Fill cup & just put in Microwave for 30 secs. 👍

Oh goodness no, I've done that before and it was utterly grim!  Actually had to throw it away and make a fresh cuppa (and I'm someone who'll finish a tea the next morning if I wandered off and forgot about it the previous night!).  I'd rather drink it cold, or even tepid out of a flask than reheated in a microwave.

Petriix

Here's a crazy idea (and the fact that it's crazy is probably why we're doomed to a climate catastrophe): drink less tea. That's the biggest saving.

Regarding the physics of the actual question, there are lots of variables which make it hard to answer. Ultimately it comes down to how well insulated your flask is compared to how much energy is absorbed and lost by the material of the kettle itself each time it's boiled.

If you boil exactly the same amount of water in total then the flask method will use less energy (as long as you don't reheat any of the water). That's simply down to the extra energy used to heat the kettle. But, as above, you'll be drinking lukewarm tea. 

markin

What is the rate of loss in a good flask in C per hr? People always just say it keeps it 'hot' for 6hrs. A google says 3c per hr but a could be half that for a good one.

Crazy idea but why don't we have instant tea yet? Tablets or oil drops? Or even complete chemical recreation aka E00909Fake.tea

EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_tea

Instant tea is a powder in which water is added, in order to reconstitute it into a cup of tea. The earliest form of instant tea was developed in the United Kingdom in 1885.[1]: 538  A patent was granted for a paste made of concentrated tea extract, sugar, and evaporated milk, which became tea when hot water was added. However, no notable developments were made until spray drying technology allowed for drying the tea concentrates at a temperature which did not damage the flavors of the product.