Boris' Kettle Advice!

Doglady4

I was forced to take Johnson's advice, and buy a new kettle, after mine went *BANG*

I did probably too much research into energy saving ones, so went beyond the standard £10 recommendation from our former PM.

For just under £40, I have a temperature variable wunder-kettle.

It has 4 temperature settings, and as I only really drink instant coffee, I can set it to switch off at 80° (recommended temperature for instant), it also has settings for 40°, 60°, and of course 100°.

I've already noticed a difference in electricity usage, as it heats up really quickly. 

It will likely take about a month before it pays for itself in electricity savings, so I would suggest doing a bit of research before buying your next kettle 😀 

Section62

Doglady4 said:

I've already noticed a difference in electricity usage, as it heats up really quickly. 

The amount of electicity used to heat water up to the same temperature will be more or less the same regardless of the electric kettle used.  If it heats up quicker that will be down to having a heating element with a higher wattage, which just means you spend the money on electricity faster.

The saving made (if any) will come from the kettle shutting off when the required temperature is reached vs the user having to judge that and switch it off manually.

The total amount of money saved by switching the kettle off early will depend on how often the kettle is used, and the use profile (how often the lower temperatures are required), as well as the accuracy the user has of guessing the right time to switch the kettle off.

Personally I think it would take me in excess of a decade to save £30 in having a 'smart' kettle switch off in that way - partly because I don't use a kettle that much, and partly because I normally need boiling water.

People do need to do their research, but they also need to think carefully whether additional features are necessary for their individual needs and circumstances.  E.g. people living in areas with very hard water may only get a little over 12 months use of any electric kettle before it fails - in which case buying a kettle with a 2-year payback period may not make sense.

FreeBear

OMG.... Does anyone actually listen to the stuff spouted by that buffoon....

Section62 said:  E.g. people living in areas with very hard water may only get a little over 12 months use of any electric kettle before it fails - in which case buying a kettle with a 2-year payback period may not make sense.

If you have hard water, reducing the temperature you hat the water to will reduce the amount of scale building up. That would go some way to improving the life of a kettle (along with a regular descale).

TELLIT01

A kettle saving £40 in one month?  It must be used a heck of a lot.

greensalad

FreeBear said:

OMG.... Does anyone actually listen to the stuff spouted by that buffoon....

Section62 said:  E.g. people living in areas with very hard water may only get a little over 12 months use of any electric kettle before it fails - in which case buying a kettle with a 2-year payback period may not make sense.

If you have hard water, reducing the temperature you hat the water to will reduce the amount of scale building up. That would go some way to improving the life of a kettle (along with a regular descale).

Do people not descale their kettles? I live in a hard water area and put some Oust in my kettle every month. I've had the same kettle for 6 years. I don't see how a kettle could go wrong in less than 2 years. There's no internal parts that don't get touched by the de-limescaler

Section62

FreeBear said:

OMG.... Does anyone actually listen to the stuff spouted by that buffoon....

Apparently he didn't give that advice anyway -

https://fullfact.org/news/Boris-Johnson-new-kettle/

FreeBear said:

Section62 said:  E.g. people living in areas with very hard water may only get a little over 12 months use of any electric kettle before it fails - in which case buying a kettle with a 2-year payback period may not make sense.

If you have hard water, reducing the temperature you hat the water to will reduce the amount of scale building up. That would go some way to improving the life of a kettle (along with a regular descale).

Only if you don't need hotter water.  That was my point - whether you save anything depends entirely on how you use the kettle.  If 99.9% of the time you need boiling water then a more advanced kettle isn't going to save you enough to cover the additional cost, nor will it extend the life appreciably.

Ectophile

greensalad said:

FreeBear said:

OMG.... Does anyone actually listen to the stuff spouted by that buffoon....

Section62 said:  E.g. people living in areas with very hard water may only get a little over 12 months use of any electric kettle before it fails - in which case buying a kettle with a 2-year payback period may not make sense.

If you have hard water, reducing the temperature you hat the water to will reduce the amount of scale building up. That would go some way to improving the life of a kettle (along with a regular descale).

Do people not descale their kettles? I live in a hard water area and put some Oust in my kettle every month. I've had the same kettle for 6 years. I don't see how a kettle could go wrong in less than 2 years. There's no internal parts that don't get touched by the de-limescaler

Those of us in soft water areas don't need to bother.  I have only descaled a kettle once - it was a second-hand one my parents gave me.

casper_gutman

Our water is so soft that friends from hard water areas like to take containers of it home, to use in the iron and for descaling the kettle!

Apodemus

Yes, for those of us in softwater areas, cheaper kettles seem to die of a failure in the plastic rather than the working parts - after a number of years the plastic around the spout and lid develops a matt finish, then starts to become pitted, then crumbles away.  Just like you see on plastic exposed to the weather for a prolonged period.

GDB2222

TELLIT01 said:

A kettle saving £40 in one month?  It must be used a heck of a lot.

We have a temperature control kettle, and we rarely boil the water. I did a rough calculation and thought it saves us around £10 a year in electricity. Plus around 30 seconds on average each time we use it. That’s a few hours a year, which is worth more to us than the energy saving.

I bought the kettle several years ago for about £30, and I think it has repaid the cost each year, including the time saving. 

greensalad

Ectophile said:

greensalad said:

FreeBear said:

OMG.... Does anyone actually listen to the stuff spouted by that buffoon....

Section62 said:  E.g. people living in areas with very hard water may only get a little over 12 months use of any electric kettle before it fails - in which case buying a kettle with a 2-year payback period may not make sense.

If you have hard water, reducing the temperature you hat the water to will reduce the amount of scale building up. That would go some way to improving the life of a kettle (along with a regular descale).

Do people not descale their kettles? I live in a hard water area and put some Oust in my kettle every month. I've had the same kettle for 6 years. I don't see how a kettle could go wrong in less than 2 years. There's no internal parts that don't get touched by the de-limescaler

Those of us in soft water areas don't need to bother.  I have only descaled a kettle once - it was a second-hand one my parents gave me.

Well yeah, if you don't have limescale build up then you don't need to. My argument is how can a kettle go wrong if it's cleaned of any limescale when needed.