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To boil or not to boil, a kettle cost and running cost question.

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  • theonlywayisup
    theonlywayisup Posts: 16,032 Forumite
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    edited 16 April 2023 at 3:18PM
    I don't boil a kettle.  We have one but as we both drink coffee and have a bean to cup it has never been used.  I certainly wouldn't get hung up on the cost of it.  
  • chrisw
    chrisw Posts: 3,781 Forumite
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    For some things, life's just too short to worry about.
  • GValue
    GValue Posts: 49 Forumite
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    I understand that a hot water bottle is also much safer filled at a lower temperature and with options of say 50c or 70c, I guess that maybe a consideration too?
  • YoungBlueEyes
    YoungBlueEyes Posts: 4,864 Forumite
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    A hot water bottle is a different thing. Never pour just-boiled water straight into one. 
    I oppose genocide. I support freedom of speech. I support freedom of assembly.
  • sandy700
    sandy700 Posts: 180 Forumite
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    grumbler said:
    This is a rhetoric question. Some people say 90-98C. And water doesn't always boil at exactly 100C - this depends on the atmospheric pressure.

    Yesterday the atmospheric pressure was 998hPa and at the moment it is 1019.01hPa according to my pressure sensor..

    So how hotter or colder is the boiling point of water today compared to yesterday?
  • victor2
    victor2 Posts: 8,103 Ambassador
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    GValue said:

    How much does it cost to heat water in a domestic kettle?

    The estimated cost according to the Hugo blog https://hugoenergyapp.co.uk/cost-to-boil-a-kettle/  kettles can boil around 1.7 litres of water in about four minutes. You can expect to pay 6.8p to boil a full kettle. (18 Jan 2023 electric Kwh pricing)

    In the past, the cost of heating water in a kettle was mainly dependent upon six factors: 

    1. The cost of your kettle and its life.

    2. The start temperature of your water.

    3. How much water you boil.

    4. The efficiency of your kettle

    5. How often you boiled the kettle

    6. The cost of your energy per kWh.

    Now you can purchase a kettle that will allow you to also heat water, without boiling it to say 50c, 70c, 90c as well as a rolling boil. 

    So how much can you save by only heating the water you will use, to a temperature you want?



    Based on some tests I did quite some time back, boiling 300ml (1 mug)  of cold tap water (outside temperature was 10.6C, having been 7 overnight) used 0.037kWh, which would cost 1.2p on a typical capped tariff today. 600ml (2 mugs) used 0.0638kWh, which would cost 2.2p.
    That was in a kettle which drew 1660W while boiling the water. Say you could save 50% of the cost, that's around 0.6p per mug of tea./coffee. You'd have to be making a lot of cups of tea every day for any saving to be significant!

    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the In My Home MoneySaving, Energy and Techie Stuff boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. 

    All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.

  • Nelliegrace
    Nelliegrace Posts: 1,045 Forumite
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    There was an article by young journalist in The Times yesterday writing to say that she did not own a kettle because she bought her coffee and meals out, or had them delivered because it wasn’t worth saving money. 

    What a sad way of existing. 





  • Surely, there are more lucrative ways to save money other than pouncing on the kettle before it generates a little steam? 

    Same goes for buying cheap tea bags or coffee. Why suffer? In my head, may as well buy something decent and make the energy (and shopping) bill feel a little worthwhile. 
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
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    sandy700 said:
    grumbler said:
    This is a rhetoric question. Some people say 90-98C. And water doesn't always boil at exactly 100C - this depends on the atmospheric pressure.

    Yesterday the atmospheric pressure was 998hPa and at the moment it is 1019.01hPa according to my pressure sensor..

    So how hotter or colder is the boiling point of water today compared to yesterday?
    Boiling
    However, pressure depends on the attitude as well

    water - Students  Britannica Kids  Homework Help
    For UK 200m+ isn't uncommon.  For other countries it can be easily 1000m+
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