Temperature controlled kettle?

[J-G]

I've been following this thread with a cynical eye

Energy suppliers are well aware that the 'cut your costs' lobby are trying to reduce their profits and have been 'adjusting' the split between 'Unit Cost' & 'Standing Charge' for some time. The end user can only 'tinker' with their energy bill with respect to the Unit Cost, no matter how much they reduce the energy used, they cannot affect the cost of the Standing Charge. At one time the Unit cost was twice as much as the Standing Charge - my records show 15.53p Unit & 7.59p Standing - in 2014 that changed to 13.21p Unit & 16.4p Standing. The April price hike made them 27.62p & 44.47p respectively.

I'm not suggesting that attempts to reduce energy use is futile but the suppliers will get their 'pound of flesh' no matter what you do

 

[g1_lo]

Really a continuation of the recent energy saving topics. I need a new kettle, current one is very old and as we live in a hard water area and I don't descale as often as I should it's past redemption. The steam powered cut off seems to take ages.

I see there are temperature controlled ones, which strikes me as sensible because you only need 100 C for black tea, and if I remember my O level physics right the energy needed to 'make steam' hence make the cut off work on a conventional kettle is significant. If half my hot drinks only need 80 or 90 some energy may be saved. Not enough to give a sensible payback time but a small step in the right direction.

Any thoughts, experiences or recommendations?

Some have already said this but I've had a KA for about 3 years and always adjust it depending on what drink I'm making very rarely do we use 100. You can also notice a considerable difference between 95 and the time it takes to do the 100 cycle which would over 1000 cycles is going to add up. Also more than the temperature the signal biggest contributor will be only filling it to the amount of water you intend to use.

 

[George of the Wood]

I would think any microwave oven would be more energy efficient than a electric kettle to heat a given volume of water. Faster too! Am I missing something fundamental in this discussion?

 

[Dibs-h]

I would think any microwave oven would be more energy efficient than a electric kettle to heat a given volume of water. Faster too! Am I missing something fundamental in this discussion?

Might be a bit of an issue if you have guests and need to make 3-4 cups\mugs at the same time. LOL

I already sort of do it - not water, but for milk and it does heat the mug somewhat.

I'll have a look to see if we have an old fashioned thermometer lying about and repeat the tests. You've piqued my curiosity.

 

[Dibs-h]

I've been following this thread with a cynical eye

Energy suppliers are well aware that the 'cut your costs' lobby are trying to reduce their profits and have been 'adjusting' the split between 'Unit Cost' & 'Standing Charge' for some time. The end user can only 'tinker' with their energy bill with respect to the Unit Cost, no matter how much they reduce the energy used, they cannot affect the cost of the Standing Charge. At one time the Unit cost was twice as much as the Standing Charge - my records show 15.53p Unit & 7.59p Standing - in 2014 that changed to 13.21p Unit & 16.4p Standing. The April price hike made them 27.62p & 44.47p respectively.

I'm not suggesting that attempts to reduce energy use is futile but the suppliers will get their 'pound of flesh' no matter what you do

I agree - it's like you are going to have to pay almost £160 a year even with zero usage.

We had an old Hotpoint fridge\freezer (frost free) and perfectly functional. One day, I plugged the PowerPLug thingie into it's socket and decided to see how much it was using.

A month later - I wasn't pleased to see it was using a tad over £14 a month.

Needless to say - the following month it got swapped for a new one that uses £14 a year. The savings would have paid for the new one in 3-4 years.

The amounts were\are based on 2019 prices - but the savings are the same % wise and the payback is somewhat less.

For me the payback (based on the energy usage saving) on the purchase of a new item has to be 5yrs or less. In the case of this kettle 2yrs or less is a no brainer.

 

[Sandyn]

I would think any microwave oven would be more energy efficient than a electric kettle to heat a given volume of water. Faster too! Am I missing something fundamental in this discussion?

I just checked. it took 84Wh to get the cup of water boiling. This is almost twice what it takes with a kettle, however, you are also heating the cup as well, so it's difficult to get an exact comparison. You then have to wait until the cup cools down before you can drink from it, so wasted heat if you need water at 100C to make your brew.
A microwave is typically 50% efficient, and a kettle is ~100% efficient electric to heat, but a lot of heat is left in the kettle after you empty it.
I think the microwave would be less efficient and it was slower. On an 800W microwave. Took almost 4 minutes to get the water to boil.
The microwave is only putting ~800W into the water. A typical kettle will put ~2000-3000W into the water, so it should be faster.

 

[gregmcateer]

We've got a pricey bosch with 70,80,90,100. Works well. About 90 is fine for tea and DEFINITELY for coffee. (Real, obviously, anything else is for heathens) .
Also got a cheap aldi with same increments - works just as well.

 

[J-G]

The right tool for the job applies - even in the Kitchen! - A Microwave was surely never intended to be used to BOIL water.

I do use a microwave to make tea but never as the initial brewing. I buy the cheapest LOOSE leaf tea and always make a full 'Pot' -- ~ 1.3Lt My 'Mug' holds about 300ml so I usually get 4 mugs per 'brew' - the second & subsequent mugs are 'microwaved' for 1 minute so no raising to 100° - just sufficient to make a drinkable beverage.

Of course I don't add milk or sugar (at any time) and get through 3 or 4 'brews' per day - ie. a mug of black tea is constantly on my desk often cold before finished!

 

[HamsterJam]

We have the test on energy needed to heat the water but what about a test to find the ideal temperature to brew tea or make coffee? Does tea really need boiling water or would 90° C be ok which if you have 10 cups a day for 5 days a week or over 2500 cups a year at a saving of 20Wh per cup would give 50,000Wh. What about those taps that provide instant hot water, anyone done any homework on them? With a kettle you are often taking water at 10° C and raising it to 100° C but with those taps it is maintained to a temperature so which is more energy efficient?

Been looking into boiling water taps as we are in the process of buying a house fitted with one.
The manufacturer of this particular tap states it consumes an average of 10w to keep the water hot (I believe the water tank is vacuum insulated).
Doing the sums, this is just under 90kWh per year or approx £30/year at current prices.
Of course total consumption will be higher as the figures above do not include the energy required to heat the water in the first place which will vary depending on how much it is used.

 

[trvlr]

I have a neighbour - very eco consciousness but not an OTT... He has no CH etc. in his rented house and doesn't want it either; but does use a woodburner stove for both heating and some cooking... He boils water for tea etc. for the day and stores it in vacuum flasks... Simply draws on that as when required later.

Taking a leaf from him and remembering that friends in SLC who live a hard water area, and have a very old electric kettle - and it is a quality one at that... they simply boil as much as required and any dregs/remainder they pour away. That last bit sems a bit excessive in one sense; until they point out that their kettle has no scale buildup - and never has...

Some time back I combined the boil only what you need and then store any unused at the time in a vacuum flask. I often boil enough to make the required tea/coffee and talso fill the vflask.... If the flask contents need a slight reheat then fine...; but it doesn't always need it. Save on the h20 bill a little; and also the electricty bill too...?

My quite elderly Russell Hobbs kettle - a gift from a neighbour who removed to a new home in the E. Anglia and was downsizing etc. at the time, and had at least two kettles...- was heavily scaled up when he gave it to me. I simply descaled it - about four years ago; and following my routine above - almost no scale... to date. The very little there is can be removed via vinegar, or acetic acid (10/20% conc which perhaps dilute at little) or typical descaling stuff; and even citric acid - which is what's in lemon juice and available in bulk online... (and very safe to use).

 

[trvlr]

Microwave ovens allegedly sterilise anything put into them; so at least the water is likely to be bug free... regardless of how the water (and thus the tea) may taste ...? I recall a gardening programme years ago where on the panel advised that microwaves were ideal for sterilising plant pots etc. and also any infected soil...

 

[Stevekane]

I think there are two issues at work here. First is saving money/energy. But for me and the missus, it's that we drink Japanese tea and that really likes 70 degrees. Decent ground coffee needs 90. Mint tea does very nicely at 90 as does ginger.

We needed to buy a kettle last year which coincided with Aldi having one on offer, it was relativly cheap, its all grey plastic which looks better than it sounds, has a flap type lid which you just hold under the tap and the water pushes it open,,,more handy than you would think, but it also has adjustable temp setting, a digital temp readout and a keep warm facility which weve never used,,,anyway it was not expensive and comes with a 3 yrs g/tee,,,trouble is when would they ever have them again?
Btw be carefull of many expensive kettles, Duelitt were doing one at an eye watering price that no spare parts were available for,,and just a bit of info, the temp cut off and kettle base elect connectors are all made by a company called Clix,,if your lucky its possible to buy replacement parts,,,it seems that Clix invented the modern kettle base and have the market to themselves,,
Steve.