Whether you love a good cup of tea or are a keen cook, you might find yourself hitting up the kettle several times a day. And although kettles may not be the most energy-thirsty appliance in the kitchen, all that boiling and reboiling can still be a drain on your energy bills. And that’s where can energy efficient kettle comes in.
From insulating designs that keep the water hot to cup measurements that help you only boil what you need, we’ll help you find the best energy saving kettle and give you some piping hot top tips too. So, grab a cuppa and settle in…
How does an energy-saving kettle work?
All kettles work in the same way. An electrical current goes into a heating element that boils the water. An energy-saving kettle does this too but uses less power to do the same job. But the best kettles for energy saving have other tricks up their sleeve:
Cup measuring system
This might seem like a little change but having an indicator to tell you how many cups of water you’re boiling up can help you only boil the water you actually need – meaning you’re not wasting electricity every time you fire up your kettle.
Hidden elements
In traditional kettles, limescale can build up on the heating element – making it work harder just to get your water hot. But a hidden element (i.e. one with a filter system that keeps limescale at bay) keeps your element clean and working efficiently. Meaning spending less every time you make a cuppa.
Keep warm function
If you have several hot drinks a day, you might end up heating the same water several times - which can be a real waste. So power saving kettles take the idea of thermos flasks – i.e. keeping liquid hot once it’s boiled, sometimes for hours. That way, you don’t need to keep heating up the water once it’s already hot.
Temperature settings
Did you know that not all hot drinks need to be boiling? For a cup of coffee, water should only be around 90°C – so there’s no need to actual boil water for the perfect coffee. So kettles that have temperature controls is another way of saving energy with every cup.
How much energy do kettles use?
According to heatable.co.uk, the average 3,000-watt kettle uses around 0.11kWh to heat 1 litre of water. So that works out at 26c for 4 cups of tea. It might not seem much, but that soon adds up.
Kettle power consumption goes down when you switch on a low energy kettle. Eco kettles can use as much as 20% less energy per boil. And that includes fast boil kettles – which get hot very quickly but actually work out better when you’re adding up your kettle energy consumption. Win win!
Kettle energy saving tips
Whether you’ve got the latest eco-kettle or you’re stuck with the one you’ve had since your halls of residence days, there are still practical things you can do to be a bit more eco-friendly and save money in the process.
- Only use the water you actually need
While most modern kettles come with water level indicators, you can literally just pour in the amount of water you need every time.
- Regularly descale your kettle
Limescale build up around the heating element means that it’s harder for heat to reach the water directly. By descaling your kettle, it’ll keep working efficiently.
- Switch your kettle off at the wall when not in use
Does leaving a kettle plugged in use electricity? Yes. And while this won’t add up to riches, making sure your kettle is turned off at the plug can help you save some pennies.
- Use your kettle for cooking
If you’re boiling water for pasta or rice (for example) using your electric kettle to heat water will be far more efficient than boiling water in a pan or an electric or gas hob. When it comes to electric kettle vs gas stove efficiency, there’s no competition!
- Switch to a hot water dispenser
Our final tip is to think about ditching the traditional kettle altogether and moving to a modern hot water dispenser. Even if you top up their whole tank, they’ll only heat the water you need. Plus, they come with anti-limescale filters, variable temperature controls and loads more features.
What are the best eco-friendly kettles?
When looking for the best eco-friendly kettle, look for some or all of the features listed above. To get you started, check out some great low energy kettles below or browse all our kettles here.
