Kettle v water heater at work

Banzai_Joe

Banzai_Joe

Banzai_Joe

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OCUK massive, lend me your ears....or brains....

We have a 3kw kettle that is probably boiled 30-40 times a day at work. Sometimes its filled up and only 2 cups worth of water are used. Some people do this so there is some left for others who may come along in a short while.

Would it be cheaper to purchase a dedicated water heater (seen one for about £60) to sit on the worktop?

Anyone know of the guestimated cost savings of one method over the other?

I guess the more expensive water heaters will only heat the water as it passes through the funnel thingy, but then that would slow down the flow, but would be very much more energy efficient(?)

Advice appreciated.
 
Water heaters don't make the water hot enough to make a good cup of tea.

Fine for instant coffee though.
 
The last time I heard a discussion on this it turned out filling a kettle uses hardly any more energy than using just enough. Like really not enough to worry about.
 
Zefan said:
The last time I heard a discussion on this it turned out filling a kettle uses hardly any more energy than using just enough. Like really not enough to worry about.
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And cheaper than a water heater?

Also consider the time it takes to boil the kettle and make 4-5 drinks, as against just filling them from a water boiler.

Incidentally i've worked in a place where we had a water boiler and it was plenty hot enough for tea.
 
We have loads of water heaters at work. The problem is, if lots of people come at once, the hot water runs out and you have to wait AGES to get hot water.

Probably just rubbish water heaters, but totally useless for big offices.
 
We have a tap at the sink with two buttons -- one for near-instant boiling water, the other for near-instant cold refreshment. Filtered, too.

It works, but most still just use the kettle.
 
Pestilence said:
We have a tap at the sink with two buttons -- one for near-instant boiling water, the other for near-instant cold refreshment. Filtered, too.

It works, but most still just use the kettle.
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yeah, we had one of those, called a zip tap, but there was only me i think that used it. It never got serviced and after a couple of years no one dared us it. So it got ripped out. We now have a filtered cold water tap.

You can get those burco auto fill heaters that are connected to the mains for about £300.
Golden question is, are they more energy efficient that heating a kettle 30 times a day?
 
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In kettle related anecdotal mood, the other week I put the kettle down so forcefully it broke the lever and it didnt click off...went past boiling then the whole electric supply to the kitchen went off.

Hmm I have one of those british gas electric meters, maybe it will have stored the readings for that day.

I'll take a pic if it has, might be amusing :D
 
The amount of energy to heat a cups worth of water is the same regardless of kettle or heater but in a heater you are heating a larger reservoir of water and then trying to maintain it at a fairly high level so it conveniently ready to dispense water at 90C+. Based on that I would presume the kettle is more efficient as it only boils the amounts needed.
 
Get one of those Tefal water dribbler things(technical term) that just heats it up as it comes out.
 
jimjamuk said:
The amount of energy to heat a cups worth of water is the same regardless of kettle or heater but in a heater you are heating a larger reservoir of water and then trying to maintain it at a fairly high level so it conveniently ready to dispense water at 90C+. Based on that I would presume the kettle is more efficient as it only boils the amounts needed.
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Thats what the OP is saying though, they are not. Only filling it full, for a cup or 2 at a time.
 
We have a 20 ltr water boiler at work, does the job fine for 12+ people having a hot drink all day and a kettle for that first cup in the morning or when the boiler has only just been filled up.
I found that with a kettle people would stand around waiting for a full kettle to boil each time, with a boiler they get there water and walk away. Never mind the energy costs, the waisted time was more expensive.
Its not technically hot enough for a "proper" cup of tea but leave the bag in for a little longer and the job is done.
 
Zefan said:
The last time I heard a discussion on this it turned out filling a kettle uses hardly any more energy than using just enough. Like really not enough to worry about.
Click to expand...
Think you heard wrong. The energy required to boil the kettle is directly proportional to how much water is in it. If there are 6 cups worth rather than 2, it will use three times the energy.
 
clv101 said:
Think you heard wrong. The energy required to boil the kettle is directly proportional to how much water is in it. If there are 6 cups worth rather than 2, it will use three times the energy.
Click to expand...

This, basic law of theromodynamics working here. It really depends how many cups of water you use in the kettle as to weather it will be better to use a boiler. The more kettles full of water you are boiling the more you should think about a boiler. If you are only boiling the kettle a few times a day then I wouldnt bother about it. You might want to concider how much productivity as people have suggested is lost during the time it takes to boil the kettle and make a drink.
 
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