Electric Kettle?

"Tracy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The electric kettle shuts off when the water boils so uses minimal
electric. The one I have has a water level view tube maked in cups,
so no need to boil more than needed, another energy saver. I have
this one, in every respect it's perfect, even very easy to clean the
interior.

http://www.amazon.com/Braun-WK200W-Electric-Water-Kettle/dp/B00004S9H7

Once you use this you'll never go back.

Sheldon

I was just looking at that one (or one very similar) today - except in
black.

-Tracy
(putting in on my Xmas list)

200Watt?
Dee Dee

Pete C. said:

Tracy said:

I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
instead of the traditional stove top type. �Just wondering why you
prefer the electric version. �I am thinking of getting one myself.
Brand recommendations?

Quoted message said:

Tracy
(who has gone through more stove top kettles than she can count on both
hands....)

In the UK where they can get 3,800 Watts + from their 240V outlets, the
countertop electric kettles are popular. The US versions which can only
get 1,800 Watts from the 120V outlets aren't nearly as useful.

That just means that the US kettles are far more efficient. You don't
"get" watts... watts is energy *consumed*, not energy produced.

The old UK klunker kettles were made of metal, a fairly large mass of
thick metal... most of those 3,800 watts were consumed to heat the
kettle, not the water contained therein... why would any normal
brained person want to also heat three pounds of steel when all they
want to heat is one cup water. The new modern plastic kettles consume
half as many watts to heat twice as much water in half the time. I
don't know about yoose but I don't want to spend my money to heat
pots. When I buy small electrical appliances I look for those that
can do the job with the lowest wattage rating. The UK doesn't make
those old high wattage consuming klunker kettles anymore... those
things consumed all those watts because they were poorly designed,
they couldn't heat small quantites of water like one or two cups
efficiently, you had to fill the entire pot to fully submerge the
heater element, so naturally they consumed 3,800 watts because they
had to heat like 2 quarts of water in order to fully submerge the
heating element to function at their best efficiency. Those old
klunkers were not fast all, they needed like 3-4 minutes to boil one
cup of water. The new modern plastic units boil one cup of water in
one minute and very efficiently... the 1,500 watt rating is only for
boiling a full pot, one cup probabvly consumes less than 200 watts.

Sheldon

The message <[email hidden]>
from aem <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Somebody suggested electric kettle usage was "a cultural thing." I
think it's more a matter of learning that they exist. We didn't know
about them until we went to Australia, where we saw them in every
motel/hotel room wherever we went.

They're standard kit in hotel/motel rooms over the whole UK too.
European hotels don't always have them as standard but do usually have
them available on request.

Janet.

Pete C. said:

It's not cultural, it's practical. Your UK electric kettles are about
twice the wattage of the US due to your 240V power, so the US version is
slower than dirt and therefore not popular.

You're obviously not an electrician. The fact that Europens use
higher voltages for small appliasnces has nothing to do with consuming
watts, it has *only* to do with that the European electrical grid is
antiquated... with 240V appliances they obviously have far more in
home electricutions is all.

Quoted message said:

The US alternative is the built in instant hot water dispenser, usually
mounted at the sink, which is hardwired to a 240V circuit as well as the
water supply, and provides as much near boiling water as you want,
whenever you want, without having to fill a kettle.

The instant water supply units at the sink in the US are first of all
120V, not 240V, and you're talking apples and oranges... one is
maintaining a volume of water at a constant temperature, the kettle is
far more efficient for heating small quantities of water because they
don't waste watts maintaining. Only folks with more dollars than
brain cells have those instant hot water units at their sink.

Sheldon

"Tracy" wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am looking for a replacement for the yucky looking "stainless" model
on my stove top.

Oh? I like mine! Very retro 50's and highly functional.

Quoted message said:

I do like the look of a retro kettle. I just hate trying to keep the thing
clean.

Aw, well, I throw mine in the dishwasher now and again. Needs nothing more.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think of it much like a rice cooker. Useless waste of space to a
person who eats rice at best once a week. An energry saving essential for
folks like me who have it 2-3 times a day and need to keep a batch warm
from breakfast to dinner time. Useless to me are rice units that just
cook then turn off.

I agree. My husband has been bugging for a rice cooker, but we eat rice
about once a month. I don't see the need.

It is possible, if you had one, you would make rice more often but it does
not sound like an essential item to your cookery. Mine, just finished most
of the rice so added 3 cups dashi and some bits of things like freeze dried
mussels, dried shrimp, dried shiitake and some nori etc. I turned it off
and in the morning I'll turn it on for fresh congee. Once it's eaten for
breakfast, I'll make more rice around lunchtime and have enough for dinner
and post-school munchies. As you can see from that, it's a bit more
versatile than you may have thought but it still probably doesnt fit your
lifestyle.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Grin, I see on the appliance thread I am abnormal. I can easily afford
300$ a month electric bills but my habits run me far less stateside. My
only electric bill so far came in and was 87$ (5OCT-15NOV). I'm
augmenting the gas heat and electric blower with the fireplace (have a
real one, functional and 2 cords of wood). The stove and water heater
are also gas. Havent got a gas bill yet but I think it will be pretty
low comparitive to my area.

We put our son to the task of helping lower our electric bills. He is
constantly turning out lights on us...saying things like "do you really
need this 3rd light on?" We created a monster.

LOL.

Quoted message said:

We also recently moved. Our new apartment has a timer on the thermostat. I
love this! I can set it so the heat goes off during the day when we aren't
home and at night for sleeping (I set it to 58-60F) It comes on in the am
for a bit and when we come home from work. 68F in the winter - on really
cold days like today - 27F right now. I can deal with 64 or 65 if it is
not below freezing outside.

Well, we stay at 70-72F here unless the fireplace makes it warmer. I
wouldnt mind dropping it lower at night but Don doesnt like that.

Sheldon said:

Pete C. said:

Tracy said:

I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
instead of the traditional stove top type. �Just wondering why you
prefer the electric version. �I am thinking of getting one myself.
Brand recommendations?
Tracy
(who has gone through more stove top kettles than she can count on both
hands....)

In the UK where they can get 3,800 Watts + from their 240V outlets, the
countertop electric kettles are popular. The US versions which can only
get 1,800 Watts from the 120V outlets aren't nearly as useful.

That just means that the US kettles are far more efficient. You don't
"get" watts... watts is energy *consumed*, not energy produced.

The old UK klunker kettles were made of metal, a fairly large mass of
thick metal... most of those 3,800 watts were consumed to heat the
kettle, not the water contained therein... why would any normal
brained person want to also heat three pounds of steel when all they
want to heat is one cup water. The new modern plastic kettles consume
half as many watts to heat twice as much water in half the time. I
don't know about yoose but I don't want to spend my money to heat
pots. When I buy small electrical appliances I look for those that
can do the job with the lowest wattage rating. The UK doesn't make
those old high wattage consuming klunker kettles anymore... those
things consumed all those watts because they were poorly designed,
they couldn't heat small quantites of water like one or two cups
efficiently, you had to fill the entire pot to fully submerge the
heater element, so naturally they consumed 3,800 watts because they
had to heat like 2 quarts of water in order to fully submerge the
heating element to function at their best efficiency. Those old
klunkers were not fast all, they needed like 3-4 minutes to boil one
cup of water. The new modern plastic units boil one cup of water in
one minute and very efficiently... the 1,500 watt rating is only for
boiling a full pot, one cup probabvly consumes less than 200 watts.

Sheldon

You do realize that almost everything you just said is wrong, don't you?

Bob

Dee.Dee said:

"Tracy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The electric kettle shuts off when the water boils so uses minimal
electric. The one I have has a water level view tube maked in cups,
so no need to boil more than needed, another energy saver. I have
this one, in every respect it's perfect, even very easy to clean the
interior.

http://www.amazon.com/Braun-WK200W-Electric-Water-Kettle/dp/B00004S9H7

Once you use this you'll never go back.

Sheldon

I was just looking at that one (or one very similar) today - except in
black.

-Tracy
(putting in on my Xmas list)

200Watt?
Dee Dee

Model WK200W, Power output: 1500 watts

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dee.Dee said:

"Tracy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

>
> The electric kettle shuts off when the water boils so uses minimal
> electric. The one I have has a water level view tube maked in cups,
> so no need to boil more than needed, another energy saver. I have
> this one, in every respect it's perfect, even very easy to clean the
> interior.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Braun-WK200W-Electric-Water-Kettle/dp/B00004S9H7
>
> Once you use this you'll never go back.
>
> Sheldon

I was just looking at that one (or one very similar) today - except in
black.

-Tracy
(putting in on my Xmas list)

200Watt?
Dee Dee

Model WK200W, Power output: 1500 watts

OK, got it. Thanks.
Dee Dee

Sheldon said:

Pete C. said:

Tracy wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
instead of the traditional stove top type. �Just wondering whyyou
prefer the electric version. �I am thinking of getting one myself.
Brand recommendations?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Tracy
(who has gone through more stove top kettles than she can count on both
hands....)

Quoted message said:

In the UK where they can get 3,800 Watts + from their 240V outlets, the
countertop electric kettles are popular. The US versions which can only
get 1,800 Watts from the 120V outlets aren't nearly as useful.

That just means that the US kettles are far more efficient.  You don't
"get" watts... watts is energy *consumed*, not energy produced.

The old UK klunker kettles were made of metal, a fairly large mass of
thick metal... most of those 3,800 watts were consumed to heat the
kettle, not the water contained therein... why would any normal
brained person want to also heat three pounds of steel when all they
want to heat is one cup water.  The new modern plastic kettles consume
half as many watts to heat twice as much water in half the time.  I
don't know about yoose but I don't want to spend my money to heat
pots.  When I buy small electrical appliances I look for those that
can do the job with the lowest wattage rating.  The UK doesn't make
those old high wattage consuming klunker kettles anymore... those
things consumed all those watts because they were poorly designed,
they couldn't heat small quantites of water like one or two cups
efficiently, you had to fill the entire pot to fully submerge the
heater element, so naturally they consumed 3,800 watts because they
had to heat like 2 quarts of water in order to fully submerge the
heating element to function at their best efficiency.  Those old
klunkers were not fast all, they needed like 3-4 minutes to boil one
cup of water.  The new modern plastic units boil one cup of water in
one minute and very efficiently... the 1,500 watt rating is only for
boiling a full pot, one cup probabvly consumes less than 200 watts.

Sheldon

Btw, I didn't want to confuse so I didn't mention that the wattage
rating for appliances is *watts per hour* (like a 100W light bulb
consumes 100 watts per hour), therefore with a 1,500 watt kettle if
one cup of water is heated to boiling in one minute then the wattage
consumption to boil one cup of water is probably in the neighborhood
of 10-12 watts, costs less than a penny. The 1,500 watt rating is
what that pot consumes running for a full hour... for most families
that's a full month's worth of boiling water. I think some are
beginning to fathom how a kettle with a 3,800 watt rating will cost a
lot more to operate.

Now for pure resistance appliances like with light bulbs and water
heaters wattage ratings make sense. But for motorized appliances like
stand mixers wattage *consumption* means very little in relation to
power *produced*... folks who are impressed with higher wattage
ratings with motorized appliances like stand mixers are blithering
imbeciles. Those wattage ratings mean one thing and one thing only,
how many watts are consumed running full out for one hour, has
practically nothing to do with how much shaft horsepower is produced,
in fact a higher wattage rating for a larger stand mixer can very well
mean less usable power produced, could well mean higher rpm, lots more
heat, and less power produced, because the larger diameter bowl
necessitates larger diamerter beaters that mean the moment of force
during motion consumes more available power that does absolutely
nothing to cause the machine to mix better but will raise the electric
bill. When motorized appliances have no horsepower rating (typically
those without a transmission) then the wattage rating only means how
much it costs to operate, not a whit to do with shaft horsepower
produced... much of that higher wattage goes right up the chimney as
heat. And that's what occurs with the old fashioned higher wattage
kettles, much of the wattage goes to heat the pot.

Don't ever buy a kettle by higher wattage rating, time needed for
heating water is all that's important, with all being equal chose the
kettle with the lowest wattage rating.

Sheldon

zxcvbob said:

Sheldon said:

Pete C. said:

Tracy wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
> instead of the traditional stove top type. �Just wondering whyyou
> prefer the electric version. �I am thinking of getting one myself.
> Brand recommendations?
> Tracy
> (who has gone through more stove top kettles than she can count on both
> hands....)
In the UK where they can get 3,800 Watts + from their 240V outlets, the
countertop electric kettles are popular. The US versions which can only
get 1,800 Watts from the 120V outlets aren't nearly as useful.

Quoted message said:

That just means that the US kettles are far more efficient.  You don't
"get" watts... watts is energy *consumed*, not energy produced.

Quoted message said:

The old UK klunker kettles were made of metal, a fairly large mass of
thick metal... most of those 3,800 watts were consumed to heat the
kettle, not the water contained therein... why would any normal
brained person want to also heat three pounds of steel when all they
want to heat is one cup water.  The new modern plastic kettles consume
half as many watts to heat twice as much water in half the time.  I
don't know about yoose but I don't want to spend my money to heat
pots.  When I buy small electrical appliances I look for those that
can do the job with the lowest wattage rating.  The UK doesn't make
those old high wattage consuming klunker kettles anymore... those
things consumed all those watts because they were poorly designed,
they couldn't heat small quantites of water like one or two cups
efficiently, you had to fill the entire pot to fully submerge the
heater element, so naturally they consumed 3,800 watts because they
had to heat like 2 quarts of water in order to fully submerge the
heating element to function at their best efficiency.  Those old
klunkers were not fast all, they needed like 3-4 minutes to boil one
cup of water.  The new modern plastic units boil one cup of water in
one minute and very efficiently... the 1,500 watt rating is only for
boiling a full pot, one cup probabvly consumes less than 200 watts.

Quoted message said:

Sheldon

You do realize that almost everything you just said is wrong, don't you?

Bob

Naturally how you know this is why you explained it all... [censored] for
brains... I'm positive, absolutely 100pct positive that you never went
to school past 7th grade, you are dumber than a small cow flop.

Sheldon

In article <[email hidden]>,

Janet Baraclough said:

In the UK, electric kettles are more or less universal in domestic
kitchens (even among gas stove users) because they are so much faster
and turn themselves off as soon as they boil; a more efficient use of
energy.

Not to mention safer (they don't boil dry, either).

Quoted message said:

If however you use the hot water every hour for the

Quoted message said:

first 4 hours of the morning and perhaps again at lunch, its more energy
efficient to just keep it warm with the electric types then turn it
off when
your main use time is done.

But we aren't aiming to keep water warm in a kettle!.I just turn it on
whenever I want boiling water to make tea and hot drinks, or a pan of
boiling water to cook veg or pasta etc. Mine boils a litre of water in
less than one minute then turns itself off.

Exactly.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 07:38:49p, Cshenk meant to say...

Quoted message said:

"Tracy" wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I am looking for a replacement for the yucky looking "stainless"
> model on my stove top.

Oh? I like mine! Very retro 50's and highly functional.

Quoted message said:

I do like the look of a retro kettle. I just hate trying to keep the
thing clean.

Aw, well, I throw mine in the dishwasher now and again. Needs nothing
more.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think of it much like a rice cooker. Useless waste of space to a
person who eats rice at best once a week. An energry saving essential
for folks like me who have it 2-3 times a day and need to keep a batch
warm from breakfast to dinner time. Useless to me are rice units that
just cook then turn off.

I agree. My husband has been bugging for a rice cooker, but we eat
rice about once a month. I don't see the need.

It is possible, if you had one, you would make rice more often but it
does not sound like an essential item to your cookery. Mine, just
finished most of the rice so added 3 cups dashi and some bits of things
like freeze dried mussels, dried shrimp, dried shiitake and some nori
etc. I turned it off and in the morning I'll turn it on for fresh
congee. Once it's eaten for breakfast, I'll make more rice around
lunchtime and have enough for dinner and post-school munchies. As you
can see from that, it's a bit more versatile than you may have thought
but it still probably doesnt fit your lifestyle.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Grin, I see on the appliance thread I am abnormal. I can easily
afford 300$ a month electric bills but my habits run me far less
stateside. My only electric bill so far came in and was 87$
(5OCT-15NOV). I'm augmenting the gas heat and electric blower with
the fireplace (have a real one, functional and 2 cords of wood). The
stove and water heater are also gas. Havent got a gas bill yet but I
think it will be pretty low comparitive to my area.

We put our son to the task of helping lower our electric bills. He is
constantly turning out lights on us...saying things like "do you really
need this 3rd light on?" We created a monster.

LOL.

Quoted message said:

We also recently moved. Our new apartment has a timer on the
thermostat. I love this! I can set it so the heat goes off during the
day when we aren't home and at night for sleeping (I set it to 58-60F)
It comes on in the am for a bit and when we come home from work. 68F
in the winter - on really cold days like today - 27F right now. I can
deal with 64 or 65 if it is not below freezing outside.

Well, we stay at 70-72F here unless the fireplace makes it warmer. I
wouldnt mind dropping it lower at night but Don doesnt like that.

I have no use for a kettle, either electric or stovetop. Neither of us
drink hot tea, and I have few uses for boiling water where it wouldn't work
better in a cooking pot or a small quantity in the microwave. For me it
would be a totally useless appliance.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Thu, 12/6/07

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 2dys 2hrs
*******************************************
Only those who attempt the absurd
achieve the impossible.
*******************************************

Sheldon said:

Btw, I didn't want to confuse so I didn't mention that the wattage
rating for appliances is *watts per hour* (like a 100W light bulb
consumes 100 watts per hour), therefore with a 1,500 watt kettle if

No, it's not. 100W is 100W. It's consuming 100W
whether you run it for an hour or a day.
The watt is a unit of power, not energy.

The unit of energy is the watt-hour. Running
a 100W lightbulb for 1 hour would consume
100 watt-hours. Running it for 10 hours
would consume 1000 watt-hours. Running it
for 6 minutes would consume 10 watt-hours.

Tracy said:

I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
instead of the traditional stove top type. Just wondering why you
prefer the electric version. I am thinking of getting one myself.
Brand recommendations?

Modern electric cordless kettles are much more energy-efficient. Also,
given sufficient power, they are very much faster than any
stove-top-like contraption for boiling water. I have a Russell Hobbs
Reflexions-series 3000 W kettle I bought about 8 months ago for 47
euros. At full capacity (1.7 l/ 7.2 cups), water boils after 4 minutes.
You will need a 220 V outlet to plug it in. See, for example,
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-12501-Reflections-Kettle/dp/B000ARK76K>.

There are currently other Russell Hobbs kettle models with the same
wattage, some costing substantially more or substantially less,
depending entirely on their design (some are made of glass and wood and
are rather more expensive). As to the performance, they do not differ
much from each other.

I used to use a Simplex stove-top chrome kettle for many years and,
before that, an even better-looking one for many more years. The
Simplex kettle is as beautiful and traditional-looking as they get, but
its bottom is not really smooth (it is ridged, for want of a better
word), so it is extremely inefficient on anything but a gas or another
open-fire cooktop, even though it is advertised as being suitable for
any cooktop, including induction. And, even if its bottom were smooth,
it still wouldn't be as efficient as most present-day electric kettles.

Victor

zxcvbob said:

I wish I could find a 3000+ watt kettle, but those only seem to
be available in UK. I know I'd have to change the plug, and it wouldn't
be UL listed (might be Canadian listed though), those are not problems

They are available throughout Europe. Why not order one from there?
Postage differs but could be bearable, depending on the country and
supplier.

Victor

"Tracy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
instead of the traditional stove top type. Just wondering why you prefer
the electric version. I am thinking of getting one myself. Brand
recommendations?

Tracy
(who has gone through more stove top kettles than she can count on both
hands....)

I love mine. Can't remember what brand it is. I got it as a clearance item
at the military commissary. So it might not have been anything available to
the general public. They sometimes have stuff that is made just for them.

I decided to get it after buying tea kettle after tea kettle and none held
up. They either rusted or lost parts or leaked!

I don't drink a lot of tea but I do use boiling water for some things and I
can get boiling water in about a minute with this thing. I also like that I
can have it going on the side and not have to use a burner. It's great to
have while canning. I always have boiling water when I need it.

"Victor Sack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

zxcvbob said:

I wish I could find a 3000+ watt kettle, but those only seem to
be available in UK. I know I'd have to change the plug, and it wouldn't
be UL listed (might be Canadian listed though), those are not problems

They are available throughout Europe. Why not order one from there?
Postage differs but could be bearable, depending on the country and
supplier.

Victor

It would entail at least minor, possibly major, rewiring in the kitchen to
use it. You need a 240V line on the counter for it .

Sheldon said:

Stop dancing all around... go for the 40 bucks and order the Braun...
then after a week report back. If you're not happy you pay the
shipping and I will take it off your hands for $40.

OK, already. I am not waiting for Christmas. I just ordered it.

-Tracy

Mark Thorson said:

Sheldon said:

Btw, I didn't want to confuse so I didn't mention that the wattage
rating for appliances is *watts per hour* (like a 100W light bulb
consumes 100 watts per hour), therefore with a 1,500 watt kettle if

No, it's not. 100W is 100W. It's consuming 100W
whether you run it for an hour or a day.
The watt is a unit of power, not energy.

The unit of energy is the watt-hour. Running
a 100W lightbulb for 1 hour would consume
100 watt-hours. Running it for 10 hours
would consume 1000 watt-hours. Running it
for 6 minutes would consume 10 watt-hours.

Bingo!

Victor Sack said:

Tracy said:

I saw in the small appliances thread that some use an electric kettle
instead of the traditional stove top type. Just wondering why you
prefer the electric version. I am thinking of getting one myself.
Brand recommendations?

Modern electric cordless kettles are much more energy-efficient.

I haven't seen a cordless kettle, but I think
it would be much less efficient than a corded
kettle. You lose energy charging the battery,
and you lose more energy through self-discharge
while the charged battery is waiting to be used.