The rising energy costs has left many families avoiding using their heating for as long as possible, but what about using the kettle? Households rely on their kettles for hot drinks and hot water bottles during the winter, and many claim its cheaper to boil the kettle for hot water to wash up, to boil pasta or even wash themselves instead of taking a shower.
Most British families boil their kettle every day, and it is estimated that UK households drink an estimated 165 million cups of tea each day. Making it no surprise that more people are wondering how much it costs to boil a kettle now and how much it will cost after Saturday's energy price rise reports the Chronicle Live.
Matthew Jenkins, energy expert at MyJobQuote, said: "With an estimated 95% of British families boiling their kettle at least once a day and 40% of families more than five times a day, the exact costs will vary on the size/power rating of your kettle plus your electric tariff cost. The average two litre kettle has a power rating of three kilowatts per hour (kWh), although it must be noted that it will never take a whole hour to boil your kettle! Instead, boiling a kettle for an average of four minutes uses 0.225kWh."
Read More: Energy bill chart shows savings for each type of home under new plan
This means that the average cost per unit of electricity was previously 28p, which increased to 34p on Saturday, October 1. Using the following sum: Power used (0.225kWh) x cost of one kWh (28p), the cost of boiling your kettle previously was around 6p for two litres, 3p for a litre and 1.5p for 500ml, which is approximately two cups of tea.
From Saturday it will cost 8p to boil two litres, 4p for one litre, and 2p for 500ml. Overfilling your kettle is an unnecessary cost, so only boiling what you need can add up over the year. It would also cost less if you have recently boiled the kettle and the water is still hot.
However, if boiled water has been left for longer than 10 minutes it will usually need to be boiled again, costing the same amount as before. Mr Jenkins explained that a kettle is not the biggest electricity cost in a kitchen, and can be inexpensive if used correctly.
He said: "Using a kettle to boil water is 80% efficient, as long as you make sure you boil the exact amount of water you need and try not to leave it plugged in when not in use, then the kettle is a convenient appliance." Mr Jenkins also suggested going back to basics and for people to boil water in a traditional kettle or saucepan on a hob.
This is because gas is cheaper than electricity, currently costing on average 7p and then 10p from October. However, if you decide to do this, only boil the exact amount of water you need on the correct sized hob.
Boiling a small pan of water on a big flame won’t make your water boil any faster and will cost more than using a smaller ring. For households that drink a lot of hot drinks, you might have considered a hot water dispenser.
However Which? advises that these are only cheaper and more efficient if you want to boil a single mug of water, and you have a kettle with a minimum fill volume of more than 250ml. In those cases, the kettle will take longer to boil and will cost you more money.
Read Next:
