PowerSwitch

I changed over from an electric kettle to a kettle for the hob (gas) some time ago (which I can also use on top of the wood-burner, if need be).

A friend has recently asked me for advice on buying a new kettle. She was thinking electric, and my response was, as far as she was concerned, a little left-field.

Is there any data on the relative power consumption of each type? I get complaints about 'it's slower' - fine by me! making a cuppa is not usually time-critical - but is there any energy data out there to back up my choice? Or to counter it?

The electric kettle will often prove cheaper than a conventional kettle on a gas hob.
Electricity is more expensive than gas, but an electric kettle is almost 100% efficient.
A kettle on a gas hob wastes considerable energy, try putting your hand over it !
Gas and electricity prices vary a bit, and the waste heat from gas burning is not truly wasted in cold weather since it helps to warm the room.

All modern electric kettles shut off when boiled, with gas there is potential waste if you forget to turn it off promptly.

It would be advisable to have both.

The electric kettle will normally be quicker.

Cheapest is a wood or coal stove that is lit anyway for space heating, the extra fuel burnt is very small.

When we changed from an electric kettle to a gas hob one, I would swear that the taste of my coffee improved.

Maybe not logical or provable, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'm using an electric one at the moment, after 4.5 years of using gas in my van. Its certainly quicker. I can also see how much water I'm putting in it, as it has see through bit, that the gas hob one doesn't.

This thing about 'putting in as much water as you need'. You can do that with any kettle. You just errr...do it.

adam2 wrote:The electric kettle will often prove cheaper than a conventional kettle on a gas hob.
Electricity is more expensive than gas, but an electric kettle is almost 100% efficient.
A kettle on a gas hob wastes considerable energy, try putting your hand over it !
Gas and electricity prices vary a bit, and the waste heat from gas burning is not truly wasted in cold weather since it helps to warm the room.

All modern electric kettles shut off when boiled, with gas there is potential waste if you forget to turn it off promptly.

It would be advisable to have both.

The electric kettle will normally be quicker.

Cheapest is a wood or coal stove that is lit anyway for space heating, the extra fuel burnt is very small.

Hob kettles usually have a whistle. Mine does.

emordnilap wrote:When we changed from an electric kettle to a gas hob one, I would swear that the taste of my coffee improved.

Maybe not logical or provable, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's quite possible. Hot water for coffee should be marginally below boiling point (say 96 degrees). I take my hob kettle off just as it's approaching boiling (the whistle starting to moan warns me, and I switch off). Water straight from an electric kettle will be too hot, resulting in the bitter stuff.

woodpecker wrote:

emordnilap wrote:When we changed from an electric kettle to a gas hob one, I would swear that the taste of my coffee improved.

Maybe not logical or provable, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's quite possible. Hot water for coffee should be marginally below boiling point (say 96 degrees). I take my hob kettle off just as it's approaching boiling (the whistle starting to moan warns me, and I switch off). Water straight from an electric kettle will be too hot, resulting in the bitter stuff.

Fair enough, wp but I knew that when I first started grinding beans and making real coffee, and I never let the electric kettle boil. Practically every herb infusion should have boiling water, imo, but never coffee.

No, I will, against any evidence, hold that properly-made coffee tastes better made on a gas hob than with an electric element in the water. Daft, maybe, but I am.

emordnilap wrote:I will, against any evidence, hold that properly-made coffee tastes better made on a gas hob than with an electric element in the water.

Does the element "burn" the water, super-heating it and affecting the flavour, perhaps?

Personally I think coffee always takes better from water heated in a Kelly kettle -- the woodsmoke in the nostrils sets a wonderful counterpoint to the flavour of the roasted coffee on the tongue.

I'll drink to that!

But can anybody tell me why TEA tastes different (and so much better) when drunk outdoors??

mobbsey wrote:

emordnilap wrote:I will, against any evidence, hold that properly-made coffee tastes better made on a gas hob than with an electric element in the water.

Does the element "burn" the water, super-heating it and affecting the flavour, perhaps?

Good, good - views supporting me. Good answer mobbsey.

RenewableCandy wrote:But can anybody tell me why TEA tastes different (and so much better) when drunk outdoors??

Colder air being drawn across the tongue, making the flavour taste different? I've noticed that cooking out in the cold weather does give a different "flavour" to the food, but I've never really stopped to think why. I've always thought it was a psychosomatic effect of my greater enjoyment of camping out in the Winter rather than the oppressive heat of Summer (I think my genetics must be part Sami!).

emordnilap wrote:Good, good - views supporting me. Good answer mobbsey.

Correlation is not necessarily causation, and the truth is not necessarily defined by the facts.

Finally after 32 years my college tech study has a use

At point of use electric kettles are more efficent because the heating element is inside in direct contact with the water which means the casing can be insulated, ergo water heats up quicker.

Hob kettles have to be conductive so lose heat through the sides much more quickly. They are inherently less efficent as the water is heated indirectly, flame to metal to water.

In our world the inefficency of hob types is negated by the fact that they can be heated up by any fire, electric ones obviously need electric. The overall efficency depends on the generation method Kevin Anderson quotes a 13.3 to 1 ratio energy needed to energy at point of use. I have no idea how to calculate the ration for different fires.

So rather counter intuitively the apparently least efficent hob kettle would be best if heated on a fire that was already there for general heat. Next an electric kettle then a gas hob heated kettle. The difference in embodied energy between the kettle types would be insignificant compared to the energy used to heat the water through their life.