With energy prices skyrocketing, we're all trying to be a bit more conscious about how much energy we use. But while turning down the thermostat will make a big impact, there are lots of little steps that you can take as well to keep your bills down. The average UK home boils the kettle a whopping 1,500 times a year- which really does add up!
Related: Top 10 Best Buy Kettles
Most kettles are 3kW, which means they will use three kilowatts of energy for every hour they are in use. At the time of writing, energy prices are capped at 34p per kWh. So, to have the kettle running for a whole hour, it would cost you £1.02.
Of course, you're not going to have the kettle running for an hour at a time. To get a better idea of what it really costs, we can just divide that £1.02 by 60, to get a figure of 1.7p per minute. Boiling just enough water for a single cuppa takes about 45 seconds in a 3kW kettle- which will cost you 1.28p.
As for boiling a full kettle, that naturally takes longer and therefore costs more. Using those same average figures, a 1.7l capacity kettle takes around four minutes to boil, at a cost of 6.8p. As you can see, that's quite a jump- so it's worth only boiling the amount you need. If you boiled a full kettle every time you only wanted to make one or two drinks, then it will end up costing you five times as much over the course of a year.
Are some kettles cheaper to boil?
Of course, some kettles are more energy-efficient than others. Most white goods come with an energy-efficiency rating, but that's unfortunately not the case with smaller appliances like kettles. However, there are a few things to bear in mind which can help you make an informed decision when choosing a new kettle.
The biggest factor is insulation. Some cheaper kettles won't be as well-insulated as other models, and therefore take longer to boil. You might not notice much of a difference with smaller amounts of water, but some poorly-insulated models can take a whole 30 seconds longer to boil a litre of water.
There are also some kettles which are only 2.2kW. Since these use less energy, they cost less to run per minute. However, these also take longer to boil, which cancels out that saving when you're boiling larger amounts of water.
If you're looking for a kettle that's quick to boil, well-insulated, and built to last, then be sure to check out our hand-picked list of the best kettles on the market today.