How much electricity does a kettle use?

By Bob Fear

How much electricity does a kettle use?

When looking to save energy at home, it’s important to know how much electricity our household appliances are using. One of the most used kitchen appliances is the kettle, so how much electricity does boiling a kettle use? Does the alternative option of a hot water dispenser use more or less energy? Which kitchen appliance uses the most electricity? In this article, we’ll give you the answers to all of these questions and more.

95% of families in Britain boil their kettle at least once a day, and 40% of families use it  more than five times a day. So how much energy are we using every time we boil the kettle? Boiling an average half a kettle of water uses  0.113 kilowatts per hour (kWh). How does this compare to the alternative solution of a hot water dispenser? The Virgin Pure Home Water System II uses 0.07 kWh per use. That’s 38% less energy than a kettle.

According to the Energy Saving Trust 75% of people admit to using too much water every time they boil a kettle. Anyone boiling a whole kettle of water will use 0.225 kWh. Switching to the Home Water System II means using nearly 70% less energy.

Setting aside quibbles about how much water we’re boiling when using a kettle, let’s compare the longer term energy consumption of a kettle with our hot water dispenser. Taking the benchmark that 40% of British families boil their kettle more than five times a day, we took a look at how much energy the Home Water System II used in comparison over a 24 hour period. During the course of a day, we dispensed ten mugs of boiling water (as well as ten cups of cold water) in an attempt to reflect an average family’s everyday usage. So where a family might boil their kettle five times a day, we dispensed two mugs of boiling water at a time, five times during the day. Read on to find out how much energy we used.

Does a hot water dispenser use more or less energy than a kettle?

In our test, we set the Home Water System II to energy-saving mode. This used just 0.46 kWh of electricity over 24 hours. Boiling half a kettle of water five times a day uses 0.565 kWh. Our system used around 19% less energy than a kettle. If you were in the habit of boiling a whole kettle, you’d use around 60% less energy if you switched to the Home Water System II.

Even with the Virgin Pure system switched on 24 hours a day, in energy-saving mode, it’s still more efficient than a kettle being switched on five times a day. The added bonus is that the Home Water System also provides triple-filtered chilled water on demand as well as hot or boiling water. So you also benefit from the convenience of not having to refrigerate bottled water or filter jugs - and you’ll still be using less electricity than you would boiling a kettle every time you want a cuppa.

If you’re partial to a decent cup of coffee, it’s likely that you’ll be using even more electricity every time you brew up. A single serve coffee maker, or coffee pod machine, uses even more energy than boiling a kettle. Where an average coffee machine consumes 0.3 kWh of electricity per use, the Home Water System II uses 77% less energy.

Which kitchen appliance uses the most energy?

While the kettle and the coffee machine are two of the most used kitchen appliances, they are also among those that use the most energy once they’re switched on. Below is a list of the kitchen appliances that use the most electricity over the course of the year.

Coffee machine = 548 kWh per year***

Fridge freezer = 408 kWh per year*

Tumble dryer = 370 kWh per year*

Electric hob = 301 kWh per year*

Electric oven = 211 kWh per year*

Kettle = 206 kWh per year**

Dishwasher = 194 kWh per year*

When switched to energy saving mode and used at around the same frequency as the kettle and coffee machine, the Home Water System II uses 167.9 kWh per year.

Naturally we’re biased, so you won’t be surprised to hear us say it’s about time you ditched your inefficient old kettle. Hopefully now we’ve done the maths, you’ll agree that switching to the Home Water System II means that you’ll be using less energy every time you want a nice cuppa.


*https://www.comparethemarket.com/energy/content/which-appliances-use-the-most-energy

**https://checkappliance.co.uk/how-much-energy-does-a-kettle-use

***https://simplyelectricals.co.uk/coffee-machine-energy-usage/

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