Approximate cost of boiling a kettle??

jayteecork

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask.

Just wondering how much.

I gave up tea for a while and my ESB bill reduced drastically.

Now I'm off the demon drink and am back drinking at least 10 cups a day.

I have a fancy high speed boiling kettle and I fear it's driving my bills through the roof.

My bill went from 80e to 160e this cycle.

If it cost say 10c to boil a kettle for one mug of tea, and I did this on average 10 times a day. That's a euro a day and 60 euro extra for the 2 month billing cycle.

Are these figures anyway right?

Would changing my kettle to a regular one help?

Thanks.

Idbatterim

easiest thing to do it just pour one cup of water in to the kettle! i.e not boiling any more than you need, the cost of the boil would depend on a number of factors though, amount of water in kettle, efficiency of said kettle, cost of your electricity provider etc...

Cuddlesworth

Assuming a 2 minute boil, 10 times a day, 30 days in a month, that's 10 hours of roughly 2250 watts a month, which is roughly 45 units or 4 quid a month.

If your bills have shot up, I would start with the heavy drain appliances. Electric heaters, heating pumps, fridge/freezers, washing machines, dryers and ovens.

But its possible that your increased cost is simply your normal usage patterns. Opening the fridge more during the day, using the oven/grill more, more washes, more kettle usage, a laptop on all day, lights left on, heating being run, TV on all day. All these could add a couple of Euros each over two months but in overall context would increase the bill overall by a large amount.

nudger

High speed kettle 3kw taking say 2 minutes to boil.
Average unit 1Kw hour €0.18.
So €0.18 x 3 = €0.54 for an hour.
1, 2 minute boil = €0.54 divided by 30 so €0.018.
With vat and bits and bobs about 3c a boil.

In our house the Kettle is always on at least 30 times a day so that's about €1 a day.

jayteecork

Idbatterim wrote: »

easiest thing to do it just pour one cup of water in to the kettle!

lol I'm not that thick.

pawrick

Moved to a new apartment a couple of weeks ago with control panel on the meter which shows the cost of the units you are using at that moment etc. It's the turning on and forgetting about it so that it has to be reboiled that adds up a lot more then people think. Also over filling for your needs means it takes longer to boil.

That and a drier - it eats electricity compared to anything else in the house.

mood

Electric bill are always higher in winter so maybe it's down to that. If you have a smart phone there is a Electric Ireland app (free I think) that allows you to calculate the cost of running any household appliance.

nudger

Heard a guy on with Joe Duffy the other day who boils the kettle in the morning makes his tea and then fills a big flask and that covers the tea till dinner time.
Not a bad idea the guy said he was saving €20 a month.


Interesting to have a look at this.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/images/video/wattage_calculator/wattage_calclulator.html

mood

nudger wrote: »

Heard a guy on with Joe Duffy the other day who boils the kettle in the morning makes his tea and then fills a big flask and that covers the tea till dinner time.
Not a bad idea the guy said he was saving €20 a month.

...and drinks horrible tea

nudger

mood wrote: »

...and drinks horrible tea

You could throw it on the spuds for dinner.:)

Forest Demon

If you bought 10 cups of tea a day in cafe it would be costing you €7300 a year at €2 a cup. Your saving a fortune. Enjoy your tea.

Milk & Honey

Lighting can be up to 20% of an electricity bill. Lights are on for longer in Winter so bills go up for that reason. Water coming in from the mains and in the attic tank is colder so the cost of using all appliances which heat water e.g. immersion, washing machine, dishwasher, electric showers and kettle is higher.
fridges can be a major drain because they are on 24/7 and if the thermostat goes it can be massive.

Procrastastudy

Jesus I remember the specific heat capacity of water. 4200J. That A-level in chemistry was worth something after all!

Victor

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Jesus I remember the specific heat capacity of water. 4200J. That A-level in chemistry was worth something after all!

Indeed. Hope for you yet.

Boiling one litre of water from 0 degrees to 100 degrees takes 0.12 of a unit* (one kilowatt hour) so 2 cents for a litre, 4 cents for two litres. There would be some heat loss, but that is off-set by the water starting at more than 0 degrees.

Anything that creates heat, especially heating water, will use a lot of energy compared to the perception, then light, whereas sound uses very little energy.


* (4200J/kg/degree) x (100 degrees) / (3600000Js/kWh)

dickwod1

Theres an app available http://www.siliconrepublic.com/clean-tech/item/23523-esb-app-for-iphone-and-andr tells you the consumption/cost of most appliances

tara73

OP, would be very easy to check how much your kettle uses.

write down the actual meterreading, put on the kettle, look again how much was used.. there you have it:)

10 cent is way too much, even for a completely filled kettle average 1 litre.

victors figures sound right.

John Mason

using the electric ireland applicance calculator

https://www.electricireland.ie/ei/residential-energy-services/reduce-your-costs/appliance_calc/appliance_calculator.jsp

Mr. Loverman

nudger wrote: »

Heard a guy on with Joe Duffy the other day who boils the kettle in the morning makes his tea and then fills a big flask and that covers the tea till dinner time.
Not a bad idea the guy said he was saving €20 a month.

I can't help but feel that's a grim life though...

Jo King

If you have an open fire you can suspend a kettle of water over it and have it boiled for free.

jayteecork

Jo King wrote: »

If you have an open fire you can suspend a kettle of water over it and have it boiled for free.

I do in me hole.

mood

Jo King wrote: »

If you have an open fire you can suspend a kettle of water over it and have it boiled for free.

You would also have to burn fuel all day long so unless you do anyway it's hardly a cost effective solution. Also that would be very dangerous is you didn't have a stove/range.

Sarn

nudger wrote: »

Heard a guy on with Joe Duffy the other day who boils the kettle in the morning makes his tea and then fills a big flask and that covers the tea till dinner time.
Not a bad idea the guy said he was saving €20 a month.[/url]

Alternatively, assuming a person works, you could make your tea in work and then fill a flask before you go home.

In addition, if your workplace has a shower...(saving on energy and future water charges!)

mood

Another option is to drink less tea.

nudger

Sarn wrote: »

Alternatively, assuming a person works, you could make your tea in work and then fill a flask before you go home.

In addition, if your workplace has a shower...(saving on energy and future water charges!)

Now your talkin, does your workplace have a dishwasher or a washing machine?:D
Maybe they have a few Euro bins out the back as well.:cool:

jayteecork

mood wrote: »

Another option is to drink less tea.

Can't, MUST HAVE TEA.

It's the cup that cheers, but not inebriates.

mood

jayteecork wrote: »

Can't, MUST HAVE TEA.

It's the cup that cheers, but not inebriates.

Then you MUST PAY simple as that.

Fighting Irish

get one of those flask things that keep the hot water hot, so any hot water left over after boiling can be saved for the next time someone wants hot water

jayteecork

Fighting Irish wrote: »

get one of those flask things that keep the hot water hot, so any hot water left over after boiling can be saved for the next time someone wants hot water

Why don't I check public phones and vending machines for change while I'm at it.

I'm not a miser.

jayteecork

mood wrote: »

Then you MUST PAY simple as that.

I feel I'm paying too much though.

gonna buy a cheap normal boil kettle and see how that goes.

Fighting Irish

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I can't help but feel that's a grim life though...

no more waiting for hot water to boil 11ty times a day though

mood

I'm sure you could find other, better ways of cutting bills etc.