More tea vicar? (Don't overfill your kettle.)

Wwhenever you fill up your kettle to make yourself a relaxing cuppa, or stimulating coffee… STOP AND THINK:

Is this the amount of water I need to heat, or will I be boiling extra water?

Overfilling a kettle wastes valuable energy and contributes to climate change. In fact, it wastes enough energy in a week to light a house for a day or run a TV set for 26 hours. Thirsty tea drinkers could also save 90 seconds each time they boil a kettle by putting in the required amount of water. Just think what you could do with all that extra time on your hands!

If you need to buy a new electric kettle, think ‘tall and thin’. The narrower the base of the kettle the less water that’s required to cover the elements. This means you are less likely to heat water you don’t need. And make sure there’s an external measuring scale, to tell you how much water you need per cups desired. Or invest in an Eco-Kettle.

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Discuss

  1. Catriona Gill Catriona Gill
    08 Feb 2007

    Have been doing this for a while. I now start to get annoyed when other people fill the kettle right up to the top for one cup of tea. A friend has told me that boiling water using a kettle on the gas hob is even more energy saving. Does anyone know if this is true?

  2. Julia Julia
    Wokingham, GB , 08 Feb 2007

    Such a sensible thing to do and something that has been a habit of mine for ages.

  3. spougej spougej
    Luton, GB , 09 Feb 2007

    Bit surprised this is new – I suggested buying a smaller kettle as an action several months ago! I use a travel one most of the time when it’s just me, and have a larger one for when I have groups of friends around!

  4. Edwards Edwards
    17 Feb 2007

    My lovely husband bought me an Eco Kettle for Valentine’s Day

  5. Jude Jude
    Wandsworth, GB , 05 Mar 2007

    I’ve been really bad at doing this; with all the scum that builds up in our area, I always try to fill more than necessary so I don’t get scaly bits in my tea. Will Try Harder.

  6. wimblejigs wimblejigs
    Eastleigh, GB , 10 Mar 2007

    Just started to do this – I boil a little more than I should I suppose – I keep the water level on medium and then I fill my cup with fresh water and pour it into the kettle before I boil it. Would like a kettle with a filter, so as Jude says you don’t get bits in the tea!

  7. Andrew F Andrew F
    Stroud, GB , 14 Mar 2007

    As I am sure is the case for many of us, I’ve been doing this for YEARS!

  8. Patchwork Ruth Patchwork Ruth
    13 Apr 2007

    I’m pretty sure Catriona Gill is right about using a hob being more efficient. We’ve just got a new kettle that works this way, and there’s no minimum fill to cover the element, you just boil what you need. The only thing is that it doesn’t have the see-through strip so you can tell how many cupfuls are in there, so my new resolution is to measure the water in with the cup I intend to fill. I find my estimations are often wildly inaccurate!

  9. sonia sonia
    25 Apr 2007

    We just bought an eco kettle, works really well, but i have realised 1 cup on eco kettle is not same as 1 mug . worth investing in when you next need a new kettle.

  10. gen gen
    Newcastle, GB , 12 May 2007

    Have always done this – it was a common sense thing about not having to wait longer than necessary, even before I began to think about wasting energy.

    Living alone i’m used to putting in just enough for one mug. Find it a bit harder to estimate correct amount when making drinks for several at once.

  11. sayousaf sayousaf
    Sheffield, GB , 12 May 2007

    Hi everyone, like many of you I think this is something that we “in the know” and who are concerned about our beautiful planet are already doing.

    So to help matters further, I always try to remind friends, colleagues and families (without coming across as a smug, sanctimonious so-and-so!)

    Out of interest – can anybody say with any certainty that it’s less intensive to use the hob or the kettle (and back it up with evidence)?

  12. harrison family harrison family
    14 May 2007

    i’m also trying to use the water when it boils, instead of getting sidetracked and then having to re-boil it some minutes later… we’ve taken a marker pen to the church urn too, translating litres into mugfuls to avoid boiling up too much, but it’s tricky to predict how many people are going to want a cuppa.

  13. franhiller franhiller
    08 Jun 2007

    I also have a kettle that goes on the gas hob, and have worried about it for ages because I have no idea whether this is more energy-saving than an electric kettle or not. I am pretty cautious about the amount of water I put in, which sometimes means not having quite enough to fill the teapot. I hadn’t thought to measure the amount of water first though – what a good idea.

  14. MikeAtkinson MikeAtkinson
    29 Aug 2007

    So if done means still doing and have got into a routine I think we’ve cracked this :-)

  15. maxbrown maxbrown
    30 Oct 2007

    i drink chai (a spicy indian tea) which comes in a powder. the good thing about it is that u make it in a pan and measure out exactly how much water u need in mugs

  16. mgill mgill
    Carmarthen, GB , 31 Jan 2008

    My electric kettle conked out on me about a month ago I’m now using an old, small camping kettle with a whistle, on the gas hob. It means I don’t put the kettle on and go and do something else for an hour then reboil the kettle. The noise it makes means you cannot ignore it!

  17. Smudge Smudge
    Martock, GB , 24 Mar 2008

    Mrs Smudge bought me an “Eco Kettle” which has a boiling compartment and a reservoir. You can select exactly how much water from the reservoir goes into the boiling compartment (which also saves going back and forth to the sink). What surprised me was how fast boiling

      just one cup
    was!