Saving On The Leccy

[barry1010]

I drink a lot of coffee. Would it be cheaper to boil just the amount I need each time, or boil a kettle full and store the surplus in a flask?

[-SharonA-]

I would have thought it would be cheaper to boil the amount required. That's what I do. And unless you have a really good heat keeping thermos, forget it.

[bhg481]

Most economical to only boil what you need. Since that's all but impossible pour any excess into a flask and put it back in the kettle just before you fill it for the next brew.

[barry1010]

bhg, I've got it down to a fine art, only a dribble is left in the kettke and I use that to top my coffee up :D

I shall keep on boiling a mug at a time. Thanks all

[bhg481]

In winter the heat from the excess water cooling helps to warm the house, so it's not wasted. In summer the heat is wasted but a colleague of mine painted an old lemonade bottle black, filled it with water and left it on a sunny windowsill where the sunshine heated the water for his kettle.

[divegirl]

Are you struggling to pay your bills? Surely there is help out there right now?

[barry1010]

I'm not struggling to pay my bills, divegirl, I'm just tight-fisted when it comes to utility bills

[bhg481]

barry - No, not tight, just concerned about the health of the planet and not wishing to waste resources.

[Bazile]

Do those things mentioned really saves that much in electricity bills ?
Surely we are talking about pennies per day

[bhg481]

a penny a day is £3.65 a year Bazile, even more in leap years.

[alavahalf]

Come bhg.. If you seen a penny on the pavement, would you honestly pick it up?
Tight fisted Barry (self declared) still wouldn't have enough after 3 years of saving, to buy himself a decent flask..;-)

[bhg481]

alavahalf - actually yes, I do. The trouble is I very rarely use cash, so they sit forever in my pocket.

[barry1010]

I shall tell you how I save water, in my own tight-fisted way. The hot water takes an age to come through my tap so I save that cold water (no good for drinking) in six pint milk bottles for watering the houseplants, cooling down the too hot washing up water, watering the greenhouse....

[Bazile]

^^Crikey -lol

[bobbinwales]

Can't you put the warm water from the hot tap into a kettle or flask and use it for cooking? A thought the days of lead piping making hot tap water unsafe to drink were gone

[Buenchico]

I've just investigated your question experimentally:

I put one 'large mug' of water into my kettle and measured the time it took to boil. (My 'large mug' was actually 1½ regular mugs of water. I couldn't use a single regular mug, as the kettle's element wouldn't have been fully covered). That time turned out to be 70 seconds. Therefore boiling three large mugs of water individually would take a total of 210 seconds.

Then I put three large mugs (i.e. 4½ regular mugs) of water into the kettle and checked how long it took to boil. The result? 210 seconds!

i.e. it appears to make NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL to the total boiling time (and therefore to the total amount of electricity used) as to whether you boil the water for your coffee a mug-full at a time or a kettle-full at a time. It will still cost you exactly the same.

[bhg481]

It's not so much the pipes, bobbin, but the hot water often comes via a tank in the loft which may have been used as a swimming pool for mice etc and has other opportunities of picking up bugs, so it's not recommended to drink it.

[bednobs]

is that the same for on demand boilers BHG (I know they have a fancy name but it temporarily escapes me)
Chris - that's dedication. Think of the extra penny you spent boiling it twice!

[bhg481]

Chris - did you allow the kettle to cool COMPLETELY between each experiment? If not, the heat in the body of the kettle from the first boiling would affect the second boiling.

[Theland]

Microwave a mug of water.

[bednobs]

bleugh!
Or get a coffee machine - that keeps it warm for a long time