Traditional Hob Kettles + Limescale

[hc4361]

Do these type of kettles get clogged up with limescale the same way electric kettles do?
I have had all sorts of electric kettles from very expensive Duralit to cheap plastic and they are all ruined very quickly by limescale inside and out, despite regular descaling and cleaning.

I need to buy yet another kettle and wonder if a traditional hob kettle is the way to go for me.

[4candles]

If you've got 'hard' water I can't see what difference the type of kettle makes.
I believe water softeners are available but I know little about them.

[hc4361]

I've looked in to water softeners but they're not for me. You're not supposed to use softened water for drinking, anyway.

[ummmm]

Pretty much the same except hob kettles are easier to clean.

[hc4361]

That's a shame. It's the outside of the kettle that really suffers and is especially difficult to clean. The limescale has chipped the enamel off my kettles around the lid and spout.
Might as well stick with the ugly £5 plastic electric kettle. :(

Thanks for replying, both :)

[bhg481]

The argument for not drinking artificially softened water is that the salt in it is bad for you. The amount of salt is absolutely miniscule, so I believe it's a lot of fuss about nothing. We've been drinking artificially softened water since 1977 and suffered no ill effects from it - at the age of 74 I've only just been put on medication for high blood pressure.

[hc4361]

Tell me about your water softener, bhg

[woofgang]

my answer was a brita filter jug. The kettle doesn't fur up (and my water is mega hard) and the tea tastes nicer.

[hc4361]

That's a thought, Woofgang :)

[bhg481]

There are two basic types of softener - single cylinder and dual cylinder.
Single cylinder are cheaper but you have hard water for the time it takes to regenerate (an hour or two). They try to minimise the effect of this by arranging regeneration at night but this can go awry if you have an irregular usage pattern. They use all sorts of tricks with computers watching your usage, predicting when you will need to regenerate and regenerating the night before; this is fine until you, say, wash the car or go away on holiday, which messes up your usage pattern.
Dual cylinder models cost more but simply switch from one cylinder to the other when regeneration is necessary and then regenerate the idle cylinder. This has the effect of ensuring that your water never goes hard, as it takes less time to regenerate an exhausted cylinder than it does to run enough water to exhaust the other one.
Regeneration is done by running salt solution backwards through a cylinder and then rinsing it before putting it back into use. This means that you have a salt reservoir (just like a dishwasher) that you have to fill occasionally. Some models use salt granules, others use block salt, which is just highly compressed salt so is more convenient to use and easier to store. To give you an idea of salt costs I have just bought £100 worth of block salt and it's almost exactly 5 years since I last bought the same quantity.

[hc4361]

Thanks, bhg. Does it affect water flow in any way?

[bhg481]

Not noticeably.

[calmck]

I use a descaler every 3 months. Follow the directions. No after taste

[hc4361]

I use a descaler regularly, too, but that doesn't help the outside of the kettle

[ladybirder]

I live in a hard water area so have to descale the inside of my kettle a few times a year. But never the outside. The outside is clear, presumably because I don't get it wet. I must very careful without realising it.

[hc4361]

I must be a mucky puppy

[rowanwitch]

white vinegar should dissolve the limescale without damaging the enamel

[waterboatman]

I've got a filter jug. End of problem.