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Relatedly I found this video on electric kettles vs gas stove efficiency for heating water pretty illuminating too: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?t=763 https://y

Relatedly I found this video on electric kettles vs gas stove efficiency for heating water pretty illuminating too: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?t=763 https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?t=763 The summary is that a cheap electric kettle can boil water way faster and with far less wasted energy than a stove top kettle.

zeroonetwothree 4y ago
That seems pretty obvious from their construction. I don’t know anyone that uses a stove top kettle. It’s unfortunate that in the US our electric kettles are much slower than in the U.K.
- AdmiralAsshat 4y ago
  I think it can be spread by word of mouth. I've already converted several friends and family over to electric kettles when they see how useful it is for coffee, tea, even for getting water boiled for cooking. The big question in my mind is whether the electric kettle itself is the "final form", or if I'll be proselytizing the same people in ten years to get an Asian style hot water heater/reservoir instead.
  - maccard 4y ago
    A holiday rental I stayed in had a boiling water tap. It's a small improvement over a kettle, but in terms of improvement there's very little efficiency gains to be had over a hot plate directly in contact with the cooking liquid.
  - 2ICofafireteam 4y ago
    Once you've had one you can't go back. I don't know what the losses are from maintaining the hot water but it's the ultimate in convenience.
  - pseudo0 4y ago
    An induction-friendly stovetop kettle is a pretty great option as well, for those with induction burners. I have found it about as fast as an electric kettle, but it saves counter space, and won't have to be replaced every 1-5 years. Maybe I have just had bad luck with inexpensive electric kettles, but they kept dying on me.
- ilamont 4y ago
  We use a Zwilling model at home that's very fast and simple to operate (seems strange to have to say that, but a Cuisinart model in our office is a UI and design disaster).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- vehemenz 4y ago
  I use both. Stove top kettles are less efficient, but they have a few advantages over electric kettles. They: - work when power is unavailable (outages, camping, etc.) - are more or less indestructible - don't take up counter space I have one of those big 4L Zojirushi electric kettles that I keep plugged in for 8-10 hours a day. Sometimes I will use the stove top kettle for supplementary boiling water when people in my household are using the electric, or I don't want to start a reboil cycle or take too much at once.
  - lupire 4y ago
    Electric kettle uses the same footprint space as a stove kettle.
    - vehemenz 4y ago
      Are you suggesting people put their electric kettles on the stove? Or that people place their hot kettles on the counter?
      - antisthenes 4y ago
        When it's not on the gas stove, it has to go somewhere.
        vehemenz 4y ago
        And how does that relate to counter space?
draw_down 4y ago
Absolutely. Personally I do many other things besides boiling water with the stove, and I agree a kettle is a better way to do that. At least for smaller amounts of water; you’re not making pasta for 4 in the kettle.
solarkraft 4y ago
> with far less wasted energy Small nit-pick: Electricity generation itself is often very lossy. In the case of fossil sources, the energy waste is just further up the chain (with solar power too, but it matters much less).
- loudmax 4y ago
  A generator powering the grid for the electric company is going to capture a far greater portion of the fossil fuel energy than the gas range in your kitchen. There will be some loss transmitting electrical power from the generator to your house, but usually less loss proportionally than than energy wasted above a gas range. As you suggest, climate-neutral renewable sources make up a tiny portion of most power grids, but that will likely change in the coming years.
  - JshWright 4y ago
    This is the same reason that EVs still win on overall efficiency, even if your electrical supply is fossil fuel based. You get to take advantages of efficiency in scale.
  - cameldrv 4y ago
    It’s probably pretty close to a wash. A gas stove is about 40% efficient. A good combined cycle has power plant is about 60%, transmission is about 90%, and an induction stove is about 85%. That gives a net efficiency of 46%.
    - maccard 4y ago
      So that's better if you're sourced by gas, and _way_ better if you're sourced by a renewable method? Looking at the national grid [0] in the UK, 40% of our energy came from gas, and most of the rest is renewable energy or nuclear. That significantly swings in favour of electric kettles. [0] https://grid.iamkate.com/ https://grid.iamkate.com/
      - cameldrv 4y ago
7speter 4y ago
This assumes you (everyone) live(s) in a building whose circuit breaker won’t trip when you plug in said kettle. And it can cost a pretty penny to get a building up to this standard.
- ajross 4y ago
  Old buildings aren't really the subject at hand, though[1]. Ideas about replacing standard cooking appliances are aimed at new construction and renovation. If you can afford to put in an induction range, you can surely run a wire for it. [1] Though it must also be pointed out that older housing stock tends very strongly to be electric anyway. Gas cooktops have always been high end devices. People renting buildings in old urban neighborhoods never installed them.
  - ziml77 4y ago
    I never thought of gas as being high-end. Is it because in existing construction it takes a lot more work to run pipes versus pulling a few wires through the wall?
- tootie 4y ago
  Fast electric kettles are fast due to their high power draw and efficient design. It should be possible to find a kettle that just draws less power. It will be equally power efficient just slower and less burdensome on your breakers.
- JshWright 4y ago
  If an off the shelf kettle is popping a circuit breaker in your house (absent some other load on the circuit), there’s a reasonable chance that’s a fire waiting to happen in a faulty wiring connection somewhere.
  - fomine3 4y ago
    Many cheap older apartment in Japan has poor 30A/100V power contract. Even the equipment is fine, 12A electric kettle may cause circuit braker down if they use other electronics.
jimhefferon 4y ago
What about compared to putting a cup in a kitchen microwave?
- jwilk 4y ago
  Microwave ovens are not as good as electric kettles, but still better than gas stoves. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/climate/nyt-climate-newsletter.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/climate/nyt-climate-newsl... "an overall efficiency [of a gas stove was] only 30.5 percent" "The microwave was a bit better; it clocked in at about 43 percent efficiency." "[Electric kettles] hit 70 percent efficiency."

zeroonetwothree 4y ago

That seems pretty obvious from their construction. I don’t know anyone that uses a stove top kettle. It’s unfortunate that in the US our electric kettles are much slower than in the U.K.

AdmiralAsshat 4y ago
I think it can be spread by word of mouth. I've already converted several friends and family over to electric kettles when they see how useful it is for coffee, tea, even for getting water boiled for cooking. The big question in my mind is whether the electric kettle itself is the "final form", or if I'll be proselytizing the same people in ten years to get an Asian style hot water heater/reservoir instead.
- maccard 4y ago
  A holiday rental I stayed in had a boiling water tap. It's a small improvement over a kettle, but in terms of improvement there's very little efficiency gains to be had over a hot plate directly in contact with the cooking liquid.
- 2ICofafireteam 4y ago
  Once you've had one you can't go back. I don't know what the losses are from maintaining the hot water but it's the ultimate in convenience.
- pseudo0 4y ago
  An induction-friendly stovetop kettle is a pretty great option as well, for those with induction burners. I have found it about as fast as an electric kettle, but it saves counter space, and won't have to be replaced every 1-5 years. Maybe I have just had bad luck with inexpensive electric kettles, but they kept dying on me.
ilamont 4y ago
We use a Zwilling model at home that's very fast and simple to operate (seems strange to have to say that, but a Cuisinart model in our office is a UI and design disaster).
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
vehemenz 4y ago
I use both. Stove top kettles are less efficient, but they have a few advantages over electric kettles. They: - work when power is unavailable (outages, camping, etc.) - are more or less indestructible - don't take up counter space I have one of those big 4L Zojirushi electric kettles that I keep plugged in for 8-10 hours a day. Sometimes I will use the stove top kettle for supplementary boiling water when people in my household are using the electric, or I don't want to start a reboil cycle or take too much at once.
- lupire 4y ago
  Electric kettle uses the same footprint space as a stove kettle.
  - vehemenz 4y ago
    Are you suggesting people put their electric kettles on the stove? Or that people place their hot kettles on the counter?
    - antisthenes 4y ago
      When it's not on the gas stove, it has to go somewhere.
      - vehemenz 4y ago
        And how does that relate to counter space?

draw_down 4y ago

Absolutely. Personally I do many other things besides boiling water with the stove, and I agree a kettle is a better way to do that. At least for smaller amounts of water; you’re not making pasta for 4 in the kettle.

solarkraft 4y ago

> with far less wasted energy Small nit-pick: Electricity generation itself is often very lossy. In the case of fossil sources, the energy waste is just further up the chain (with solar power too, but it matters much less).

loudmax 4y ago
A generator powering the grid for the electric company is going to capture a far greater portion of the fossil fuel energy than the gas range in your kitchen. There will be some loss transmitting electrical power from the generator to your house, but usually less loss proportionally than than energy wasted above a gas range. As you suggest, climate-neutral renewable sources make up a tiny portion of most power grids, but that will likely change in the coming years.
- JshWright 4y ago
  This is the same reason that EVs still win on overall efficiency, even if your electrical supply is fossil fuel based. You get to take advantages of efficiency in scale.
- cameldrv 4y ago
  It’s probably pretty close to a wash. A gas stove is about 40% efficient. A good combined cycle has power plant is about 60%, transmission is about 90%, and an induction stove is about 85%. That gives a net efficiency of 46%.
  - maccard 4y ago
    So that's better if you're sourced by gas, and _way_ better if you're sourced by a renewable method? Looking at the national grid [0] in the UK, 40% of our energy came from gas, and most of the rest is renewable energy or nuclear. That significantly swings in favour of electric kettles. [0] https://grid.iamkate.com/ https://grid.iamkate.com/
    - cameldrv 4y ago

7speter 4y ago

This assumes you (everyone) live(s) in a building whose circuit breaker won’t trip when you plug in said kettle. And it can cost a pretty penny to get a building up to this standard.

ajross 4y ago
Old buildings aren't really the subject at hand, though[1]. Ideas about replacing standard cooking appliances are aimed at new construction and renovation. If you can afford to put in an induction range, you can surely run a wire for it. [1] Though it must also be pointed out that older housing stock tends very strongly to be electric anyway. Gas cooktops have always been high end devices. People renting buildings in old urban neighborhoods never installed them.
- ziml77 4y ago
  I never thought of gas as being high-end. Is it because in existing construction it takes a lot more work to run pipes versus pulling a few wires through the wall?
tootie 4y ago
Fast electric kettles are fast due to their high power draw and efficient design. It should be possible to find a kettle that just draws less power. It will be equally power efficient just slower and less burdensome on your breakers.
JshWright 4y ago
If an off the shelf kettle is popping a circuit breaker in your house (absent some other load on the circuit), there’s a reasonable chance that’s a fire waiting to happen in a faulty wiring connection somewhere.
- fomine3 4y ago
  Many cheap older apartment in Japan has poor 30A/100V power contract. Even the equipment is fine, 12A electric kettle may cause circuit braker down if they use other electronics.

jimhefferon 4y ago

What about compared to putting a cup in a kitchen microwave?

jwilk 4y ago
Microwave ovens are not as good as electric kettles, but still better than gas stoves. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/climate/nyt-climate-newsletter.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/climate/nyt-climate-newsl... "an overall efficiency [of a gas stove was] only 30.5 percent" "The microwave was a bit better; it clocked in at about 43 percent efficiency." "[Electric kettles] hit 70 percent efficiency."