Low Wattage Kettle in Aldi

[D. W. Walker]

Just bought a low wattage electric kettle in Aldi yesterday, they call it a "Caravan Kettle".  Same size as a normal domestic kettle (1.7L) but with only a 240 volt 1000w element so ideal for boats with lower power inverters. Tried it out, its fine, although of course takes longer to boil than a domestic kettle, choice of colours available, and at £9.99 it has to be a bargain!

[Alan de Enfield]

Yes - they are good, but, don't be misled into thinking that they use less power/energy to heat the water.

Water takes a fixed amount of energy to heat from temperature 'x' to temperature 'y' so whilst it will take twice a long to heat with a 1kw heater as opposed to a 2kw heater, exactly the same Ah will be taken from your batteries.

Any form of heating by electricity (on a boat) should be managed very carefully (and avoided wherever possible) - having said that we do use an electric kettle.

 

You correctly highlight the sole benefit - which is that you can use it with a smaller inverter.

 

Edited April 14, 2017 by Alan de Enfield

[WotEver]

A low powered kettle will actually use slightly more Ah than a higher-powered one because the losses (heating the air) will be greater. Think of trying to boil a kettle with a candle - it would never get there. 

[D. W. Walker]

I never intended to imply that it would use "less" energy to boil a given quantity of water - schoolboy physics tells you that is impossible. But the lower powered element applies the energy at a lower rate (watts = joules per second), so this energy is supplied over a longer time period to make it boil. The only point I was originally trying to make is that if you do want an electric kettle on a boat, then these are ideal because of the limited inverter capacity on most boats - including mine!

[chubby]

Quite amazingly my kettle uses zero power from the battery bank . This i find very reassuring considering that my batteries provide all the electricity on my 100%!off grid boat . How do i achieve this ? 

By putting a kettle on my gas hob and lighting it with a match . 

No possibility whatsoever to have an impact on battery capacity & it ll probably be quicker . 

Bleedin obvious solution id say 

cheers

 

[MtB]

On 14/04/2017 at 10:15, chubby said:

Quite amazingly my kettle uses zero power from the battery bank . This i find very reassuring considering that my batteries provide all the electricity on my 100%!off grid boat . How do i achieve this ? 

By putting a kettle on my gas hob and lighting it with a match . 

No possibility whatsoever to have an impact on battery capacity & it ll probably be quicker . 

Bleedin obvious solution id say 

cheers

 

 

My thoughts too. Why anyone would want to boil a kettle using copious amounts of precious battery power instead of gas, escapes me.

[Alan de Enfield]

18 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

My thoughts too. Why anyone would want to boil a kettle using copious amounts of precious battery power instead of gas, escapes me.

Electricity is produced 'free' as a by-product of cruising.

Gas costs money.

OK - if you are a constant-moorer (without a landine) then I guess gas makes sense.

[MtB]

On 14/04/2017 at 10:42, Alan de Enfield said:

Electricity is produced 'free' as a by-product of cruising.

 

How sweet and cute that you think this.

[MtB]

On 14/04/2017 at 10:42, Alan de Enfield said:

Electricity is produced 'free' as a by-product of cruising.

Gas costs money.

OK - if you are a constant-moorer (without a landine) then I guess gas makes sense.

 

And slipping in snidy comments about constant-moorers doesn't sit well with your reputation on the forum. You are better than that, I hope.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

How sweet and cute that you think this.

 

The extra fuel used to replace (say) 10Ah used to heat the kettle will be lost in the running 2x 6 Cylinder engines.

I admit to it not being totally 'free' - hence the inverted commas in the post.

[Robbo]

In summer with solar the use of a electric kettle makes sense making it totally free bar a teabag or two.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Robbo

[bizzard]

No form of power in this world is free of a price or penalty.  Wind generators disrupt, slow down and divert the apparent wind, so do sailing yachts, aircraft ect.  wave power does similar with the water, both one day will perhaps have a disasterous knock on effect with the worlds weather systems and whatnot. As for solar power, well that's simply wearing out the sun quicker than it would naturally wear out. Plus the cost and all the pollution caused in the manufacture of these so called free power contrivances. The entire middle eastern oil producing countries will one day completely disappear, sink into the massive hollow voids under the deserts caused by oil extraction and the sea will come pouring back there once again with all its fish to make more oil. And so its goes on, or doesn't.   We're absolutely doomed.  I'm going to hide under the bed.

Edited April 14, 2017 by bizzard

[MtB]

On 14/04/2017 at 10:55, Robbo said:

In summer with solar the use of a electric kettle makes sense making it totally free bar a teabag or two.

 

Good point.

(Provided you have a Smartgauge that works  )

[rusty69]

12 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Good point.

(Provided you have a Smartgauge that works  )

No need for a Smartgauge. Water in kettle boiling when steam  comes out of the top

[bizzard]

3 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

No need for a Smartgauge. Water in kettle boiling when steam  comes out of the top

Steam is invisible and is the little clear gap between the spout and the water vapour which you can see.

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, bizzard said:

Steam is invisible and is the little clear gap between the spout and the water vapour which you can see.

So water in kettle NOT boiling when steam comes out of the top? 

[bizzard]

6 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

So water in kettle NOT boiling when steam comes out of the top? 

Water vapour will begin to appear from the spout as the kettle begins to boil. When its boiling properly you will see a clear gap of about 1/2'' between the spout and the visible water vapour. The invisible gap is steam.  The steam becomes visible as water vapour as it condenses in the colder air.

Edited April 14, 2017 by bizzard

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Water vapour will begin to appear from the spout as the kettle begins to boil. When its boiling properly you will see a clear gap of about 1/2'' between the spout and the visible water vapour. The invisible gap is steam.  The steam becomes visible as water vapour as it condenses in the colder air.

So, water in kettle boiling when steam come out the top? 

[bizzard]

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

So, water in kettle boiling when steam come out the top? 

Yes, but as visible water vapour as it strikes the cold air outside the kettle. As it boils more furiously the little clear gap will appear, that is steam.

[rusty69]

11 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Yes, but as visible water vapour as it strikes the cold air outside the kettle. As it boils more furiously the little clear gap will appear, that is steam.

Ahhhhh, just as I thought 

 

Seriously though, thanks for the lesson, something I didn't know(I know there isn't much) 

Edited April 14, 2017 by rusty69

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Ahhhhh, just as I thought 

 

Seriously though, thanks for the lesson, something I didn't know(I know there isn't much) 

You were in good company - there was a lot of 'hot-air' when this was a question / discussed on QI.

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You were in good company - there was a lot of 'hot-air' when this was a question / discussed on QI.

Ahh there's something I do know about. That's the stuff they put in them hot air balloons. Or is it cold air, then they heat it up........over to you bizz. 

[WotEver]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Ahh there's something I do know about. That's the stuff they put in them hot air balloons. Or is it cold air, then they heat it up........over to you bizz. 

I've seen them put it in. They use great big fans. 

[rusty69]

5 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I've seen them put it in. They use great big fans. 

Ah,an expert. What colour was it? 

[WotEver]

The air?

Oh, the fan. Red. The best fans are always red.