Blowing whistle on £145m kettle waste
Overfilling means we’re pouring money down drain
IT is the tea break habit that’s hard to break.
But overfilling the kettle is costing Britons nearly £150million every year, say researchers.
Academics at Strathclyde University examined the habits of a cross-section of households over 18 months, looking in detail at when and how they use a kettle.
They found that more than 90 per cent of families were needlessly adding to their electricity bills.
Putting in more water than required and reboiling due to forgetfulness wasted as much as £18 a year a home, averaging £5.39.
Across all 27 million UK households, the total bill would be £145.4million – more than twice the previous estimate.
The research team studied kettle habits in 14 households with smart meters in Loughborough, Leicestershire, between 2013 and 2015. They ranged from families of four to a single retired person with ages between ten and 70.
There were typically peaks in kettle use at 7am, 1pm, 5pm, 6pm and 8pm on weekdays and 7am and 9am at the weekends.
Every boil was compared against an ideal measure of 275ml for each adult and half that for each child.
In all, 13 of the households overfilled which, over 12 months, wasted 548 kilowatt hours of energy – or a whole year’s electricity demand for the average person in China.
The study, published in the journal Applied Energy, says: ‘While the consumption difference may be insignificant to a household, it is significant for the whole housing stock, with clear impact on electrical demand and carbon footprint.
‘The kettle is one of the appliances that requires the highest current when switched on. Due to the spiky nature of its demand, it can significantly influence electricity generation and the power distribution network.
‘The kettle is also one of the most inefficiently used appliances.’
Energy consultant John Large said: ‘I think it will take periods of over-demand and the blackouts that follow for people to change the way they think about using energy. The smart technology is there.’
Thrift tipster Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com said: ‘Add together lots of small amounts and you can end up saving hundreds of pounds.
‘I’ve been on about this problem for years and it’s time to blow the whistle on it. The real answer is simply dedicating yourself to breaking that bad habit.’
Ninety per cent of the population uses a kettle every day.
A ScottishPower spokesman said: ‘If we all just boil enough for our cuppas we’ll stop pouring money down the drain.’