Are you a tea lover who's got a brew on the go no matter what the time of day? If the answer's 'yes' then you might have considered cutting back on your cuppas given the rising energy costs.
However there’s a way to half the energy your kettle uses which could save 84p a day or £25 a month. Okay – let's do the maths.
Let’s say you have eight cups of tea a day, which is perfectly doable if you work from home. Given that it costs, on average, 21p to boil an electric kettle that kind of intake would cost £1.68 a day.
Read more: 25 simple ways you can save money in 2022
That's based on the proviso it takes four and a half minutes to boil a full two-litre kettle with a power rating of 3kW – although that'll differ depending on the kettle’s water capacity, power rating, efficiency, and the cost of electricity in your area. So, for the purposes of this piece, we'll use averages.
Essentially though the answer to halving the energy use on a kettle is probably not the one you were expecting – because the solution is to make twice as much tea. That's right – instead of making one cup of tea make two at a time. Then get a coaster and place it on top of brew number two to trap the heat in.
"But why not just make a flask of tea in the first place?" you cry. And you'd be right – but, to us, tea never tastes as good from flask and always ends up with a metallic aftertaste.
This way, when your first cup of tea is done and dusted, the second is still hot and ready for consumption. It's also important to remember that it's more expensive to boil a full kettle than a half-full kettle because you’re using more energy to boil more water.
But so long as you don’t overfill and use the correct amount of water in the kettle it's more efficient and cost effective. Based on a saving of £25 a month just by making this one switch that could shave £300 off your energy bill in a year.
Of course drinking less tea would also work but other ways to cut costs include descaling the kettle. That's because limescale can block the heat elements which uses more energy.
Only boiling the amount of water you need would also help. In addition if you live in a multi-person household then offer to make others a cuppa when you make yours to save them boiling the kettle 20 minutes after you've made your own.
Many homes also have a smart meter which allows you to monitor your energy usage and see how much energy you are using each day. This can inform decisions such as how high to have your heating set to as well as showing you which household appliances use the most energy.
What's more smart meters automatically send accurate meter readings to your supplier ensuring you only pay for the energy you use instead of receiving an estimated bill. See how much you can save by using a smart meter here.
