Saving Electricity

Would replacing the kettle for a ‘Zip’ hot water, if you have solar hot water installed, be a cost-effective solution in reducing costs? Would the initial expense of purchasing installing a ‘Zip’ be worthwhile in the long term?

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Unlikely, unless you are heavy hot beverage drinking household. From ZIP…

Costs vary according to power supplier and usage. With sleep mode operating 10 hours out of each 24, typical daily operating power usage is 0.817 kWh. At $0.30 per kWh, that’s less than $1.90 per week.

Most domestic ones only appear to have cold water inputs so solar HW wouldn’t make any difference as cold would need to be connected. If solar HW could be used, it would have the same benefits/savings if used in a kettle.

Assume 0.817kW per day, one would need to boil a 2400W kettle (kettles are typically half of this…but lets assume 2400W though) for about 20 minutes each day to start using less electricity (assuming the ZIP power consumtpion is static, which it wouldn’t be as the more hotwater used ,the higher the power consumption.

As one can boil a litre of water in a higher wattage kettle in about 2 minutes, one would need ro drink about 10L of hot beverage per household per day to potentially get in front financially (excluding the capital ourchase costs of a kettle and ZIP boiler). The actual volume is likely to be higher as conservative calculations have been used.

My thoughts is that the ZIP might be a fancy ‘keep up the Joneses’ type appliance rather than one which would is cheaper to run in the long term. In a high volume commercial situation, it might be a different matter.

Maybe the best savings achievable is to use solaw HW in a standard kettle and only boil the water needed to make the required volume of hot beverage. Boiling extra unused water means higher costs and energy wastage.

It could be one for Choice to test and assess against the traditional 1200W electric kettle.

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Common in office and shared use kitchens.

As @phb suggests for home the good old kettle is probably the lowest cost. When making tea there is a suggestion fresh cold water holds more oxygen and makes a better cuppa. Who knows?

A kettle boils so quickly it uses very little electricity. And none when you are out. You can always fill the kettle with hot water. But note, there are heat losses in the pipes and running out warm water every time you use the hot tap.

There are many other items in the house that use more power over a day that might be more worthy of attention.

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Here’s a good break-down of energy use for boiling the water

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Thanks for a detailed response, phb. Have never been one to ‘keep up with…’
I like to outsmart them!! I’ll keep using the ye olde kettle. When this one stops working, I will search for the most efficient (without wi-fi).

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If you are a online Choice member, Choice reviews commonly available kettles from time to time…

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I am not sure the “Zip” has saved us money. We have the less expensive competition. But the convenience is huge. My husband is a coffee drinker and can manage around 8 cups or more a day, so will have a more upmarket expensive version with me, early in the day and then go for several cups of instant during the rest of the day.
We have also had long term visitors who were instant coffee fans.
I love the convenience of not having to waste time boiling water for my cooking - pasta, through rice.
When our previous Zip broke, after about 4 years, we went back to a kettle. I found it annoying and inconvenient.
Since we want a filter on our drinking water, anyway, as we have rainwater throughout, we found a less expensive version of the Zip, with lower maintenance and it has been perfect for our household.
For us, it is not about the power saving, but all about the convenience.

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Thanks for your insight, isellev. More to consider!

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