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How much power does a kettle use?
Wattage, temperature and cost explained.
Your kettle’s probably one of the most used appliances in your kitchen, so what does that mean for your wallet? The good news is that they’re also one of the cheapest to run, with the average kettle costing between 4 and 8p to boil a litre of water. We reckon a good brew’s worth it, but we’ve done the maths, so you can work it out at home and put your mind at ease.
Just follow these steps:
Find the wattage of your kettle underneath the base, it should be around 2000-3000 Watts.
Note down the boiling time - this depends on the wattage and how much water’s in the kettle.
For example, a 3000-Watt kettle takes 2-3 minutes to boil 1 litre of water.
Step 3: Now, for the maths. First, you’ll need to convert the wattage and boiling time to find out the kWh.
- (Wattage ÷ 1000) × time to boil (in hours) = kWh
For example, 3000W kettle × 0.05 hours (3 mins) = 0.15 kWh
Then, you just multiply the answer by your tariff charges and you’re good to go.
- kWh × tariff = cost per boil
For example, 0.15kWh × £0.30 = £0.045
That means our example costs roughly 4.5p to boil. Now you know it’s not costing an arm and a leg, why not celebrate with another cuppa?
Energy-saving tips
If you want to save even more pennies every time you brew up, there are a few things you can do to be extra-efficient:
- Only boil the water you need. The more you boil, the more energy’s wasted if you don’t use every drop.
- Keep on top of descaling your kettle, so it always runs at its best.
- Use filtered water to reduce limescale buildup.
- When shopping for a new kettle, look for models with rapid boil, eco settings, or insulated walls to retain the heat for longer.
