Um, pretty much as the headline reads. House mate started boiling water for coffee etc on the gas stove because I was dragging my feet my getting my electric kettle.
Now that I've got it, he says he keeps doing it out of habit. Just wondering what you think would be cheaper?
It's a year old run of the mill metal electric kettle. I'm unsure of the brand.
Cheers.
If you compare consumption cost of Electricity vs Gas then boiling on Gas is cheaper.
However, picture may change significantly if you take into account things like supply charge or solar panels (if you have them).
Energy wise, boiling on gas is less efficient as you waste a lot of energy heating air.
All depends
What do you pay for your Gas/electricity?
Eg you have time of day rates on Electricity?
In that case boiling kettle at 6pm with Electricity can be 3 times the cost of doing it at 6am
Plus it's easier with gas kettle to boil smaller amounts of water many electric kettles need 2 cups or more to cover element. So depends on model/type
In our house we found Gas was far cheaper for cooking (we have time of use metering), so we converted the electric stove over. Plus since we were prone to power outages it gave us some alternatives when the power went out. Could at least make a cuppa while waiting.
Why worry… it is usually cheaper to have an all electric house anyway.. you have lost before you begin.
sooo many variables, generally gas is cheaper
i nuke a cup in the microwave for 2-3 minutes
Silly question, lol
A true OZB user would go outside a fossick for kindle wood and a good pair of rocks and strike up a little fire to boil their water on. Most likely holding the water in a kettle fashioned out of old eneloops and Seagate external hard drive material.
What about if you have solar panels? What about solar with batteries?
That's what I do. I have a mains hooked up to solar panels. I use a long extension lead to connect the panels to my microwave and kettle.
Go outside on a hot day with a magnifying glass and hold it over the water til it starts to boil.
Either that you use it with your flat mate.
Open mouth insert coffee, water, stir and put his head under the magnifying glass. Cheaper that way saves dishwashing and water.
Yes. Best to do it in the carpark of a pub or maccas etc after you have obtained a free cup of water.
Can you get a free cup of boiling water from Maccas?
Do the math and get an answer. Assuming a 2000 watt load for approximately 4 minutes - approx 0.13kwh - approx 25 cents per kwh from Origin = 3.25 cents per boil. I'd say gas comes in more expensive than this.
edit: changed wording to stop pedantic responses and values to be more representative of actual cases.
After reading some responses in the thread it is apparent that many people aren't aware why gas may appear cheaper than electricity. It comes down to the efficiency in the transfer of energy. That is to say people with older electric cook tops will switch to gas and save buckets on their utility bills as the flame contacting the metal surface of the cook top is more efficient at transferring energy than the contact of a heated element be it direct or through a ceramic/glass surface. People who are on gas should check out induction cook tops as these have the benefit of cheaper energy supply and again higher efficiency gains over gas.
We use gas to boil aa full kettle. Pour out what we need and the rest of the boiling water goes into a good quality thermos. Keeps boiling water hot for hours.
The sunbeam kettle we had used too much electricity!
I boil mine at work.
Electric convection uses the most energy, unless you have have induction. Gas is in the middle, especially if you count the loss of electricity in the transmission of which gas doesn't suffer, however no one really counts the gas lost in the atmosphere during mining much (in case the concern is envoronmental) . Sorry I can quote my sources, I did a lot of research when I was buying an induction stove. Basically they are worth buying if you don't have gas. Of note is that induction is also the fastest.
A thin kettle will boil faster than a heavy pot/saucepan as the there is less heat required to heat the vessel to the point where it will boil the water, that's why they are made that way. Whether this is enough to offset the loss of heat that is in the kettle when transferring the water to the new vessel I don't know, but you could test how long with each process on the maximum level and that would give you your answer.
What makes more of a difference is the use of a lid and how much water you boil (you should boil only as much as you need). If you aren't doing those things then it won't matter whether you are using gas or electric.
I would recommend you don't approach it negatively, maybe you could do the experiment together and make it a fact finding thing, that way it isn't like you are handing anything down to her. Also some people prefer not to use kettles because they like their water hotter than the kettle switches off at. Also note that I don't think what she is using will amount to more than a few cents a week, so raising the rent would mean bugger all if you were going to only raise it by what she wasted.
1 minute and 45 to 55 seconds in a 900 Watt Microwave, per cup of whatever is perfect. I make my coffee like that first thing in the morning. The most efficient appliance in the kitchen my friends!
I make my tea in a pot so it's 1.6l of water every time. And then I microwave it after the 2nd cup.
That's actually quite smart!
wouldn't a thermos flask be better if you are doing that sort of thing?
Our gas only ever seems to be around $9 a month where as the electric fluctuates heavily dependent on usage, kettles are quite power-thirsty anyway so swapping over to a stove-top kettle will save in the long run.