Best kettles in the UK to save energy and speed up your cuppa

Despite the march of progress, the humble kettle remains a kitchen staple. Its basic principle is unchanged: water goes in, heats up until a thermostat switches it off, and you pour. Still, kettles have improved — better insulation to reduce reboils, variable temperature settings for different drinks, and features such as filters and concealed elements to keep scale out of your cup.

When your existing kettle reaches the end of its life, it pays to look at what’s on offer: the next one you buy may make more difference to your day than you expect. I tested 13 kettles, boiling litres of water while using a power meter to measure electricity use for one litre from cold, a timer for boil times, a probe thermometer for water temperature and an infrared thermometer and Decibel X app for external heat and noise.

Water was rechecked at 30 minutes, one hour and two hours; samples were returned or donated.

United Kingdom

kettles, energy efficiency, insulation, variable temperature, power meter, boil time, thermostat, concealed element, filters, noise levels