Kettles Dishwashers & Water Heaters

Hi folks, I’m Jon Mullen the Energy Evangelist. This month we're looking at savings on your water resources, and today we’re in the kitchen.

There are so many items in your kitchen which can be left switched on and using electric? It might be the coffee machine which has a timer but how many clocks do you need in the kitchen to tell the time? Why not just switch it off while you're not using it. Or even better, when you next replace your coffee maker why not choose one which has a thermos flask instead of a hot plate. If you have a thermos flask you don’t need to stew your coffee to keep it warm.

So next in line is your kettle. To save both water and energy only boil enough water to make the drinks you want. If you keep overfilling the kettle you will be wasting both water and electricity as the water will cool down rapidly every time you walk away, then when you come back you end up re-boiling the same water again. Keep your money in your pocket!

So what can we do with a water heater which is more than five years old? This could be insulated to retain heat within the unit, or you could replace the device with one which is more efficient. Also if your water heater is only used occasionally, choose a tankless model to reduce standby storage costs and waste.

And last but not least, the dishwasher - number one rule - only use it for full loads. Every time you run a standard dishwasher, you use about 25 litres of water. Whereas energy efficient dishwashers can use as little as 10 litres of water. So we have the cost of the water, and the cost of heating the water.

So that’s it for this week! There are so many ways to save energy and money.

I’m Jon Mullen the Energy Evangelist. Come and find out how to save more energy and more cash at EnergyEvangelist.co.uk