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Comment on Why don't Americans use electric kettles?

You make an interesting case. I haven’t seen one of those that I liked. Just the nasty ones from the 80s that were always crusted over with scale. We do have to descale the Zojirushi often.

Starting from room temperature water to near boiling takes a ton of energy. I don’t know if keeping it hot for 8 hours takes more electricity than starting it back up in the morning.

This made me think.

It seems like it would be a wash in the end. The Zojirushi is insulated, so it stays pretty hot even in the 8 hours it’s turned off overnight. But let’s imagine it is losing a certain amount of heat called “x” per hour.

In the morning I’d have to spend 8x to get it back up to temperature. But it still loses heat even when it’s turned on. So I’m already spending the same x every hour just to keep it on.

Now let’s imagine that the insulation loses x per hour but 4 hours is enough to leak all the heat out. Okay, I’ve lost 4x. But I would have spent 8x to keep it on all night.

So it seems like it can only be a gain to turn it off for certain spells. And that is intuitively obvious, too: turning something off should save energy.

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Sludgeyy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Thought of something else. Your water heater stays on 24/7.

The only hot water I use in the morning before I go to work is to wash my hands.

If I don’t get home until let’s say 5. I’d need to wash my hands some more but I don’t need hot water until I take my shower at 9.

So really I would be keeping 80 gallons of water hot for 23.5 hrs so I can use ~30 gallons in 15 minutes.

It’s only keeping it at ~120°-140°F (~50°C) compared to 210° (99°C) of the instant hot water tank.

I have a tankless water heater so that’s not a problem for me, but seems crazy thinking about it now.

Which leads me to my next thought. I wonder if they make tankless under sink hot water dispensers?

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Sludgeyy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I’ll add this too:

You can get a filter for the dispenser. Pure drinking water and hot water while reducing scale buildup.

I don’t have a filter on mine and I have never done any descaling or maintenance on it in 7+ years other than cleaning the faucet like I would any other faucet.

Pro:

Instant hot water on tap 24/7 (Instant cool drinking water 24/7)

Able to easily filter water

Unlimited water (No refilling unit)

Con:

Extra electricity

$30 extra a year?

Like would you pay $2.50-$5 monthly subscription for unlimited instant hot/cold filtered water on tap whenever you want it? (above $2.50 would be for cold and filter if you choose those options instead of just hot. Since I assume cold takes more energy and you have to replace filters)

Doesn’t make sense for everyone, and you do have to think about the upfront cost. You can get a tank for ~150, then the faucet can be ~50 to whatever you want to pay.

So maybe if your Zojirushi ever breaks. I enjoy my Zojirushi bread maker a ton.
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Sludgeyy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

So it seems like it can only be a gain to turn it off for certain spells. And that is intuitively obvious, too: turning something off should save energy.

Cars get better mileage on the highway than on city roads. Drive an hour, stop, drive an hour, stop, drive an hour. It is less efficient than driving 3 hours nonstop. The more stops the more inefficient.

The under sink heaters are designed to keep water hot 24/7. I would image it is better insulated than the Zojirushi. The water is stored in a container that basically heats it up from every side. Some kettles like the one in the video have heating elements inside the water which is more efficient than just a hot bottom plate. Under sink heater has a hot plate on all sides of it’s box.

From my experience, I’ve had one my entire life and couldn’t go back. I would expect at least 7-10 years from one. One in my current house is 7+ years old and works exactly the same as the day I installed it. Never turned it off once.

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