Phil Addison wrote:
SWIMBO bought a shiny new steel kettle, and now we can't listen to the
kitchen radio when its on (the kettle that is!!) because it makes such a
vigorous 'kettling' racket, and not just when it's near boiling. Last
weekend I talked to a guy in our independent appliance retailer and he
said they are all like that these days, its due to the trendy new
'concealed element' design.

Personally, I have a Russel Hobbs kettle.
Like
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobb...UTF8&s=kitchen
but white.

I can just about hear the radio, on at a normal volume next door.
With the radio on next to it at a normal volume, there is no problem
whatsoever.
I suspect it's that steel is more noisy, to some extent.

And personally, I love the concealed element feature.
I typically have around a cupfull of water in the kettle, which it boils
really fast.
It will happily boil half a cup.

Not to mention the topic of the moment - energy saving.

If you boil an extra cup of water 4 times a day, you spend 3 pounds a
year extra, and spend an extra several hours a year waiting on the
kettle.