On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:21:47 +0100, Rob Horton
wrote:

wrote:
Why aren't kettles highly insulated?

I was distracted by the phone this morning and kettle had cooled a bit
before I poured my cuppa.

Made me think how convenient and energy efficient kettles would be if
they could keep the water in them near boiling for some time.

I've wondered about this as well. The insulation would probably need to
be something like http://www.ybsinsulation.com/superquilt.htm, a
combination of reflective layers kept separate by layers of foam to
prevent conduction of heat. If it were purely foam insulation it would
probably result in a kettle that is unfeasibly bulky.

Thinking along the lines if efficiency, the amount of energy needed to
boil water depends on the temperature differential between the starting
temperature and finishing temperature. Maybe keep several litres of
water on a sunny windowsill to warm up before using. Also, not all
beverages need boiling water. Monitoring the temperature of the water in
the kettle and then turning it off when the desired temperature has been
reached would be a good idea.

My kettle has several settings. One for tea, coffee and one for
lukewarm drinks which is supposedly the right temperature for adding
to yeast for bread.
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