1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,280 If you’re a human person, one of those things  you’re gonna wanna do with some regularity 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:07,119 is boil water. 3 00:00:07,119 --> 00:00:11,376 We do it for lots of reasons,  from cooking to cleaning and disinfecting 4 00:00:11,376 --> 00:00:13,441 to... other things probably. 5 00:00:13,441 --> 00:00:18,962 And one of those other things is preparing hot beverages such as tea. 6 00:00:18,962 --> 00:00:21,338 Maybe you’d file that under cooking, I dunno, it doesn’t matter, 7 00:00:21,338 --> 00:00:26,185 anyway this is such a common practice in  the daily lives of humans across the planet 8 00:00:26,185 --> 00:00:31,510 that purpose-built water-boily-poury things,  called kettles, are quite a common sight. 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,720 But they’re a little less common here in the US  than they are in many other parts of the world,   10 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,320 particularly the electric variety. 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,696 Actually, I think it’s fair to say they’re a lot less common. 12 00:00:43,696 --> 00:00:49,938 One often cited reason is that our 120V  electrical supply just doesn’t have the gusto 13 00:00:49,938 --> 00:00:51,901 to make electric kettles worth it. 14 00:00:51,901 --> 00:00:54,239 Look, here it’s cited three times! 15 00:00:54,239 --> 00:00:59,780 But by the end of this video, I hope you’ll learn,  as I have, that this just… 16 00:00:59,780 --> 00:01:01,482 isn’t true. 17 00:01:01,482 --> 00:01:06,053 Electric kettles are, even though they are a lot slower  on this side of the Atlantic, 18 00:01:06,053 --> 00:01:10,047 still significantly faster than their stovetop counterparts. 19 00:01:10,047 --> 00:01:13,949 At  least, for now - spoiler alert, there’s a twist. 20 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,759 I’ll begin with some testing and demonstration. 21 00:01:16,759 --> 00:01:22,171 As a note, the times I’ll be referencing in this video came from off-camera tests. 22 00:01:22,171 --> 00:01:27,236 I’ll replicate some of the tests on-camera but the results will probably be slightly different. 23 00:01:27,236 --> 00:01:30,396 This is my stovetop kettle. 24 00:01:30,396 --> 00:01:31,930 It’s red! 25 00:01:31,930 --> 00:01:37,920 And it has a wide, flat bottom which is helpful for doing tests  because it’ll work great with any stove. 26 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,202 Throughout this video, I’ll be bringing this much water to a boil. 27 00:01:43,202 --> 00:01:45,050 Yes, this is a SodaStream bottle. 28 00:01:45,050 --> 00:01:46,089 It was convenient. 29 00:01:46,089 --> 00:01:49,805 Anyway, this is pretty close to one liter, but not exactly. 30 00:01:49,805 --> 00:01:53,285 The most important thing is I’m being consistent with each test. 31 00:01:53,285 --> 00:01:57,154 The water will come straight from the tap and will  go into a cold kettle, 32 00:01:57,154 --> 00:01:59,621 and we’ll time how long it takes to boil. 33 00:01:59,621 --> 00:02:04,093 For this kettle, I will consider it  done when I hear the first peep from its whistle. 34 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:12,142 On this gas stove’s “normal” burner, it took a  glacial 7m:40s to come to a boil. 35 00:02:12,142 --> 00:02:16,400 This stove does have a higher-power burner  available, but we’ll get back to it in a bit. 36 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,087 Not everybody has a gas stove, though. 37 00:02:20,087 --> 00:02:25,774 And if you don’t, you might wanna consider yourself lucky but that’s a topic for another day. 38 00:02:25,774 --> 00:02:30,446 I brought the kettle and my measury bottle along with me for a visit with my parents. 39 00:02:30,446 --> 00:02:34,105 You see, they have a glass-ceramic electric cooktop. 40 00:02:34,105 --> 00:02:41,826 I don’t know what the exact power output is of the burners but I do know that the entire thing is 8.8 kW all together, 41 00:02:41,826 --> 00:02:49,074 and with these burners being the “average” size of four I think 2 kW is probably pretty fair. 42 00:02:49,074 --> 00:02:54,384 This burner, from cold, brought the kettle to a boil in six minutes flat. 43 00:02:54,384 --> 00:02:56,583 Which actually surprised me. 44 00:02:56,583 --> 00:03:00,846 I figured it wouldn’t be as fast as my gas stove but it actually beat it by nearly two minutes. 45 00:03:01,102 --> 00:03:01,776 Go figure. 46 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,391 Now let’s see how an electric kettle will do. 47 00:03:05,391 --> 00:03:08,320 This is the cheapest kettle you can buy at Walmart. 48 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:14,016 And as you can see, it sports an exquisite design  and is built of the highest quality materials.   49 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,213 Like virtually all electric kettles this sports  an automatic shutoff feature, 50 00:03:19,213 --> 00:03:24,827 however there’s a substantial delay between when it begins  to boil and when the shutoff is actually tripped. 51 00:03:24,827 --> 00:03:29,578 So, I’ll be considering this kettle “done” the moment  it’s at a roaring boil. 52 00:03:29,578 --> 00:03:33,412 How long does this fella take to boil that amount of water? 53 00:03:33,412 --> 00:03:36,383 Four minutes and thirty-three seconds. 54 00:03:36,383 --> 00:03:39,424 I suspect some viewers are aghast at that performance, 55 00:03:39,424 --> 00:03:45,263 but that’s more than three minutes faster than the stovetop kettle on a gas stove, 56 00:03:45,263 --> 00:03:50,096 and about a minute-and-a-half faster than  the same kettle on a glass-ceramic electric stove. 57 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,695 Why might that be? 58 00:03:52,695 --> 00:03:55,023 Well the answer is pretty simple. 59 00:03:55,023 --> 00:03:57,959 But before we get into it with excruciating detail, 60 00:03:57,959 --> 00:04:02,814 let me reiterate that the cheapest electric kettle I could get my hands on 61 00:04:02,814 --> 00:04:07,971 is significantly faster at boiling water than  this stovetop kettle, 62 00:04:07,971 --> 00:04:12,229 despite being limited by our 120V electrical system. 63 00:04:12,229 --> 00:04:18,561 Our weird system puts a practical limit of 1,500 watts on most things which plug into ordinary outlets, 64 00:04:18,561 --> 00:04:21,583 although 1,800 watts is technically permissible 65 00:04:21,583 --> 00:04:25,582 and on a 20 amp circuit, which is fairly common  especially in kitchens, 66 00:04:25,582 --> 00:04:30,015 2,400 hundred watts is possible, but since it’s by no means universal 67 00:04:30,015 --> 00:04:32,922 (and requires a different plug to be compliant) 68 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:40,867 most devices stick to a 12 amp limit, which nets  1,500 watts at a slightly optimistic 125 volts. 69 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,365 That’s plenty of power for virtually anything, 70 00:04:44,365 --> 00:04:50,661 but many of you in 230 and 240 lands will find this kettle to be obnoxiously slow. 71 00:04:50,661 --> 00:04:55,701 I’ve also seen a few people here who have installed a 240V receptacle in their kitchen 72 00:04:55,701 --> 00:04:59,362 specifically to use with imported kettles, 73 00:04:59,362 --> 00:05:01,540 and I guess more power to ‘em. 74 00:05:03,332 --> 00:05:06,640 (just a reminder we actually have 240V power here, but we do it... 75 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,997 weird, I made a video about it if you wanna learn more). 76 00:05:09,997 --> 00:05:11,933 Now, hot take; 77 00:05:11,933 --> 00:05:14,659 all y’all tea drinkers are frightfully impatient- [said slipping into a Southern drawl] 78 00:05:14,659 --> 00:05:16,602 Oops, did I say that out loud? 79 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,600 Anyway, with the knowledge that even a cheap  little kettle with our weak little plugs   80 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,911 is still a lot faster at boiling water than a  kettle on a stove, 81 00:05:26,807 --> 00:05:30,976 why aren’t they the household staple that they are in other parts of the world? 82 00:05:30,976 --> 00:05:34,129 What a perplexing mystery, I doubt we’ll ever know the true ans - 83 00:05:34,129 --> 00:05:37,285 It’s because we don’t drink tea all that  much, you guys. 84 00:05:37,976 --> 00:05:39,032 That’s it. 85 00:05:39,032 --> 00:05:40,679 That’s the answer. 86 00:05:40,679 --> 00:05:46,348 It’s not like nobody here drinks tea, but I think it’s  fair to say that for the majority of households 87 00:05:46,348 --> 00:05:52,096 tea is more of a “Ooh I’m feeling fancy today,  let’s whip out the Earl Grey!” kind of a thing. 88 00:05:52,454 --> 00:05:56,359 It simply is not the cultural staple for us that  it might be for you, 89 00:05:56,359 --> 00:06:00,165 especially in the context of, say, social gatherings. 90 00:06:00,165 --> 00:06:05,304 When friends come ‘round, putting a kettle on is not really in our cultural vernacular - 91 00:06:05,304 --> 00:06:08,568 but brewing a pot of coffee absolutely is. 92 00:06:08,568 --> 00:06:14,140 So, since most of us find ourselves boiling water for tea only occasionally (if ever), 93 00:06:14,140 --> 00:06:17,027 a faster, purpose-built water-boily-poury-thing 94 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:20,457 is just not on the average American mind. 95 00:06:20,457 --> 00:06:22,392 That’s all there is to it. 96 00:06:22,392 --> 00:06:27,093 Yes, our electric kettles are slower than they are on the other side of the Atlantic, but! 97 00:06:27,093 --> 00:06:30,105 They’re still the fastest way to boil water! 98 00:06:30,105 --> 00:06:33,724 The trouble is that relatively few people even know to want them. 99 00:06:34,334 --> 00:06:39,680 So, why is this $15 lump of plastic so much faster at this whole water boiling thing? 100 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,249 Well, take a look inside of it. 101 00:06:43,249 --> 00:06:45,450 We can see the heating element. 102 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:46,961 That’s it. 103 00:06:46,961 --> 00:06:48,403 That’s the thing what get hot. 104 00:06:48,403 --> 00:06:50,317 And when you fill it up with water, 105 00:06:50,317 --> 00:06:56,522 the heating element becomes submersed in and surrounded on all sides by the stuff we’re aiming to heat. 106 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:02,640 All of the energy that this thing can pull from the  wall is getting dumped straight into the water, 107 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,889 save for whatever tiny bit is lost in the power cord. 108 00:07:05,889 --> 00:07:10,055 Many electric kettles don’t have an exposed heating element like you see here, 109 00:07:10,055 --> 00:07:15,002 but instead bond the element to the bottom surface of the kettle which the water sits atop. 110 00:07:15,002 --> 00:07:17,536 It’s a different arrangement, but the effect is much the same. 111 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:25,450 In comparison, a stovetop kettle can only try its best at absorbing heat that’s getting blasted at it from below 112 00:07:25,450 --> 00:07:28,518 and then transfer that heat into the water it contains. 113 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:33,744 That’s just much less effective than  releasing heat directly into the water.   114 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,950 How much less effective is it? 115 00:07:35,950 --> 00:07:39,056 Well, we can find out pretty easily with some math! 116 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,122 One fun thing about this universe is that Energy. Is. Energy. 117 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,320 We have a lot of different names for it  and measure in a bunch of different ways,   118 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,864 but it’s all the same thing and we can convert  between units easily. 119 00:07:52,864 --> 00:07:58,279 One of those units which is particularly useful for this discussion is the calorie. 120 00:07:58,279 --> 00:08:05,956 That’s how much energy it takes to elevate the temperature of 1 cubic centimeter (or one milliliter) of water by 1 degree Celsius. 121 00:08:07,211 --> 00:08:11,661 ♫ lo-fi jazz plays ♫ 122 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,480 If we presume that the water from the  tap is at about 20 degrees Celsius,   123 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:28,800 and we have 1,000 cubic centimeters  of water to raise up by 80 degrees,   124 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,434 then it will take 80,000 calories  of energy to bring it to a boil. 125 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,148 Now, we can ask a search engine to convert that  into a different unit for us! 126 00:08:38,148 --> 00:08:40,820 Let’s go with... joules. 127 00:08:40,820 --> 00:08:43,263 Agh, no, I didn’t want the kilocalorie. 128 00:08:43,263 --> 00:08:50,318 That’s what we commonly use for food, I just want 80,000 calories - the regular kind. 129 00:08:50,318 --> 00:08:56,639 Fine, 80 kilocalories is 334,720 joules. 130 00:08:56,639 --> 00:08:58,329 Why have I chosen joules? 131 00:08:58,329 --> 00:09:04,823 Well, here’s a fun thing; you know what the watt - the  commonly-used unit of electrical power - actually is? 132 00:09:04,823 --> 00:09:07,148 It’s one joule per second. 133 00:09:07,148 --> 00:09:10,720 And, since our electric kettles typically run at 1,500 watts, 134 00:09:11,216 --> 00:09:16,301 That means they can put 1,500 joules of energy into the  water every second. 135 00:09:16,301 --> 00:09:20,962 So if we divide 334,720 (the number of joules we need) 136 00:09:20,962 --> 00:09:25,651 by 1,500 (the number of joules we can add to the water every second), 137 00:09:25,651 --> 00:09:32,266 we will find out how much time it should take for an electric kettle in the US to boil a liter of room temperature water in seconds. 138 00:09:32,266 --> 00:09:35,229 That answer? 223. 139 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:39,440 In the real world, though, it took about 22%  longer than that. 140 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:45,488 Our theoretical speed is 223 seconds, but the observed time was 273 seconds. 141 00:09:45,488 --> 00:09:48,111 What’s the cause of the discrepancy? 142 00:09:48,111 --> 00:09:49,785 Well actually there are two causes. 143 00:09:49,785 --> 00:09:53,360 First, this thing doesn’t actually pull 1500 watts from the wall. 144 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:59,200 It’s a resistive electrical load - the heating  element is just a giant resistor, after all,   145 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:04,431 so the actual power it consumes will depend on  the voltage at the receptacle. 146 00:10:04,431 --> 00:10:08,613 In my test it was drawing only 1,430 watts. 147 00:10:08,613 --> 00:10:14,888 Knowing that this was the real power output, our theoretical time should be revised to 234 seconds. 148 00:10:14,888 --> 00:10:19,014 Our observed time, though,  was still about 16% longer than that - 149 00:10:19,014 --> 00:10:20,549 why? 150 00:10:20,549 --> 00:10:22,383 Well, it’s not just the water that we’re heating. 151 00:10:22,383 --> 00:10:28,080 The body of the kettle itself gets warmed up through the water, and that thermal mass slows us down a bit. 152 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,177 Plus, of course, some energy escapes into the room before the water boils - 153 00:10:32,177 --> 00:10:36,000 both through the sides getting warm and a bit escaping out the top. 154 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:42,358 Still, though, only 16% more time  compared to literal perfection ain’t bad. 155 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:44,495 Let’s switch things up a bit. 156 00:10:44,495 --> 00:10:47,143 Remember, Energy. Is. Energy. 157 00:10:47,143 --> 00:10:54,139 And we can convert the 80,000 calories it takes to lift a liter of water by 80 degrees celsius into watt-hours. 158 00:10:54,139 --> 00:11:02,914 Joules are fun and all, but since we tend to measure power output in watts it’s usually easier to conceptualize energy in watt-hours. 159 00:11:02,914 --> 00:11:05,669 Plus you get much smaller  numbers which is helpful. 160 00:11:05,669 --> 00:11:11,349 80,000 calories is about 93 watt-hours according to Google’s converty thing. 161 00:11:11,349 --> 00:11:13,840 How many watt-hours did our kettle use? 162 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:19,191 Well, 273 seconds divided by the 3600 seconds  in an hour 163 00:11:19,191 --> 00:11:28,810 and then multiplied by the 1,430 watts the kettle was actually pulling tells us that we consumed 108.4 watt-hours which is…   164 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,044 whaddya know, about 16% more than 93. 165 00:11:32,044 --> 00:11:33,498 Ain’t this fun? 166 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,631 Let’s do a little more math! 167 00:11:35,631 --> 00:11:37,907 Through the Magic of Buying Two of Them, 168 00:11:37,907 --> 00:11:40,878 I have a second, slightly-fancier kettle! 169 00:11:40,878 --> 00:11:44,442 And this one sports RAPID-HEAT technology! 170 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,213 Which is funny because it’s only rated 1,100 watts. 171 00:11:48,213 --> 00:11:55,641 This one has the embedded heating element design - rather than a big curly thing getting hot, the bottom surface is what gets hot. 172 00:11:55,641 --> 00:12:01,534 Given what we’ve learned, we should be able to predict  how long this will take to boil a liter of water.   173 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:10,286 Let’s see, 334,720 joules divided by 1,100 watts  is 304 seconds, or just over five minutes. 174 00:12:10,286 --> 00:12:14,339 I’ll go ahead and presume the same 22% overall discrepancy  from the cheap kettle 175 00:12:14,339 --> 00:12:20,000 (accounting for both a slightly lower-than-advertised power level and  also the energy needed to heat the kettle itself) 176 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:26,421 and predict it should take about 371 seconds,  or six minutes and eleven seconds. 177 00:12:26,421 --> 00:12:29,189 Let’s see how long does it actually take? 178 00:12:29,189 --> 00:12:31,556 Oh good, blue LEDs. 179 00:12:31,556 --> 00:12:33,010 My favorite. 180 00:12:33,010 --> 00:12:37,375 And it actually took; six minutes and thirteen seconds, 181 00:12:37,375 --> 00:12:41,830 proving once again that energy is energy and water is water. 182 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,532 So now, let’s take a look at the gas stove and stovetop kettle again. 183 00:12:46,532 --> 00:12:50,730 The burner which took 7 minutes and 40 seconds to bring this to a boil 184 00:12:50,730 --> 00:12:54,452 is rated 9,500 BTUs/hour. 185 00:12:54,452 --> 00:12:56,780 Oh good, another unit! 186 00:12:56,780 --> 00:13:01,251 Now, in this context, as is often done with the BTU for whatever reason, 187 00:13:01,251 --> 00:13:08,625 the manufacturer is using a unit of energy to convey power which is a bit confusing but it is what it is. 188 00:13:08,625 --> 00:13:14,663 I don’t have a way to verify its performance unfortunately, but if we assume the burner is performing to spec, 189 00:13:14,663 --> 00:13:24,000 the 9,500 BTUs/hour can be converted to instantaneous wattage and thus this burner outputs 2,785 watts at full-power. 190 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,478 You may already see the absurdity here but let’s  keep going and work it out. 191 00:13:28,478 --> 00:13:33,288 It should take only 93 watt-hours to bring a liter of water to boil. 192 00:13:33,288 --> 00:13:38,974 This electric kettle, with a modest loss, took 108.4 watt-hours to do it. 193 00:13:38,974 --> 00:13:43,852 The second electric kettle with a lower power rating did take longer to do the job, 194 00:13:43,852 --> 00:13:47,723 but required a nearly identical amount of energy. 195 00:13:47,723 --> 00:13:57,334 This thing, sitting over 2,785 Watts of Fire manages to take more time to boil than either electric kettle; 196 00:13:57,334 --> 00:13:59,040 7 minutes and 40 seconds. 197 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:04,633 That works out to 356 watt-hours of energy consumed. 198 00:14:04,633 --> 00:14:06,590 That’s astoundingly bad. 199 00:14:06,590 --> 00:14:09,333 Nearly quadruple what’s theoretically required, 200 00:14:09,333 --> 00:14:12,243 and more than triple what the electric kettles need. 201 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,532 But it’s not really surprising, is it? 202 00:14:14,532 --> 00:14:18,994 I mean, this is just a cold object over an open flame. 203 00:14:18,994 --> 00:14:25,280 Of course the bulk of the energy being released as  the fuel combusts is just going around the kettle. 204 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:32,686 If you’ve ever used a gas stove you’ve undoubtedly  felt how hot the air is above the… pot or whatever. 205 00:14:32,686 --> 00:14:37,360 That’s all the heat from the flame which  isn’t ending up in what you’re trying to heat. 206 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:44,160 Sure, some of it’s making it in there, but in the  case of this kettle apparently not even a third. 207 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:50,746 This stove also sports a “quick boil” mega-burner  which outputs 17,000 BTUs/hour 208 00:14:50,746 --> 00:14:54,019 or 4,985 watts. 209 00:14:54,019 --> 00:14:58,720 This thing is so powerful  flames lick up the sides of the kettle. 210 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:04,880 On this mega-burner, the time-to-boil  decreases to 4 minutes and 32 seconds   211 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:10,560 which as it happens is exactly one second faster  than the time recorded by this electric kettle.   212 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,398 But, that time savings comes with even less efficiency, 213 00:15:15,398 --> 00:15:24,480 as the total amount of energy needed to boil a liter of water on this burner climbs slightly from 356 to 376 watt-hours.   214 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:31,760 Oh and by the way, 376 watt-hours isn’t just a  lot of energy to spend boiling a liter of water,   215 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,713 it’ll also make your kitchen quite a bit warmer which is GREAT on summer days. 216 00:15:36,713 --> 00:15:44,177 Oh, also the heat from the flames licking up the sides makes the handle too hot to touch with bare hands so that’s fun! 217 00:15:45,278 --> 00:15:51,196 There’s been a lot of talk lately about how gas stoves are  just… well kinda bad for lots of reasons 218 00:15:51,196 --> 00:15:54,367 and I gotta say this is revealing yet another reason. 219 00:15:54,367 --> 00:16:02,315 I mean, if it takes more than triple the energy output of a 1,500 watt electric kettle just to match its boiling time… 220 00:16:02,955 --> 00:16:04,573 all I can say is yikes. 221 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:10,148 Let’s go back to the electric stove and see how  well it did from an efficiency standpoint. 222 00:16:10,148 --> 00:16:16,400 If we assume that this burner was outputting 2000 watts,  then the required time of exactly 6 minutes,   223 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:22,224 which is exactly one tenth of an hour, meant 200  watt-hours were spent boiling the liter of water.   224 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,960 That’s still much more than the electric kettle’s 108,   225 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:32,750 but nowhere near as bad as the 356 required by the  slower gas burner. 226 00:16:32,750 --> 00:16:39,760 Putting the kettle in physical contact with the thing that gets hot seems to transfer heat energy much more effectively.   227 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,995 For grins and giggles I timed this little hot plate. 228 00:16:43,995 --> 00:16:47,504 It only outputs 900 watts so it took… 229 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:49,066 a while. 230 00:16:49,066 --> 00:16:50,880 13 minutes and 8 seconds, in fact. 231 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:52,881 Let’s do the math, though. 232 00:16:52,881 --> 00:16:57,613 This thing really only outputs about 870 watts according to the kill-a-watt. 233 00:16:57,613 --> 00:17:02,800 13 minutes and 8 seconds at that power level works out to 190 watt-hours. 234 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,261 This was definitely slower than the 2 kW burner, 235 00:17:07,261 --> 00:17:09,315 but it was a tad more efficient. 236 00:17:09,315 --> 00:17:10,926 At least, I assume so. 237 00:17:10,926 --> 00:17:16,953 Probably because the glass-ceramic cooktop works almost like a heat lamp pointing up at the kettle - 238 00:17:16,953 --> 00:17:23,296 it’s blasting infrared light at it, and since the kettle is  just a little bit smaller than the total area, 239 00:17:23,296 --> 00:17:26,740 some energy is making its way around the kettle’s sides. 240 00:17:26,740 --> 00:17:31,224 This burner, though, is simply gettin’ real hot thanks to a heating element inside of it, 241 00:17:31,224 --> 00:17:38,833 and with the kettle in physical contact a slight majority of that energy ends up getting absorbed by the kettle and into the water. 242 00:17:39,063 --> 00:17:39,948 Not bad. 243 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,604 This probably means that the old fashioned curly-q burners 244 00:17:43,604 --> 00:17:49,253 might actually be the best conventional electric burner design,  at least when it comes to speed, 245 00:17:49,253 --> 00:17:54,998 since they have relatively little thermal mass and the  element itself stays in contact with the cookware. 246 00:17:55,434 --> 00:17:56,964 With everything we’ve seen, 247 00:17:56,964 --> 00:18:01,431 I think it’s clear that if you want to boil water conveniently and quickly, 248 00:18:01,431 --> 00:18:06,000 the electric kettle remains your  best option despite our weedy little plugs. 249 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,794 But this may be about to change. 250 00:18:09,794 --> 00:18:15,847 Thanks to induction technology, the stovetop kettle can be even faster than an electric kettle - 251 00:18:15,847 --> 00:18:19,530 in fact, potentially faster than a European one. 252 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,715 Induction stoves are the new hotness, 253 00:18:22,715 --> 00:18:28,582 and they work by sending high-frequency alternating current through a coil of wire beneath the cooking surface.   254 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:36,118 When a suitable cooking vessel is placed above it,  electric currents are induced within the vessel’s metal base. 255 00:18:36,118 --> 00:18:40,299 Those currents will actually heat the  bottom of the pot or what have you 256 00:18:40,299 --> 00:18:43,186 just like the current flowing through a heating element. 257 00:18:43,186 --> 00:18:48,387 In effect, it turns the pot itself into the heating element! 258 00:18:48,387 --> 00:18:51,395 Now, I don’t have an induction stove, 259 00:18:51,395 --> 00:18:55,279 but I do have this plug-in induction cooktop! 260 00:18:56,175 --> 00:19:01,706 This thing is not shy of pulling the full 15A from an electrical circuit, and on full-power 261 00:19:01,706 --> 00:19:06,072 it consumes just about the 1,800W that it claims to. 262 00:19:06,072 --> 00:19:10,589 Now, there’s some waste in this process - that’s why this thing has a cooling fan in it - 263 00:19:10,589 --> 00:19:15,315 so I don’t know exactly how much is actually getting transmitted into the kettle. 264 00:19:15,315 --> 00:19:21,797 But at full power, this brought a liter of water to boil in 4 minutes and 29 seconds. 265 00:19:21,797 --> 00:19:28,420 That’s the fastest result we’ve seen, suggesting at least 1,500 watts is making it into the water. 266 00:19:28,420 --> 00:19:33,794 And keep in mind, this is limited to what comes from an ordinary electrical outlet. 267 00:19:33,794 --> 00:19:40,867 The hardwired induction cooktops you’ll  find either on their own or attached to an oven often feature a burner... 268 00:19:40,867 --> 00:19:47,665 or I guess a better word is emitter - that can pump out close to four kilowatts, sometimes more! 269 00:19:47,665 --> 00:19:51,840 With one of those, you could boil a liter of water in 90 seconds flat. 270 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,908 Still, speed isn’t everything. 271 00:19:54,908 --> 00:20:00,360 One very handy feature of nearly all electric kettles is that automatic shut-off. 272 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:04,000 That does give them an element  of safety which is missing from a stovetop kettle. 273 00:20:05,216 --> 00:20:10,298 I think there’s a certain charm in household  objects that scream at you when they’re ready,   274 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,732 but I’ll admit a more silent option is nice. 275 00:20:14,732 --> 00:20:18,463 Plus, unless and until I get a proper induction stove, 276 00:20:18,463 --> 00:20:20,678 this remains the fastest... 277 00:20:21,778 --> 00:20:23,435 OK, this was a little bit faster 278 00:20:23,435 --> 00:20:27,883 but the most convenient and efficient option  for boiling water. 279 00:20:27,883 --> 00:20:33,349 Though I don’t often drink tea, I’ve kept a kettle around because it’s just too handy. 280 00:20:33,349 --> 00:20:41,673 Even if I’m making pasta it’s faster to fill this up, bring it to a boil, and then pour the water from it into a pot on the stove 281 00:20:41,673 --> 00:20:44,512 than it is to use the stove to boil the water. 282 00:20:44,512 --> 00:20:46,943 Which is nuts but it’s the truth! 283 00:20:46,943 --> 00:20:50,220 Plus the kitchen doesn’t get nearly as hot when you do that, 284 00:20:50,220 --> 00:20:55,232 and I don’t have to run the stove as long which is great for indoor air quality. 285 00:20:55,232 --> 00:20:58,999 I should make a video about that, too, it’s astounding how bad these are. 286 00:20:58,999 --> 00:21:03,450 It’s almost like combusting fossil fuels inside of a living space is a bad idea! 287 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,687 Aside from that great benefit, 288 00:21:05,687 --> 00:21:10,237 there are also fancier kettles available which let you set them to a specific temperature. 289 00:21:10,237 --> 00:21:13,699 Great for certain types of tea or really pedantic coffee sno - 290 00:21:13,699 --> 00:21:14,975 I mean enthusiasts. 291 00:21:14,975 --> 00:21:19,278 And if you’re really bothered  by waiting four minutes for boiled water, 292 00:21:19,278 --> 00:21:23,187 there are a few solutions that are much  less involved than rewiring your kitchen. 293 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,157 First, and here’s a wild idea, 294 00:21:26,157 --> 00:21:28,699 just don’t fill the kettle up all the way! 295 00:21:28,699 --> 00:21:33,360 It takes more time to boil more water, and  if you’re just making a cup for yourself, 296 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,176 only fill the kettle to the minimum mark. 297 00:21:36,176 --> 00:21:44,080 On many kettles that can be as little as half a liter, which only takes a hair over 2 minutes to boil even with our pathetic little plugs.   298 00:21:44,362 --> 00:21:49,646 But watch out, as there are kettles out there  which don’t operate at 1500 watts. 299 00:21:49,928 --> 00:21:50,682 Like this one! 300 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:57,036 It may look nicer than the cheap Walmart  kettle but it’s definitely worse at being a kettle. 301 00:21:57,036 --> 00:22:00,339 Oohh but it did come with this  free loose leaf tea infuser so that’s nice! 302 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,400 Another option you might want to look  into if you’re particularly impatient   303 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,434 is something like this. 304 00:22:06,434 --> 00:22:10,992 You’re right, this isn’t a kettle, but you could call it better than a kettle! 305 00:22:10,992 --> 00:22:12,439 These… 306 00:22:12,439 --> 00:22:18,022 well I don’t know what the proper name is  but boiler, warmer, and dispenser all seem like common words so let’s go with… 307 00:22:18,022 --> 00:22:19,324 hot water dispenser. 308 00:22:19,324 --> 00:22:25,935 These hot water dispensers feature an insulated tank which they will diligently keep at your desired temperature. 309 00:22:25,935 --> 00:22:32,834 Many also feature timer functions to allow you to set when you want them ready so they don’t waste much energy when you don't need them. 310 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:37,104 Use one of these and you don’t ever have to wait for a kettle! 311 00:22:37,104 --> 00:22:37,906 And! 312 00:22:37,906 --> 00:22:40,240 They actually only need 700 watts. 313 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,040 There might be some merit to keeping an insulated tank of water around   314 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,040 rather than pumping 3 whole kilowatts of heat  into cold water whenever you feel like it. 315 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,557 Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for you with this video. 316 00:22:52,557 --> 00:23:01,682 This whole kettle discourse is so wild to me - I get it, you’ve got three kilowatts of water boiling power at any outlet! 317 00:23:01,682 --> 00:23:05,810 It’s gotta be kind of annoying when you make a visit to  this continent - or worse move here - 318 00:23:05,810 --> 00:23:10,530 and suddenly it takes a whole two more minutes to  boil a liter of water. 319 00:23:10,530 --> 00:23:11,760 I mean, you poor things. 320 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,561 But like, I do want to point out that I think  it’s kinda hilarious how, 321 00:23:16,561 --> 00:23:18,900 aside from electric vehicle charging, 322 00:23:18,900 --> 00:23:25,753 boiling water quickly is about the only practical benefit to having that much power at any receptacle. 323 00:23:25,753 --> 00:23:33,448 This is the one thing that seems to get stuck in the craw of lots of folks regarding our electrical system which is just… 324 00:23:33,448 --> 00:23:35,588 well it’s kinda funny to me, that’s all. 325 00:23:35,588 --> 00:23:42,254 Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of objectively terrible  things about our electrical system! 326 00:23:42,254 --> 00:23:45,731 But even here, unless you’ve got an induction stove, 327 00:23:45,731 --> 00:23:48,485 this is still the fastest way to get a cuppa. 328 00:23:49,355 --> 00:23:52,008 ♫ scaldingly smooth jazz ♫ 329 00:23:53,493 --> 00:23:55,340 Which actually… huh! 330 00:23:57,004 --> 00:24:00,115 I brought the kettle and my measury bottle with me for a… 331 00:24:00,755 --> 00:24:02,429 no, that was correct! You… 332 00:24:02,429 --> 00:24:05,563 I brought the kettle and my [weird foghorn noise] 333 00:24:05,563 --> 00:24:08,362 I brought the kettle and my measury bottle along with a… 334 00:24:08,362 --> 00:24:09,638 *sigh* 335 00:24:10,841 --> 00:24:14,440 …same thing. And we can convert between units easily. 336 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,521 One… yeah I'm gonna throw... I don’t like how that went. 337 00:24:18,521 --> 00:24:21,280 How many watt-hours did it  take this kettle to boil? 338 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,840 But, since we tend to measure power  output in watts it’s usually easue…   339 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,033 usually eazuier. 340 00:24:32,033 --> 00:24:33,629 It’s just not the average… 341 00:24:34,115 --> 00:24:35,417 *sigh* 342 00:24:36,902 --> 00:24:37,641 poop. 343 00:24:39,049 --> 00:24:43,108 There's a good deal of stuff that got cut from this script because this felt like a very pointless video. 344 00:24:43,108 --> 00:24:44,213 But! 345 00:24:44,213 --> 00:24:47,714 I've actually recorded a follow-up video which I will be editing shortly! 346 00:24:47,714 --> 00:24:50,445 And it contains those deleted sections! 347 00:24:50,445 --> 00:24:53,134 And it will go up here on the main channel! 348 00:24:53,134 --> 00:24:54,659 Exclamation points!