Electric Tea Kettle

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

This is a thread about a kettle !!!

We're the greatest Drinkers of tea per capita in the world so we might know a thing or two about making it.!!!

Dave

You're Chinese you make all our kettles too

[mintyspilot]

Go on caravan and RV websites. They have 12V kettles. Also remember that water takes a lot of energy to heat so boil exactly what you need and no more. I suggest filling your cups/mugs to near the brim with water and then pouring them into the empty kettle. That will greatly reduce the "boil time" if the 12V kettles are slow.

[Tashtego]

I have three and they are the greatest. Perfect for french press coffee in teh morning. Does anybody know of a 110/220 volt kettle?

[Healer52]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I've lived in a cave, but I don't think that makes me a geologist.

LOL

[Healer52]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Not unless living in a house would make me an architect; or living on a boat would make me a boatwright, naval architect, or sailor.
.

But being a sailor makes you a boatwright, sailmaker, naval architect.....

[Blue Stocking]

Spent last September in Barcelona helping my 21 yr old, language teacher son, who is blind, learn the city and his travel routes.
Being Bermudians,(British subjects, and all that, you know ), we like our tea.
Visited 1/2dozen stores, including Cortes d' englis (sp) asking for an electric tea kettle. Blasphemy to the coffee drinking Catalunyans, whose residential water is provided by on-demand gas fired heaters.
When buying a Symcard in the phone store, a salesman overheard us discussing this, and told us to ask for an electric kitchen heater.
Problem solved muy bien.

[MasterCraft tea]

Originally Posted by dexwebster

I'm a big fan of our Adagio UtiliTEA Kettle, though I admit I probably wouldn't have bought it myself given that it's a bit on the pricey side ($50 - it was a wedding gift, as we're notorious tea nerds).

It does have the benefit that because it's meant for achieving different temperatures for different tea varieties, it has what is essentially a volume knob with settings between roughly 160 and 212 degrees, if you need hot but not boiling water.

Don't forget there's more than 1 way to skin a cat. Any sailor that loves tea better learn that there are many ways to brew tea (or coffee for that matter) without electricity or a $50 kettle! Who knows, you might even like cold brew tea better than your mainstream brew.
If you haven't been introduced to cold brew tea before, try a little organic green tea with one of these brewing methods:
5 ways to brew organic green tea

[zeehag]

my 50 buck kettle cost less than 15 usd in walmart or soriana..is a timco. easy peasy and i have used said cheapo kettle now for about 2 yrs. not bad. fast n easy. only cord is to the base on which said kettle heats.. love it.
and i am sacrilegious as i reheat my coffee in it also.

[SVHarmonie]

We have the advantage that we have a 220V boat, so we can have a 3000W electric kettle. Awesomely fast at getting my coffee ready in the AM. Much faster than the gas burner. I use it all the time at the dock, and if the genset is running to charge when it's time to make coffee.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SVHarmonie

We have the advantage that we have a 220V boat, so we can have a 3000W electric kettle. Awesomely fast at getting my coffee ready in the AM. Much faster than the gas burner. I use it all the time at the dock, and if the genset is running to charge when it's time to make coffee.

3000 watts is just too much on my boat. I would have to shut down all other large plugged in AC consumers (16 amp limit on the ring main for sockets), and the current required from the batteries if doing it on the inverter would flatten the batteries.


I use a 1200 watt kettle. It takes longer but I don't have to shut down other stuff, and it runs fine off the inverter while sailing. Under sail, especially in cold or wet weather, we run through tons and tons of tea, so the kettle gets used off the inverter a lot.

[SVHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

3000 watts is just too much on my boat. I would have to shut down all other large plugged in AC consumers (16 amp limit on the ring main for sockets), and the current required from the batteries if doing it on the inverter would flatten the batteries.

That's the great part about a Euro electric boat running 220V... 3000W is less than 14 amps

The total energy use is the same, it just happens twice as fast, so no significant difference to the batteries. (Yes, I know Peukert's Law and all that, but over 3 minutes, it is the same number.)

[Ded reckoner]

We have a Farberware inductive heating tea kettle. It was purchased at Walmart (model MK-17S18Q1, 120VAC, 60Hz, 1500W). Our boat is wired so this plug-in appliance can run on either shore power, off the genset, or using our 2000W Xantrex charger/inverter. As when we run our water heater (also 1500W), we have to be careful with power management so we don't trip any breaker.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SVHarmonie

That's the great part about a Euro electric boat running 220V... 3000W is less than 14 amps

The total energy use is the same, it just happens twice as fast, so no significant difference to the batteries. (Yes, I know Peukert's Law and all that, but over 3 minutes, it is the same number.)

Well, I do have a Euro boat and 230v. But the total limit on the outlets is 16 amps, so I can't have anything else running if I use a 3kW kettle. That's at the ragged edge of what my inverter can power, too.


Peukert starts to play hell with that kind of current -- about 130-140 amps at 24v, so C/3. Maybe it's not that much total power over a few minutes, but I know my batteries don't like it.


Likewise, if the motor is running, 130-140 amps is more than my alternator produces.



To each his own, but I find the 1200 watt kettle to be much more suitable, and worth waiting a bit.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Ded reckoner

We have a Farberware inductive heating tea kettle. It was purchased at Walmart (model MK-17S18Q1, 120VAC, 60Hz, 1500W).

Inductive? Are you sure about that?

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Dramanaut

I am considering getting an electric tea kettle for my boat to use while dockside. I'd also like to get a good pump thermos. If you use this appliance do you have any recommendations on brands or models?

I carry two Airpot brand pump dispensers. Very happy with them. I don't remember how big they are. Two liters at least. They'll keep water, tea, or broth hot all day.

I have a Cuisinart kettle I use at the dock. It's the previous generation of the current sort. It has a bunch of buttons to choose temperature for various teas and the hottest one is a rolling boil. Downside is the button and latch that open the top for filling keep failing. We're on our third pot in four years and Cuisinart has been difficult to deal with.

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Now we have fresh boiling water in a few seconds out of the electric kettle with no hassle whatsoever.

I simply don't believe you. It isn't a few seconds. The time to heat similar amounts of water is close to the same with a very minor nod to the electric kettle. The convenience element is another nod to the electric kettle as it will keep the water warm at the expense of more energy consumption.

Originally Posted by StuM

Inductive? Are you sure about that?

Electric kettles on a base are inductive.