How Much Does It Cost to Run an Electric Kettle?

The energy needed to boil water depends mostly on how much water you heat. Bringing 1 litre of cold tap water to the boil takes about 0.1 kWh, a single mug (about 250 ml) takes roughly a quarter of that, and a full 1.7-litre kettle takes about 0.17–0.2 kWh.

A typical household boils for around 9 minutes a day in total, which at 2,000 W is about 0.3 kWh, or roughly three full litres. That costs about $0.05 a day in the US, £0.08 in the UK and €0.11 in Germany, or about $1.66, £2.40 and €3.30 a month.

Households that drink a lot of tea or coffee, or boil water for cooking, may use two or three times as much. The cost still stays small compared with heating, cooling or hot water.

Not per boil. A 3,000 W kettle and a 1,500 W kettle both need about 0.1 kWh to boil a litre; the more powerful one simply finishes faster, in about 2 minutes instead of about 4.

That is why kettles in the US and Canada, which run on 120 V outlets and usually draw 1,000–1,500 W, take noticeably longer than the 2,200–3,000 W kettles common in the UK, Europe and other 230 V countries, but cost about the same per litre.

An hourly figure is misleading for a kettle. If one ran at 2,000 W for a full hour it would use 2 kWh, about $0.36 in the US, £0.53 in the UK, €0.72 in Germany, €0.50 in France, and €0.63 in Italy, but in practice it only runs for a few minutes at a time.

An electric kettle is usually the most efficient way to boil water at home, because the heating element sits in or directly under the water and the kettle switches off as soon as it boils.

A pan on an electric hob loses more heat to the air around it, and a microwave converts only part of its electricity into heat in the water. For a single cup the difference is small; for larger amounts the kettle usually wins. On a gas hob, the comparison depends on local gas and electricity prices.

Whatever the wattage, boiling 1 litre takes about 0.1 kWh. Your kettle's exact rating is on its base or label; use that number in the calculator.

• Boil only the water you need. Overfilling is the biggest waste, since every extra litre takes another 0.1 kWh.
• Use the markings inside the kettle, or fill your mug and pour it in to measure.
• Descale the kettle regularly in hard-water areas. Scale on the element can make it work a little harder.
• Avoid reboiling water that has gone cold. Use it straight away or boil a fresh, smaller amount.
• Skip the keep-warm setting if your kettle has one; it switches the element on and off to hold the temperature.

• Refrigerator
• Microwave
• Rice cooker
• Air fryer
• Bill analyzer