Ener. Consumption Research Project Update

I have successfully gathered the data cataloging the energy use involved with making hot beverages for one week at the school. I used my 1500 watt, electric water kettle for a total of 14 times for a total of 71 minutes of energy consumption. Then I calculated the total Kilowatt hours with the cost of this use. The going rate is 20.95 cents/Kwh.

While researching other brands of insulated electric kettles, I discovered a similar study to mine at deathbike.net : Electric Kettle Land. It offered some comparisons of a UK 3000 watt electric kettle, a similar kettle to mine, an electric range and gas range. The study compared the energy used to boil 4 cups of water by each heating source. Since my average consumption was near 4 cups per day, I was able to use the information from this study for comparative analysis.

I used the information for the UK 3000 watt kettle and the time to boil 4 cups of water and plugged in the data I collected for my study. I also made the calculations as if the kettle were insulated and only had to be used once to heat water for the day. I then projected the difference in use for one year, 10 years, and for 1500 people over a 10 year period. The difference was near 1 million Kilowatt hours for the 1500 people over 10 years and a money savings of close to $200,000.

Some of the most interesting information I found in my research was how much energy could be saved if you don't already use an electric kettle instead of an electric or gas range. This is one of the questions I raised for further study. Another question I focused on was if you already have a functioning un-insulated electric kettle, is the energy conserved by buying a new insulated kettle equal to the amount of energy used to make the new kettle?

The results of this study and the comparison numbers are included in my power point presentation. Also, included in the power point are websites for high quality electric kettles and additional information on energy efficiencies of electric kettles.

Unfortunately I am experiencing some difficulty uploading my power point point presentation to Slideshare.net but I as soon as I am able to do so I will post the link to access it.

Cory