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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that filling the kettle isn't "a thing"?

114 replies

user1491572121 · 17/05/2017 13:18

At least one person agrees with me so I thought I'd see if more did!

DH keeps complaining "Only I fill the kettle up!"

Hmm

He says "I fill it up and then later, I go to use it and it's all empty again!"

I'd not really reacted to these complaints though I had thought "Wtf?"

Then a mate of his heard him and said, "what are you talling about? People just fill it and boil it as they use it! You put in the amount you need and boil it!"

DH seemed to be under the impression that the kettle should be consistently full!

AIBU to think DH is wrong and his friend and I are right?

OP posts:
lborgia · 17/05/2017 13:50

ha! He IBU. I have just started work in a new office. Another woman working there had to have words with me my second week. Apparently "somebody" had left water in the kettle last time we were in the office (4 days before), instead of emptying it out at the end of hte day.

Not only did my colleague have to tip it out and put new water in, she HAD to boil stale water first, then tip it away....

WT??? I don't even USE the kettle!

People are weird.

Crackedidiot · 17/05/2017 13:50

amusedbush - is it really that big a deal? If you are boiling just a cupful it doesn't take that long. Are you really that impatient?

In our office we are allowed very brief periods away from our desks for 'comfort breaks' that is make a drink or nip to the loo.
We now have a wall boiler so no waiting at all but previous to that we had to wait if an inconsiderate person used the water but dint refill at least. Every second counts!

But at home yes - learn how much is needed for your usual cups and fill to that level only.

YesEinsteinsMumDid · 17/05/2017 13:50

In this house the kettle is NEVER left without water in it. We have burnt out too many kettles with people being tired/preoccupied/stress and putting on empty kettles. So for us it is a safety requirement.

specialsubject · 17/05/2017 13:51

You have to be really thick if you went through education and don't know that boiling more water uses more energy.

Sod the next generation, eh?

FizzyGreenWater · 17/05/2017 13:51

When you've made your tea (or your round of tea) you fill the kettle up and boil it ready for the next person. Otherwise there is much unproductive "standing around waiting for the kettle to boil".

URGH!

Tea made with reboiled water is RANK! So I would assume that a lot of folk will feel a warm side of the kettle and automatically fill with fresh, to have fresh-boiled, non-stale water!

YesEinsteinsMumDid · 17/05/2017 13:51

That said it tends to be minimal/enough for 2 cups in the kettle not a full kettle.

Idratherhaveacupoftea · 17/05/2017 13:53

I've got a smart meter and if you could see what happens when you put the kettle on, you would only fill up what you need.

PerkingFaintly · 17/05/2017 13:53

Most energy-efficient method is a combo.

Fill and boil no more than you need.

After using, re-fill to one cup's worth (or whatever the usual minimum use is of your kettle), to take advantage of residual heat in kettle. Obviously this dissipates as the water stands around, but can provide substantial pre-heating if the next cuppa is quite soon.

Blush I'm an energy-saving saddo and measured with a probe thermometer once... IIRC, the pre-heating meant a single cup of water started at above 35 degrees C at the time of my next cup of tea.

MikeUniformMike · 17/05/2017 13:54

Your DH is wrong. I always put enough water for 1-2 cups in the kettle after I've boiled it, so that it doesn't accidentally switched on with only dregs in, and out of courtesy.

anon1987 · 17/05/2017 13:56

YANBU I fill the amount I need because
A) it boils quicker
B)you need fresh oxygenated water for tea
C) it needs to be actually boiling to make a proper tea.

If someone fills it up, and then someone else wants a tea 10mins later the water won't be boiling anymore or fresh, so they'll have to rebook the whole kettle again using more electricity and taking forever.

amusedbush · 17/05/2017 13:56

Grin at being 'muggins' because you have to fill your own amount of water in the kettle and wait for it to make your own tea.

If it's 8:50 in the morning and lots of people are going to be using the kettle then yeah, it's pretty shite of someone to boil a cup and a half of water then wander off Confused

Ecureuil · 17/05/2017 13:56

At work, however, it drives me up the fucking wall when people don't fill the kettle. People don't want to wait for a full kettle to boil so they will fill it with a cup and a half's worth of water, make their drink and then leave the dregs. Then muggins has to refill and wait all over again angry

What? Why does this make you 'muggins'? The person before you fills it with what they need and waits for it to boil. You do the same. Surely that's normal, and fair, and in no way makes you 'muggins'? Confused

reetgood · 17/05/2017 13:57

It's such a waste of energy to boil more water than you need. Just fill to whatever level you need. Is it really hard to do this before flicking a switch to turn the kettle on? Hmm

I confess to reboiling though, especially if it's recently boiled and someone put in more than needed. Why waste the energy?

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 17/05/2017 13:57

Your DH is wrong.
It takes more energy to boil a full kettle, which is wasted if the majority of the water remains unused.
Water shouldn't be boiled over and over - it concentrates the pollutants and chemicals in the water (and there are quite a lot, even in the treated drinking water in the UK). Yuk.

Ecureuil · 17/05/2017 13:58

If it's 8:50 in the morning and lots of people are going to be using the kettle then yeah, it's pretty shite of someone to boil a cup and a half of water then wander off confused

They don't want to wait for a full kettle to boil. Neither do you. Boiling only what you need makes sense!

midsomermurderess · 17/05/2017 13:59

I worked with someone who would fill the kettle right up for one cup of tea. Once I tipped it out and she came to find me, in a right strop. Who wants to use water that has been boiled multiple times, never mind the environmental considerations?

PassiveAggressiveLunchbox · 17/05/2017 14:00

I have a breville hot cup. Film the tank as needed then it boils and spits out one cup of water at a time. Love it.

amusedbush · 17/05/2017 14:00

Ecureuil

So we should all queue up, fill it with one cup's worth and wait for it to boil? If four or five people are making a drink in the morning, it should be a full kettle. I don't understand why I'm being treated like an idiot here?

nicknameofawesome · 17/05/2017 14:01

I fill it up when I need with what I need. It's a waste to boil loads and filling it up and leaving it sat seems stupid. You don't know how much water I will need next time
I boil the kettle.

ems137 · 17/05/2017 14:01

What a weird thing for him to count as a "chore"?!

My DH often fills the kettle up full when pottering in the kitchen. I can't understand why the hell he does it because it's only really myself that has hot drinks and usually only 2 a day. It annoys the life out of me, especially when I forget to empty some water out and have to stand there for ages waiting for it to boil

KoalaDownUnder · 17/05/2017 14:02

Re: work - Obviously if there are people actually milling around near the kettle waiting for hot water, you fill it up.

If you're the only one in the room, you boil enough for your own and leave. Next person boils fresh, etc.

Ecureuil · 17/05/2017 14:02

amusedbush literally no idea, I have never been so desperate for a cup of tea of coffee that I've queued for one. I just don't understand why you're annoyed at someone else not wanting to wait for a full kettle to boil when, by your own admission, you don't want to either!

TheExuberant1 · 17/05/2017 14:04

I fill up the kettle with the amount I making tea for. I don't like reboiling water that has been sitting in the kettle.

Notalotterywinner · 17/05/2017 14:04

Fill it as you need it, apparently the water isn't the same once but I can't tell a difference from taste.

blerp · 17/05/2017 14:05

YANBU this is a thing at work in a busy office, where people haven't got all day to stand around staring into space. At home it is just weird.