To ask whether the Breville HotCup hot water dispenser is worth it?

[ElleBelleLou]

Hi all

Posting in AIBU for traffic mostly, hoping to hear if anyone uses the breville hotcup dispenser and sings it's praises?

I'm doing all I can to help my energy bills - switching everything off at the wall (even my wifi when I'm out the house!), but I still feel like I can do more.

My DF has just bought one of these, and says it'll basically pay for itself with what it saves on the bills, I think because it only boils what you need and is faster? But then, to make it faster surely it uses more energy to speed up the heating process?

This is the one I'm looking at getting: www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-HotCup-Water-Dispenser-Litre/dp/B001L5SSGQ/ref=asc_df_B001L5SSGQ/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=231909287202&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6538117289364035242&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006864&hvtargid=pla-385930872950&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Keen to hear any thoughts / opinions - is it worth it or am I just getting a bit obsessive 🙃

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Reading this back I feel like it sounds like an advert! Just wanted to assure it isn't - all my current appliances are (maybe embarrassingly?) pink, so this would stick out like a sore thumb in my kitchen but if it helps it helps!

I currently have the Tower Glitz Sparkle glass kettle, but I'm finding it needs descaling often and takes a while to boil - it also lights up pink whilst boiling which I imagine just uses more energy than it needs.

Not sure about energy usage but we had one of these years ago and the tea always tasted funny. Maybe they’ve improved.
there was a thread on here about someone boiling the kettle once and using a thermos for the hot water all day but it turned out boiling the kettle doesn’t actually cost that much - I can’t remember the details though.

Ultimately it takes the same amount of energy to heat water however you do it. If you only fill your kettle with the water you need you don't save money with a dispenser thing. The other thing to note is that they tend to only heat the water to just below boiling - so fine for coffee but tea can taste a bit weird/

I love mine, I had one for around 4 years and replaced it as soon as it stopped working.

I love mine, I use it as a teasmaid and it sits beside my bed.
I use a kettle downstairs though.

Do you not use the kettle for more water than just a cup for a brew? like for a pan of pasta? I mean, you can get kettles now which boil enough water for a cup of tea in about 45 seconds. I'm not sure how that is less efficient than these dispensers. If I was being really panickity about it, you need freshly drawn water from the tap otherwise the oxygen alters the taste of the tea but I like a quality cup not just a builders brew.

We have one but our version lets you alter the size of the output. Can put large or small cups under it. I like it but it doesn't give boiling hot water.
Also, it's only blue when it's on, the blue is a light.

I think I'd keep my kettle for hot water bottles and pasta etc - but that would be used a lot less as mostly it's used for cups of tea - I have about 4 - 5 a day and if my partner is here then we're looking more at like 10 cups of tea a day between us.

I'm a bit put off the idea of buying one if it makes the tea taste funny, I only drink tea and I'm quite picky about it as it is!

This is the one I have.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-HotCup-Dispenser-Variable-Dispense/dp/B002NGNRHC/ref=mpssa113?crid=LM0XUFCSEG9H&keywords=breville+hot+cup+water+dispenser&qid=1664872111&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjMxIiwicXNhIjoiMi40MSIsInFzcCI6IjIuMjYifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=breville%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-3

If you're having that many cups of tea, boil the kettle once and use a teapot. A good china teapot with a teacosy keeps it warm for hours.

What about filling a large 2 litre Thermos with boiling water and just using that throughout the day?

I just checked how long it took my kettle to boil a big mugful (400mls so about two cups) - 61 seconds. Definitely not worth buying a different gadget for, although I need to get DH out of his habit of putting more than he needs into it.

I've had one for probably 6 or 7 years. The adjustable type mentioned by a pp. I use Brita filtered water in it, to reduce limescale, which probably has extended the life too. I find it absolutely fine for tea and coffee.

The main benefit for me is that I can put the mug under with a teabag/ coffee, press the button and walk away. When I come back a few minutes later, the tea is brewed!

When I used a kettle, I would often have to reboil it as I had been distracted by children/ pets/ the door, etc and not poured it into my mug.

I packed my kettle away, as the Breville is great for individual drinks and my induction hob boils water very fast for cooking. (Much faster than a gas hob.) I only ever get the kettle out when we have guests and need to make multiple drinks at once.

@phishy I did think about that. but issue I have is that any time I've had hot water from a thermos / flask / similar I've always found it to have a strange taste like really plastic or metallic tasting so it puts me off

I've stayed in a B&B with one of them. It's very noisy!

You can't make decent tea from water that's been in a thermos. It won't be boiling and it won't be freshly boiled.

I think with something like this it's worth considering as an alternative to a kettle when you next need to replace the latter. Unless your kettle is an ancient one where you have to put loads of water in to cover the element, I doubt the difference (if there even is one) would be sufficient to pay back the expense quickly.

The main benefit for me is that I can put the mug under with a teabag/ coffee, press the button and walk away. When I come back a few minutes later, the tea is brewed!

If I get distracted during tea making it's likely to be for longer than a few minutes, so I'd come back to a tepid over brewed cup so that'd just waste a teabag.

Aww that’s taken me back to my childhood!

I had one, it made shit tea as it wasn’t actual boiling water. I’m in a hard water area so it was a pain to descale, it also got colder and colder over time.

gladly replaced it with a cheap tesco kettle

this was a few years ago, so they may have improved.

I don't like stewed tea. But a big insulated mug means you can do 2-3 cupfuls at a time and keep it drinkable.

We have had one of these for years (on our second) Really good. Takes 45 seconds to fill a mug (yes, i have just timed it!) We also have a whistling kettle for the gas hob in case we need a larger amount of hot water, but it's rarely used. It's fine for dissolving stock pots/gravy granules etc too although i think the water is just below boiling. Still makes a good cuppa !

We’ve had one for years since warming bottles of breast milk during the night as it quickened the process then got rid of the kettle altogether. Ours doesn’t taste funny. It’s not this one but we’ve had two different ones. Only thing it’s annoying for is stock and gravy etc really but not that annoying I’d have two different appliances.

Yes. I've had one for a few years now.
Mine has cup size facility and auto stop.
It boils in less than 30 seconds.
I bought it originally for my DH as he drinks tea, whereas I drink coffee, but I hate instant so he has his ' tea machine ' as he calls it and I have my coffee machine.
He loves it because it boils and brews while he's faffing about making his breakfast.
Definitely cheaper and faster than the kettle.

Good tea needs freshly boiled water, and these things do not properly boil water so if you are in any way fussy about your tea stick to a kettle. If you only boil what you need then hot water dispensers do not save you any money.

@CapMarvel They boil to the same temp as a kettle.
I used to think the same as you until I got one myself.