AIBU to spend £162 on a kettle? Are Smeg products worth it?

[Canadianskates]

Thinking of buying a Smeg kettle but are they really worth the price? £162 for a kettle?! They look really beautiful but are they worth it?

AIBU to buy one????

When the cost of electricity went up dramatically a couple of years ago now I ditched my electric kettle in favour of a
hob kettle to use on my gas cooker. And I would never go back to an electric one.

I've actually got 2 kettles now. Both whistling ones. One from the local hardware shop which cost me £ 15. And a brilliant Le Creuset one which I got for a song at a local charity shop, even though it was as new. I love them both though I use the Le Creuset one the most.

So no OP I would never spend that much on a kettle.

I’d spend on Dualit, but not Smeg

I agree. My Dualit classic stainless steel toaster (yes, I know it is not a kettle but just illustrating the point of Dualit in general) is 30 years old and apart from changing heating elements from time to time (cost of 1 heating element for classic Dualit toasters = £10), still churning out good toast. So, for longevity, definitely Dualit.

Love our Dualit kettle! Although it’s quite heavy, so that’s worth considering.

Not for the first time on a thread about kettles, the George at Asda kettle is actually strongly recommended and reviews very well for longevity and fast boiling. Even if you did decide to spaff your cash on the SMEG kettle, I'd suggest you also get the George one as a back-up. It's only about £12.

I had a smeg kettle. It looked amazing. Performed the same as any other kettle I have had. It was heavy and the handle snapped off after a couple of years and it was unusable. Don’t think I would buy one again

Ours broke one day and DH got a cheap one out of Asda and it's still working great. That was a few years ago now. Must have been £10-15.

I have a cream one (and the matching toaster). They are both holding up very well and still look as new. I’ve had them for three years and get used multiple times a day. No complaints from me!

What does it do apart from boil water? Does it do it efficiently? Go ahead and spend the money. We need to boost the economy.

That'll be the gas usage going up instead then 🤣

FFS, you want to boil a pint of water twice a day, you don't need to spend all that.

Also, most (all?) of these cheap kettles are plastic, not stainless steel. So not comparable at all, although people do enjoy pretending that a £10 item is every bit as good as a £150 item.

From the Dualit website “patentedWhisper Boil™ technology and a Quiet Mark award from the Noise Abatement Society. Designed for durability, it boasts a repairable element, rapid boil, and non-drip spout”

You can also change the side trims, changing the colour of your kettle.

My George kettle is stainless steel. Surprising. It's almost as if they can make decent quality kettles and sell them for a low price compared to other makes. (No axe to grind, I also have a Cuisinart kettle which DH complains is style over substance. But it looks so pretty!)

I had a green Smeg kettle and after a couple if years the paint flaked off the lid and one of the little plastic feet came off so it was wobbly. I gave it away on freecycle. I now have a Dualitt one - hate the cheap plastic ones- and am happy with it - its stylish and very quick to boil.

That Bucket woman wishes she had an Aga!

She does! Poor Liz would be forever burning herself on it if she did 😂

I was in a holiday let with a Smeg kettle. We found it really annoying, very noisy, slow and confusing controls. It was one thing we all agreed was a complete waste of money, can’t advise on other brands as we have a Quooker tap.

😂

No I bought one and within 2 years two letters had fallen off

I don't have one but a friend does. It is chipped and slow. She lives on her own and is extremely careful with her things. My kettle gave up the ghost about five years ago and I replaced it with a supermarket €10 kettle in sale that day when I was doing my shop. It is still going strong and I hardly see how it looks. It serves a function, boils water quickly and is quiet. I want my kettle to do the job quickly and well. I don't overly care what they look like. Admittedly I do not entertain much in my kitchen.

That is a silly price. I’ve got a lovely transparent kettle. It lights up blue and was only about £20 on Amazon 3 years ago.(and I’m saying that as someone who generally goes for higher quality items because they usually last longer and work better).

I think they are really fast, suppose depends what you have before. They aren't worth it as they don't do anything other than boil water but I have one, and a toaster - one thing op, be careful about cleaning the outside, the enamel scratches easily.

It boils down to (pardon the pun) whether you think the look of the Smeg kettle is worth £100, because you'd easily get a good quality kettle of reasonable appearance for around the £60 mark, which would do exactly the same job.

When faced with this kind of choice, I ask myself what else I might buy with the 'extra' money - that often makes my mind up.

If you can afford it and genuinely think it will bring joy to your life, it's not unreasonable to buy it.

In laws have a Smeg kettle. It's very very pretty but I can't say it boils water any faster or nicer than my £20 Russell Hobbs one!

Our kettle and toaster were from argos 10 years ago, still work fine and look ok. Think it was £30 for both. But if you have the money and you want one why not?