To put on Immersion heater instead of boiling kettle to wash dishes.....

[TinyPawz]

This is an ongoing 'debate' with my mum.

I put the immersion heater on for 30mins to heat the water to wash the daily dishes....2 lots.

The mother says that most cost effective to boil the kettle 3-4 times.

Who is correct?

No idea. Think you would have to use a electricity monitor to track the amount of power actually being used for each. Suppose you may be able to work it out roughly if you know the KW of the immersion heater and KW of the kettle plus how long it takes to boil the amount of water needed.

Personally I use the dishwasher! Wonder if that costs more, or less.

There are a few ifs buts and maybes.... but the bad news is that your mum is right!!

A typical immersion heater is 3kW. A tyoical kettle is usually somewhere between 2kW and 3kW. Assuming worst case its 3kW then thats the same power as the immersioon heater. So then its down to how long its on for. If it takes less than 30 minutes to boil the kettle 4 times (and it will) then that will consume less power.

HTH

Your Mum is doubtless correct, Mums often are - I wouldn't know however as I too will be using my dishwasher! If you can find space for one in your kitchen it is sooooo worth it. My MIL is a recent dishwasher convert, she now wonders how she ever managed without one.

There is no way that 3-4 kettles full of hot water would be enought to do all of the washing up in our house, so I always used to put the immersion heater on, until a month ago when we got rid of it (hurrah!).

In most cirumstances, it is more energy efficent to use a dishwasher, but only by a small amount. The only exceptions to this are when your hot water is a by-product of the heating system, as opposed to something heated by using additional energy like an immersion heater.

My husband is obsessed with electricity usage (and has his Dr in electrical engineering.) According to him, the kettle is the way to go. It's how he does the washing up, and I do it now, as well.

sorry.

blast and double blast....don't like it when she is right.

Only me & dd here so I normally pile up the full days worth of dishes until DD has gone to bed and do them all in 1 go.

Kettle from now on then.....

Sorry Hun

maybe next time you will be right!

But some things are worth spending a bit more on! I don't enjoy washing up but it is tolerable when you have marigolds, lots of soap and hot water. Scrabbling around boiling kettles is dire. I've lived (for short periods) in Morocco where we have no hot water on tap and I hate doing the washing up there.

If you need hot water for other things I would say immersion.

If not, kettle.