Strangely enough this very easy method of saving Electricity was actually inspired (copied) from a tradition we found prevalent in Thailand.
Every morning a large quantity of water would be boiled that was to be used throughout the day.
Whether it was for making Coffee or Tea, or any of the numerous other Cooking Duties that involved the use of Hot Water this is what they would do.
After the water was boiled it would be transferred to a Pump Thermos
It is nearly impossible to only boil the water in an Electric Kettle that you actually need. If you want to make a single cup of coffee or tea then simply pouring a single cup of water in will not be sufficient to cover the element.
Who ever measure out the water anyway?
If, on the other hand, you fill up the Kettle, let the water boil and transfer to a Pump Thermos, you will have hot water on tap for most of the day!
Think about how many times you boil water for it to only cool down and then be boiled again! Electric Kettles use vast amounts of Electricity. Why waste the money you have spent boiling the water. A Pump Thermos, which starts at around $20 or so is a very good investment.
Apart from saving on your Electric bill, there is the added advantage of having hot water immediately that you want it.
Think back over a year and you will see how much money you have wasted simply boiling water that you don’t use. You let it cool in the Kettle and then re-boil it again when you need more hot water.
This really is one of those simple, why didn’t I think of that, tips, that will save you a good amount of money in a fairly short amount of time.
For a more self sufficient future
Excellent, excellent tip. So easy, it makes me wonder why I hadn’t thought of it before. They do it in hotel dinnig rooms all the time.
SimplyForties’s last blog post..Weekly Roundup – January 15, 2009
SimplyForties, it’s funny but we sometimes overlook the obvious things we see around us. This definitely does save a fair amount of electricity, I forgot they are used in Hotels.
Here in mexico, electricity is very expensive so most people here just keep their lights off most the time. Also ovens are rare, big tvs, things like that are a rarity. It’s kind of refreshing.
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Hi, Football Cards.
Sounds like the way more of us need to live if we wish to be more self sufficient. So much is down to needless spending I think.
I bake my own bread, so have a combination convection oven-microwave. For cupload quantities, it has a ‘beverage’ button. Since the oven is 1.5 cu. ft, it’s quite efficient for baking. I’ve got the materials, so I’m going to try to build a solar cooker soon. I’ve read that home-made units aren’t supposed to be very good, but I’ve got to try it out.
I heat quantities of water for dish-washing and bathing only (and this time of year not even for bathing). For that, I use a verry large crock-pot, and put the dirty dishes in while heating so thet’re easier to wash.
Just my thoughts…
Johanna a solar cook oven is something I have been wanting to try too, and may this summer.
For heating water have you tried just running some black pipe above ground. Our water tanks are at the top of our land and run to the house via black pipe. It is amazingly hot water in the day time, actually too hot to have a shower from, great for enough to do the dishes.