written by dartmouth271 on 21/01/2013
I am on my 2nd Eco kettle, there will not be a 3rd. My first Eco kettle was a prize win, pleased to using Eco friendly equipment I gave away my standard kettle, I soon wished I hadn't. FIRSTLY the measures on the side indicates it holds 800ml in the boiling chamber but if you pour it out into a measured container there is barely 750ml - not enough for 4 cups of tea. If you use mugs there's not enough for 3 mugs, whichever you use you have to boil again after refilling. Not eco friendly. SECONDLY, if you forget to use the boiled water straight away it cools very quickly because the boiled water chamber and the cold water chamber are side by side and the heat from the boiled water quickly dissipates into the cold water, then you have to reboil it, not eco friendly. THIRDLY, when the kettle reaches boiling point it continues to boil for on average 10 seconds before switching off thereby wasting electricity. Not eco friendly. FOURTHLY, it is very heavy, senior citizens will find it to heavy to use, a full kettle weighs over three and a half kilo! Such a weight and boiling water is an accident waiting to happen. Not eco friendly. FIFTHLY I mentioned this is my second Eco, on the first one the element failed just out of warranty. I rang the manufacturer and was told Eco kettles are not repairable and have to be thrown away. I know that is the same with some other manufacturers but you would think that someone claiming to be eco friendly would be so, and not part of the throw away society. FINALLY, because it had failed just out of warranty they offered to supply me with a new Eco2 at a reduced price. They did not tell me the price quoted was exclusive of VAT so I was rather shocked at the price when it came through on my bank statement. Manufacturers know that end users price thing inclusive of VAT so to quote exclusive was at best misleading or at worst deceitful. My advice to manufacturers - mislead customers at your peril.
To sum up, the Eco kettle picks on one aspect of eco friendliness but sadly nothing else about it is eco friendly. My advice is save your money, buy a cheaper standard type of kettle and only fill it with the amount of water you need to boil and you will be much more eco friendly than a Eco2 kettle.
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