Acquired this expensive kettle in SA not knowing manufacture had been discontinued. It failed electronically 18 months later and I cannot find workshop who wish to repair nor can I find any spares or circuit diagrams to have repairs done. Why do apparently reputable companies sell and export end - of - run products to remote locations without adequate support? Nice concept with electronic design weaknesses and terrible aftersales support.

Model 30792 BLK - < one month old. The cover sides around the kettle are plastic, so the "glass" does not refer to that. The kettle body is cheap in look and feel and heavier than I thought it would be. The water does not pour out evenly, but suddenly rushes out. It is noisier than another brand of thermal kettle. The lid simply does not work. It sticks to the point where I don't want the hassle and am ready to replace with another brand - that other brand unfortunately stopped working after 3 years which is why I wanted to try this one out. It has a very cheap style of plastic button to open the plastic lid, which immediately comes across as a quality issue. It was not on the shelves of the major retailers, so I should have realised something was suspect when I got it from an online store in Australia. I would have liked to know why the online store was selling it. I should have chased up reviews- - I usually do though.

After little more than 3 years of use by a retired couple the plastic lid degraded to a point where it had to be replaced and the internal power relay failed. Russell Hobbs, South Africa,report that the product had been discontinued some time back and that spares were no longer available, prompting questions about the sales / export strategy for this product that was strongly discounted in the UK before discontinuation - judging from esrlier reviews in UK.

We have just bought the second of these based on over three years continual very satisfactory use of the first. Yes you need to get used to it - but so you do a new bike or car. No tate problems. Would thuroughly recomend people dont take the negative reviews as gospel. Try it for your selves - its not a lot of money and you'll be surprised at your exprience and save time and energy. Most people overboil there water for tea and coffee how many times can you drink it straight out of the kettle?

The Russell Hobbs Energy-saving Thermal kettle is terrible. It takes too long to switch itself off when it reaches boiling point; filling it up enough for a cup of tea and a hot water bottle means the thing sprays boiling water all over the work surface and electric socket and if I need to use it again it won't let me switch it back on until it has cooled, meaning I have to waste water by rinsing it out until it has cooled sufficiently to allow itself to be reused.
I am longing for the day it breaks but it isn't mine (I am not the householder) so I can't just get rid of it and get another. However, it does appear indestructible (unfortunately!) and should a natural disaster strike the only thing left intact would probably be this awful kettle.

Loads of faults as mentioned by other reviewers. Can't wait to replace it (though I did accidentally drop it and although dented still works as before). Worst for me is the window takes to long to show how much water is in it and if boiled when too full you get a wonderful shower of boiling water covering an amazingly large area - you then cannot switch it off for fear of scalding or electrocution. Would definitely not recommend.

Well, I've had Russell Hobbs Energy Saving Thermal Kettle a day now and have already made my mind up to return it as I am fed up with it already !

GOOD POINTS:
Pretty blue light.
Keeps the water hot for ages so you can make a cup of tea at 9pm and still fill your hot water bottle up at 10.30pm !
Lots of half price offers ...I wonder why !?!

BAD POINTS :
-Ridiculously heavy - a real "man's" kettle - no good for the frail or elderly !
-The lid is difficult & complicated to remove and replace - and you HAVE to remove it to fill it - not suitable for persons with an IQ of less than 140, or failed Krypton Factor contestants. There's no way my mother could make herself a cup of tea from scratch with this !
-Kettle will not re-boil, even if you empty it and refill with cold, for quite some time after first boiling.So no good if you need more than one full kettle of water in quick succession.
-Refilling with cold after boiling is dangerous - it is easy to scauld yourself after removing the lid and the kettle is bulky and does not fit under the tap without a completely empty sink.
-There is no pouring lip to the kettle, so really accurate pouring is not possible - it is just the same as pouring from an ordinary thermos flask.

In summary a great idea but a long way to go to produce something workable, simple and safe in the kitchen.

Bought a Russell Hobbs thermal kettle a fortnight ago & am disappointed. Was captured by the energy saving aspect of it & that the inside chamber would be very easy to keep limescale free as looks like the inside of a flask (and also fact I got it half price...hmmm). But found that due to it refusing to reboil straight after boiling because of the kettle being too hot, I had to rinse it out several times with cold water to cool it down, hence wasting unneccesary water... Topped with the fact that nearly every cup of tea/coffee, food made with it or boiled in it had a nasty metallic taste! Also very heavy when only quarter full & slow to pour. So will be returning very soon!

Russell Hobbs Energy Saving Thermal Kettle - Model 13618, water tastes metallic even after being boiled thousands of times and being left for hours then going back to it makes it taste worse,its not supposed to. a good idea gone bad

I am very disappointed with this Russell Hobbs Energy Saving Thermal Kettle - Model 13618 and will be contacting Russell Hobbs to see what can be done about it. I cannot use this kettle to make tea or coffee. I did try and use the water to boil some new salad potatoes and it made the potatoes taste peculiar too.
We did purchase another stainless steel kettle recently but had to return it for the same reason. I bought it locally, so returning it was not a problem. I am not sure if I send this back they will refund my money as I bought it on the internet.

I think the Russell Hobbs Energy Saving Thermal Kettle is a great concept badly executed. I still have mine, and use it, and try to champion the idea with my friends but really Russell Hobbs should sort this out.

I would not recommend this kettle. The kettle seems to take a long time to switch off when the water is boiling. It also makes the water taste very metallic.