When boiling water, everyone uses a different variant. It is interesting whether you save more energy and costs if you use the kettle or if the saucepan is more economical.
Where does the water boil faster and more energy-efficiently?
Water is traditionally boiled either in a kettle or in a saucepan. But the question of what actually saves more energy and thus costs can usually be answered off the bat.
If you take a look at the time aspect, you might think: If you heat the water in a saucepan, it will take a lot more time. With the kettle, on the other hand, the water is usually heated in just a few minutes. A fallacy would now be that it is more economical to use the kettle. Because the bill was often made without modern induction cookers. Induction cookers heat water just as quickly as the kettle.
According to Stiftung Warentest, the kettle is the best choice when you compare the time, energy requirements and energy costs. The basic prices of 0.27 euros/kWh for electricity and around 0.07 for gas were used. The differences to the induction hob are minimal: while the kettle took an average of 3 minutes and 18 seconds to boil the water, the induction hob needed 4 minutes and 36 seconds. The energy requirement of the kettle was 115 Wh, that of the induction cooker 123 Wh; the corresponding energy costs amounted to 3.1 cents per liter for the kettle and 3.3 cents per liter for the induction hob. The differences seem minimal at first, but add up over time, so that you can save money with the kettle in the long run.
The relevance of the amount of water
If you only want to boil a small amount of water, for example for tea, it is advisable to use the kettle. The Öko-Institut points out other advantages of the kettle compared to the saucepan: it saves time, is easy to use, does not have to be monitored and is therefore safer. In addition, kettles are very cheap to buy. You should not use a metal kettle: These are not particularly energy-efficient, as they store the energy and therefore more is needed to boil the water. It is also important to descale the kettle regularly; this saves you time and energy.
If you have an induction cooker with a boost function at home, the water can usually be heated just as quickly as with a kettle. However, the stove is usually very expensive to buy; Although you can save energy by cooking on an induction stove, the initial costs are usually not covered by using it to boil water.
It is important that you do not use the kettle before boiling large quantities of water, for example for pasta or other food: If you first boil the water in the kettle and then tip it into the saucepan, you suffer a double loss of energy.
Conclusion
To save time and energy, the kettle is worth it; especially in small amounts. If you are dealing with larger quantities, you should not pour them out, but heat the water in the saucepan right away.