We’ve got one in the kitchen at work. It claims to keep the water at around 96 – 100C. It gets used quite a lot but is this really justifiable in energy terms compared to a kettle? could it be all that well insulated? Seems a bit extravagant to me…

losses are obviously higher for higher temp stored water. I dont believe they are particularly well insulated.

Wouldnt an instant water heater be better?

http://www.zipheaters.co.uk/zip-hydroboil

but is this really justifiable in energy terms compared to a kettle

I believe some businesses install them not because of energy consumption, but because they stop the office chat room mentality that happens in the kitchen whilst making a cuppa…

They also last a lot longer than kettles, prior to getting one we used to kill kettles pretty quickly as they’re not designed to be used 8 hours solid every day!

I think it’s easier / cheaper to keep the water at high temperature than repeatedly re-filling / re-boiling kettle once every 10 mins just for one cup. There is a health and safety angle too, less likely to be knocked over causing burns etc.

Don’t do what I did when starting a shift at 4am…. Washing your hands under one

[morecambe and wise voices]

“Is it a Greek Urn?”
“What’s a Greek Urn?”
“About 40 Euro’s a day!”

[/morecambe and wise voices]

We have a Burco turned on 24/7 for 11 months of the year and they last about 3 years before the element needs replacing. It is a double walled stainless construction and seems well insulated but our ambient temp is 28c so it may be different in a colder environment.