Why are kettles so rubbish?

Dualit cordless jug, the transparent plastic window cracked, and the spout started leaking (which I temporarily fixed with JB Weld). I got a few years out of this one.

SMEG, absolute junk – the base didn’t connect with the kettle unless it was within a rotational angle of about 5 degrees, then stopped powering it completely – lasted about three months longer than the warranty.

The Salter I bought when I got tired of spending £££ on the crap above is now leaking out the base.

Spec me a new kettle? Electric, before the safety razor brigade arrive with their stovetop arcana 😉 .

In before the Dualit crowd… We have one of these, it’s the cheapest one Dunelm do, it’s used to brew up all day, and it’s been fine for three years.

Plastic Kettle 1.7L | Dunelm

Are you lobbing them around the kitchen!?

Don’t think I’ve had a kettle go wrong!

Got a cheapy Cookworks one at work and a Tefal at home.

Nothing from Russel Hobbs (if they still exist) as every kitchen appliance from them has failed basic functionality tests such as can a kettle pour boiling water into a cup without affecting the 3 feet area around the cup?
My mother seemed to like Russel Hibbs and kept buying them even after several requests not to. We ended up just giving them back to her.

Are you lobbing them around the kitchen!?

Don’t think I’ve had a kettle go wrong!

Got a cheapy Cookmaster one at work and a Tefal at home.

No! I don’t even drink *that* much tea. My partner and I do WFH though, so it probably gets used around five times a day.

Which? currently have a pretty plasticky looking Bosch one for £35 as their Best Buy, I might just get that.

Surely the STW answer is a Quooker hot water tap costing £20k and a £3k coffee machine!

(We’re actually rocking a Breville kettle ATM which seems OK but is only used to tea making duties)

AEG thermostatic is the correct purchase.

I’ve just got a cheap Breville one that I’ve had for 20ish years. Still boils water, doesn’t leak.

Surely the STW answer is a Quooker hot water tap costing £20k

Okay, I’ll admit it. We went full middle class and got a hot water tap. It is bloody brilliant. Firmly in that category of things you never think you want, until you have one and realise how good they are. It certainly didn’t cost £20k though. It helps that we are in a soft water area so I never need to change filters or do any sort of maintenance.

I have a 3000w Russell Hobbs one. It was £18. It boils water.

What am I missing!?

Breville one that I’ve had for 20ish years

Our Breville is about 10years old, so I’m now wanting another 10 from it. Full of limescale, used and abused 5 times a days and refuses to die.

Kettles are the one appliance that seems to last these days.

Enshitification: there’s zero downside for companies producing crap products in an under-regulated market awash with crap products.

I’m currently trying a fancy insulated Bosch one. It’s three years old now, so it’s made an OK start.

Agree about avoiding Russel Hobbs.

I’ve had toasters that don’t toast and kettles that add a weird flavour to the water.

We currently have a John Lewis 3KW own brand metal one (which I was somehow persuaded to buy in a moment of weakness), which seems OK but I don’t think it’s any better than any other own brand jobbie.  I’d say get the one that you like the look of the most, but which has a decent KW rating so you don’t have to wait seven hours for it to boil.

Having dropped my fancy Berlinger Haus one and had it shatter, after putting it down incorrectly on the base with my dodgy arm,  we’ve been using my backup dunelm plastic special, but it drips ffs!. Timely thread

berlinger-haus glass kettle was nice, lit up looked fancy (if only the did the light in purple, my partner would be sooo happy) but our hard water meant it had streaks all the time

Which Bosch model was the best buy?

Off topic but is that why electric kettles aren’t really a thing in America? Is it because they are only on 120v mains so they take ages to boil?

Is it because they are only on 120v mains so they take ages to boil?

Yes

It certainly didn’t cost £20k though.

That bit may have been a bit of an exaggeration 😉

It helps that we are in a soft water area so I never need to change filters or do any sort of maintenance.

Blah blah blah…. admit it you’re posh 🙂

(thought they needed ‘servicing’)

berlinger-haus glass kettle

It looks nice but the list of features amused me:

Automatically turns off when the water boils

Wow! Must get one. <rolleyes emoji>

It’s like when you see car ad that says something like “electric windows” or “air conditioning” it just makes me think that they’ve run out of things to say and maybe it isn’t actually *that* good if they’re reduced to touting things like this as good features.

I have a 3000w Russell Hobbs one. It was £18. It boils water.

What am I missing!?

My Russell Hobbs kettle has been doing a perfectly good job for 10+ years.

Paint finish is looking a bit battered now, but it still boils water quickly and turns off when it’s finished.

I’d have said kettles were one of the least problematic home appliances.

AEG thermostatic is the correct purchase.

Interesting, I never would have thought of that brand. Looks nice but I’m not convinced by temperature settings on a kettle as a feature, just seems like more to go wrong and I don’t want a lukewarm green tea because it allegedly brews better.

@z1ppy Which? Currently have on their website:

1. This Kenwood at 87% (don’t ask me why but I have a unreasonable dislike of Kenwood, much like Russell Hobbs): Kenwood ZJP09 Dawn Kettle, 1.7L, Black

2. This Bosch at 84%: Buy BOSCH MyMoments TWK1M123GB Jug Kettle – Black | Currys

3. This Russell Hobbs at 81%: Buy RUSSELL HOBBS Classic 26080 Jug Kettle – Black & Glass | Currys

4. And this £150 KitchenAid monstrosity also at 81% (and there’s currently several of these on eBay “for parts or not working”…. hmm, nice one Which?): Onyx Black KitchenAid 1.5L Kettle | Fenwick

I have to apologise, the kettle up there what I said we had is not the one we’ve got. I think that’s the one my folks have got.

We have this one, it was twenty quid, used multiple times daily, it’s, you know, fine.

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/logik-l17skbu21-jug-kettle-blue-10223936.html

Kelly Kettle ftw

The kettle with added adrenaline.

Recently smashed the big glass side on our Amazon Basics kettle, by catching corner of high cupboard, replaced it with a plastic Bosch one and all is well a month later.

Yeah, been through the same. Cheap/expensive – all rubbish. However been on the current Breville for a while now and it’s fine. Dull, but fine.

Also have a kelly kettle like that ^. Exciting, reliable and also fine.

In that pic, have you left the bung in?

Will respectfully disagree about having temp options. Coffee tastes nicer with not boiled water, tea needs freshly boiled water.

However, don’t get a sage one, £100 of disappointment. Min amount is 500ml (my last one had accurate mug markings and a minimum for boiling of 1 mug). Worst though, it beeps loudly every time you do anything. As in, taking it off the base to fill it, putting it on the base, changing the temp, starting it all have a beep. Then it beeps 3 times when it finishes and another 2 times when you take it off base, pour it, and put it back on. 9 bloody beeps! 10, if you turned it on at the wall. 10 beeps for a cup of tea! 60 beeps a day!!

BEEP!

Will respectfully disagree about having temp options. Coffee tastes nicer with not boiled water, tea needs freshly boiled water.

My sister would agree with you, and has a very expensive Fellow EKG swanneck kettle for pourover coffee. You can even play a Nokia Snake-type game on the temp control screen while it’s boiling. I’ve never really noticed whether it beeps or not 😀 .

I’ve just got a cheap Breville one that I’ve had for 20ish years. Still boils water, doesn’t leak.

My kettle dates from my first halls at uni in late 90’s so not far off 30 years old. Still boils water, doesn’t leak. No idea the brand, that wore off years ago! 😆

don’t think I’ve ever had a kettle that didn’t last a decade. What are you doing with them?

mattyfezFull Member
I have a 3000w Russell Hobbs one. It was £18. It boils water.What am I missing!?

Nothing. I too have a cheap Russel Hobbs thing. It boils water quickly and is pretty quiet.
Base lights up blue when I turn it on.
Lid has a button to open it.
All of these things continue to work.
Prev kettle finally died after maybe 15 years – think the heating element / wiring interface went, but as it was bloody noisy and a stupid conical design making it awkward to fill I didnt bother trying to repair it.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a kettle that didn’t last a decade. What are you doing with them?

I wish I knew. I can’t even begin to understand why the current Salter one is leaking from the base, I’m dicing with death every time I use it…

Dualit temp controlled gooseneck for me, 3 years of daily use and aside from needing a descale as our water is harder than your Dad, it’s ideal. Also, am a coffee w***er so suits my delicate pouring needs.

don’t think I’ve ever had a kettle that didn’t last a decade.

Ours tend to last about four or five years. Very hard water doesn’t help, even with regular descaling. It’s the auto shutoff on boiling mechanisms that tend to fail as you can’t easily remove scale from that part

I always thought kettles were kettles, no matter how cheap. Posh fancy looking ones are for idiots with too much money.

But my Russell Hobbs actually exploded!

I bought some “quiet boil” thing from Amazon, which with my areas hard water became an “even noisier boil” than every other kettle I’ve had within a few months.

My latest is actually from SportPursuit (indeed), some German make that needs an adapter plug. But the thing works and is fast 🙂  (Koenig? Hoenig? Summink like that)

We very rarely use a kettle these days, boil most stuff on the induction hob, or use the coffee machine

I have a cheap unbranded one. It was bought by builders for site work when the site was my house. They left it behind when they finished.  That was 8 years ago, and it’s still working just fine.

Our current one is a cheap thing from Argos, boils the water. That’s all I need it to do.

In that pic, have you left the bung in?

Not my pic, but looks like they have. I suspect the fire isn’t real.

Surely the STW answer is a Quooker hot water tap

Not if we’re comparing monthly energy bills and want to keep polar bears in the arctic.

Bosch is the answer. My previous one lasted about 15 years before it started leaking so bought another. And the kettle gets a LOT of hammer in our house especially with me working from home.

Got one of these, has lasted fine for the 8 years we’ve had it and showing no immediate signs of giving up on life:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2137074