On the weekend we borrowed a Lumina hot water urn for a group that was having a Christmas in July get together. For me this was also an opportunity to check out the Lumina hot water urn in terms of energy usage. Those who had read my posts will know we've reduced our electricity to under half our previous usage, a massive saving, simply by investigating our usage around the home. A few gadgets and changes in our habits is all it took. The main tool I used was the Energy Cost Calculator which I used to help determine the cost of using appliances and whether or not it was better to replace certain devices. For example is it better to replace low energy lights with LED lights or not? Is it better to replace the old TV with a new low energy TV? The Energy Cost Calculator gave me the information I needed to make better decisions.
One area that can consume far more energy than people realise is the humble kettle. Yes boiling that kettle multiple times per day can end up costing as much as running the refrigerator. So for me this was an opportunity to review the energy usage of the Lumina hot water urn which had been purchased from Aldi.
The Lumina hot water urn has a stated capacity of 8.8 litres and is rated at 2,000 watts. There is a on/off switch, two lights indicating heating (red) and keep warm (amber). There is also a dial where you can set the temperature from 30 degrees up to 110 degrees. (Water boils at 100 degrees.)
My first test was to fill the urn with around 4 litres of water and set the temperature to 30 degrees. This would show me how it worked. The red light came on and the energy being used was 2,050 watts, after around three and a half minutes the water had reached the temperature and the amber light came on indicating the urn was now in "keep warm" mode. In "keep warm" mode the urn uses approximately 170 watts.
The second test was to set the urn to 110 degrees, boil the water, check to see the water would keep boiling and then reduce the temperature setting to 95 degrees, at which point the urn went into "keep warm" mode". Once the water cools to below 95 degrees I suspect the heading mode will turn back on.
From this we can see the urn really has two modes. It is either on heating mode with is fully on at around 2,050 watts, with the aim to heat and boil the water, or on "keep warm" which is around 170 watts and is designed to heat the water sufficiently so that it simply doesn't cool down too quickly. With heat escaping to the surrounding environment the urn will at some point need to switch back into heating mode.
Many people leave hot water urns on all day which means they are using energy continuously whether or not people need to use the water. Heating a full urn for a single cup of coffee is obviously a considerable waste of energy. For a single cup of coffee boiling just the amount of water you need, when you need it, is faster and certainly cheaper than using an urn. Urns however are handy appliances to have around when you need to make hot drinks for a large number of people at the one time.
Out of interest, if you had the urn running for 10 hours a day in "keep warm" mode (this isn't logical as the water will need to be brought back to the boil on a regular basis) then we can see the minimum cost over a year would be around $160. The real cost over a year would be significantly more. For most people if you only boil the water you need and turn a kettle on before you go to get your cup and ingredients, chances are the water will have boiled before you're organised.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
One area that can consume far more energy than people realise is the humble kettle. Yes boiling that kettle multiple times per day can end up costing as much as running the refrigerator. So for me this was an opportunity to review the energy usage of the Lumina hot water urn which had been purchased from Aldi.
The Lumina hot water urn has a stated capacity of 8.8 litres and is rated at 2,000 watts. There is a on/off switch, two lights indicating heating (red) and keep warm (amber). There is also a dial where you can set the temperature from 30 degrees up to 110 degrees. (Water boils at 100 degrees.)
My first test was to fill the urn with around 4 litres of water and set the temperature to 30 degrees. This would show me how it worked. The red light came on and the energy being used was 2,050 watts, after around three and a half minutes the water had reached the temperature and the amber light came on indicating the urn was now in "keep warm" mode. In "keep warm" mode the urn uses approximately 170 watts.
The second test was to set the urn to 110 degrees, boil the water, check to see the water would keep boiling and then reduce the temperature setting to 95 degrees, at which point the urn went into "keep warm" mode". Once the water cools to below 95 degrees I suspect the heading mode will turn back on.
From this we can see the urn really has two modes. It is either on heating mode with is fully on at around 2,050 watts, with the aim to heat and boil the water, or on "keep warm" which is around 170 watts and is designed to heat the water sufficiently so that it simply doesn't cool down too quickly. With heat escaping to the surrounding environment the urn will at some point need to switch back into heating mode.
Many people leave hot water urns on all day which means they are using energy continuously whether or not people need to use the water. Heating a full urn for a single cup of coffee is obviously a considerable waste of energy. For a single cup of coffee boiling just the amount of water you need, when you need it, is faster and certainly cheaper than using an urn. Urns however are handy appliances to have around when you need to make hot drinks for a large number of people at the one time.
Out of interest, if you had the urn running for 10 hours a day in "keep warm" mode (this isn't logical as the water will need to be brought back to the boil on a regular basis) then we can see the minimum cost over a year would be around $160. The real cost over a year would be significantly more. For most people if you only boil the water you need and turn a kettle on before you go to get your cup and ingredients, chances are the water will have boiled before you're organised.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
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