Price Points: Energy efficient kettles

Energy efficient kettles

I don’t think that there’s currently anyone in the country that’s not worrying about their gas and electric bills. We’re all looking at ways we can reduce our energy usage; from switching off lights as we leave a room to lowering the thermostat by a degree.

One of the appliances most of us have in our homes is the electric kettle. Brits are famous the world over for enjoying their cuppas! But how much does it cost each time we brew up?

According to recent workings out by Which:

Based on the average capped energy price as of April 2022 (28p/kWh for electricity and 7p/kWh for gas), we’ve estimated that your kettle could cost you around £32 per year (based on boiling a litre of water three times per day). This is going to be a lot more than charging a phone or tablet, but slightly less than using your oven regularly or running an American-style fridge freezer.

A top tip you’ve probably already heard is to only boil as much water as you need. However, if you have a feeble old kettle whose element is caked in limescale, it will still cost you more than needed. Using one of these energy efficient kettles that we’ve featured will be quicker and cheaper in the long run.

I especially like the hot water dispenser (not strictly a kettle, I know). It’s like having one of those instant boiling water taps in your kitchen… without the hundreds or even thousand pound price tag! Plus, I’ve read lots of buyer reviews from people who can’t lift heavy objects calling it a godsend.

  1. Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black: £39.99, Currys

    Patented design for super-quick heating
    Large 1.7 litre capacity makes 6-8 cups
    Ideal if you don’t want to lift a heavy kettle, the HotCup has one-touch operation and a hinged lid. Manual stop function gives you more control with different cup sizes – just press the button when you’ve topped up your cup or mug to the desired level

  2. Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey: £54.99, Kenwood

    With 3KW of power, you’ll enjoy a rapid boil and your hot water in a hurry.
    The 1.7L capacity is perfect for larger households, although with the clear water window it’s just as easy to heat water for a singular cup, meaning you only boil the water you need, saving time and energy.

  3. Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK: £76.60, Lakeland

    The kettle’s element is hidden in the base, and can boil as little as a cup and as much as 1L. This lets you save energy by only boiling the amount you need, but means, if needed, there will be plenty to keep you and your friends’ mugs topped up.

shop energy efficient kettles

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
£76.60
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
£54.99
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
£39.99
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
£76.60
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
£54.99
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
£39.99
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
£76.60
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
£54.99
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
£39.99
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
£76.60
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
£54.99
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
£39.99
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
Sage The Compact 1L kettle Pure BKE395UK
£76.60
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
Dusk kettle ZJP30 slate grey
£54.99
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
Breville HotCup VKT124 8-cup hot water dispenser – black
£39.99

Auction alert: September Fine Art & Antique auction

Seven Cornishware storage jars

Trevanion & Dean‘s September Fine Art & Antique auction takes place on Wednesday 14th September 2022 from 9am. A total of 761 lots are up for sale, we’ve picked out a dozen below that we like and thought you would too.

There’s a good mix of vintage & antique jewellery, fine art, furniture and other quality collectables. If you’re a James Bond fan, there are a number of 1st edition, hardback books by Ian Fleming. Lots of pretty jewellery – of course, I had to include a little Art Deco something here. I’ve been on the look out for vintage ceramic storage jars; in particular – raisins, currants and sultanas. I can never find a matching trio… but these for sale here are in T G Green’s blue – not a colourway I want. My search continues!

Bid via the Trevanion website where you’ll be charged a buyer’s commission charge of 20% + VAT plus an additional 2% + VAT. Alternatively, you can bid via The Saleroom or EasyLiveAuction. Please check each website for their added bidding fees.
As far as the auction house’s shipping policy goes, this is what they state:

Trevanion Auctioneers offer a limited in-house P&P service for small, non-breakable items during the 2 days following the auction only. We use Royal Mail Special Delivery for goods up to a value of £2000 weighing no more than 2kg.

Art Deco diamond, sapphire and emerald bow brooch

Lot 97: An Art Deco diamond, sapphire and emerald bow brooch
The central round old cut diamond weighing approximately 0.20 – 0.25 carats, bezel set with a bow shaped surround set with old cut diamonds, interspersed by baguette cut sapphires and emeralds, all set in white metal, with hinged and safety loop fastening to reverse, 65mm wide, weight 10.7gms (at fault)
Estimate £300 – £500

Rolls Royce chrome decanter

Lot 152: Classic Stable Ltd Rolls-Royce chrome decanter
In the form of a radiator, ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ mascot fitted to the screw top, label to base numbered ‘RGC B339’, 24.5cm high
Estimate £200 – £300

The geese are getting fat artwork

Lot 263: After Rosemary Myers (British, 20th century), “The geese are getting fat”
Limited edition woodblock print on paper, unsigned, numbered “35/100”, 18cm x 24.5cm, framed and glazed
Estimate £50 – £100

1st edition copy of Ian Fleming's GOLDFINGER

Lot 273: JAMES BOND INTEREST: Fleming (Ian), GOLDFINGER
First edition, first printing, black cloth boards, cover with embossed skull with gold coins to the eyes, gilt title to spine, binding appears to be first state with small additional embossed line to top left of skull, plain white endpapers, original Richard Chopping DJ, unclipped price 15s net, front flap with introductory blurb and Doctor No review, rear flap with reviews for The Diamond Smugglers, back panel with five reviews, Jonathan Cape, London 1959
Estimate £300 – £500

Seven Cornishware storage jars

Lot 340: Seven Cornishware jars and covers by Green & Co Ltd
Of typical blue and white striped design, one each for salt, raisins, sultanas, lump sugar, sago, currants and rice, smallest 14.3cm high, largest 16cm high (7) (at fault)
Estimate £60 – £100

Joan Carrillo terracotta vase

Lot 394: Joan Carrillo (Spanish, b.1948), a terracotta vase
Mid-20th century, of ovoid form with narrow neck and flared rim, textured blue and white banded glaze, incised signature to base, 21cm high
Estimate £80 – £120

Tapio Wirkkala glass vase

Lot 410: Tapio Wirkkala (1915 – 1985) for Iittala, a glass vase
Of waisted cylindrical form with etched reeded detail, engraved signature to base, 13cm high
Estimate £100 – £200

Domed canvas motoring trunk

Lot 458: An early 20th century domed canvas motoring trunk
Applied with tan leather fittings and trim, opening to a removable tray, 59cm H x 69cm W x 51cm D (at fault)
Estimate £60 – £100

Rustic pine dog cart

Lot 465: A rustic pine dog cart
Of typical tapering slatted form, upon an articulated front axle and iron bound spoked wooden wheels, carriage length 80cm, total length 190cm, width 70cm
Estimate £100 – £150

An architectural model of a corner shop

Lot 506: An architectural model of a corner shop
20th century, constructed from plywood with strip wood and beading details, the hinged frontage opening to two floors, 32cm W x 33.5cm D x 59.5cm H
Estimate £60 – £100

Victor V Wilkins for G-Plan 1970s teak oval coffee table

Lot 744: A Victor V Wilkins for G-Plan 1970’s teak oval coffee table
Astro model 8040, 42cm H x 122cm W x 66cm D
Estimate £100 – £200

4 x Harry Bertoia 420 wirework side chairs

Lot 748: Harry Bertoia for Knoll, a set of four black vinyl coated model 420 wirework side chairs
Late 20th/early 21st century, each with a branded seat pad, impressed makers mark to the rear of all chairs, 72cm high (4)
Estimate £400 – £600

The best WordPress plugins to improve your food blog

The best WordPress plugins to improve your food blog

WordPress is the most famous and popular blogging platform. The platform is so popular that it’s believed that out of 1.3 billion websites on the web, WordPress powers more than 455 million sites, a fact that’s astonishing.

Users love WordPress because it’s a powerful platform that is reliable and offers endless customisation options. WordPress is an excellent platform for your blog if you’re a food blogger. Not only because it’s the best blogging platform but also because it offers countless plugins that will transform your ordinary food blog into perfection. The best part is that WordPress’s CMS is super user-friendly, so it will be super simple to manage your food blog and make it successful.

WordPress offers more than 58,000 free plugins for bloggers. It also offers thousands of plugins that cost additional money, but we guarantee you’ll find a useful plugin among the 58,000 you can use free of any charge. Before you start your food blogging journey, it’s important to remember that you first need to find a reliable web host. There are many web hosting companies on the internet, so research before you decide on one. Since you’ll be working with WordPress, the best thing you can do is choose a web host that offers WordPress hosting. To choose the best web host for your food blog, read as many reviews as possible on the Internet. For instance, HostAdvice offers countless valuable reviews, where you can find excellent information about web hosting companies that offer WordPress hosting, such as the Kinsta review; feel free to learn more about the web hosting companies that offer excellent WordPress hosting plans.

The best plugins for food blogs

As we already mentioned above, WordPress offers more than 58,000 free plugins. WordPress is the best platform to start your food blog, so make sure you get the most out of the platform by using some of the best plugins. Let’s see what the best WordPress plugins that will help you improve and transform your food blog are.

WordPress recipe plugins

There’s nothing better than adding food recipes in an instant. WordPress offers excellent recipe plugins that will make the job easy for you. The plugins will help you create recipes faster and easier, optimise your recipes for better SEO and improve the overall user experience thanks to the design and formatting.
Two of the best WordPress recipe plugins include:

  • Delicious Recipes for WordPress: a plugin that enables you to collect recipes from people visiting your blog. To increase your blog’s revenue, you can add an affiliate link directly to the recipe. The plugin also has an analytic dashboard that will help you track the progress of the recipes and discover which recipes are popular among your visitors.
  • WordPress Recipe Maker: this plugin is the most popular among food bloggers. There is a free version, but you need to pay for the premium plugin you can buy. The premium version will enable you to insert Amazon links, access the nutrition database, etc.

Yoast SEO

Whether you have a food blog, an eCommerce store, or a small business website, SEO is important. Yoast SEO is something you must download right now to make your food blog successful and attract more traffic. The plugin will give you anything you might need for SEO optimisation. Yoast SEO has incredible features, including on-page SEO analytics, readability analysis, built-in sitemap generator, snippet preview and editor. The plugin integrates with your WordPress editor and will maximise the SEO of your content as you work.

Social Snap

Social media can be crucial for success, so you must start using SocialSnap. The plugin will enable you to embed social sharing buttons on more than 30 social networks, and the best part is that it is super user-friendly. The SocialSnap includes an image sharer, creative display options, advanced customisation options, share counters, social meta tags etc.

ShortPixel Image Optimizer

ShortPixel is one of the most popular WordPress plugins among bloggers. This plugin is popular because it reduces the size of the images in a post and boosts site speed. The best part is that the image quality doesn’t get compromised. ShortPixel has recommended settings during the installation, but you can also configure the images to properly meet your needs.

Akismet

As your food blog grows and attracts more visitors, the number of spammers will also increase. To filter out spam, you will need Akismet, the plugin that monitors comment submissions. To start using the plugin, you first need to download it, create an account and then paste the API key generated for you. You also have the option to choose Akismet’s level of strictness when handling spam: keep the spam in a spam folder or get the spam deleted immediately. Akismet is popular because it has excellent features such as account spam statistics and the option to display privacy notices. The plugin is free, but a Plus or Enterprise plugin also has extra features.

Conclusion

Starting a food blog and making it successful is not easy. The reality is that the competition is tough, and you need to work extra hard to make your blog stand out from the crowd. Luckily, the WordPress plugins can help impact the food world and create a unique food blog that people will love coming back to.

[disclosure*]

Get their look: Kitchen corner shelfie

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by The Jordans (@thejordansathome)

Although not the most practical storage option, I adore open shelving in a kitchen – just like this corner shelfie I saw on Instagram.

Kept in this way, jars, glasses, utensils etc are more prone to developing a layer of dust or grease; but if items are used regularly and there’s no clutter, this is kept to a minimum.

Marianne & Fergus’ kitchen is a great mix of vintage and contemporary; a bright orange 70s stacking wine rack above a state-of-the-art bean to cup coffee machine and KitchenAid stand mixer.

I love a collection of glass jars on show, filled with colourful pulses and preserves. Favourite mugs hanging and pretty plates leaning back to show off their decoration to their best.

Get their look

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

LÄMPLIG stainless steel trivet
LÄMPLIG stainless steel trivet
£6.00
Moccamaster filter coffee machine
Moccamaster filter coffee machine
Kitchenaid glass tea kettle
Kitchenaid glass tea kettle
Sage Barista Express bean-to-cup coffee machine with stainless steel jug
Sage Barista Express bean-to-cup coffee machine with stainless steel jug
£599.95
Somm Paris Brevete modular wine rack
Somm Paris Brevete modular wine rack
Antrim poster
Antrim poster
LÄMPLIG stainless steel trivet
LÄMPLIG stainless steel trivet
£6.00
Moccamaster filter coffee machine
Moccamaster filter coffee machine
Kitchenaid glass tea kettle
Kitchenaid glass tea kettle
Sage Barista Express bean-to-cup coffee machine with stainless steel jug
Sage Barista Express bean-to-cup coffee machine with stainless steel jug
£599.95
Somm Paris Brevete modular wine rack
Somm Paris Brevete modular wine rack
Antrim poster
Antrim poster
LÄMPLIG stainless steel trivet
LÄMPLIG stainless steel trivet
£6.00
Moccamaster filter coffee machine
Moccamaster filter coffee machine
Kitchenaid glass tea kettle
Kitchenaid glass tea kettle
Sage Barista Express bean-to-cup coffee machine with stainless steel jug
Sage Barista Express bean-to-cup coffee machine with stainless steel jug
£599.95
Somm Paris Brevete modular wine rack
Somm Paris Brevete modular wine rack
Antrim poster
Antrim poster