Simple mug trick could save you £100 in water and electricity

Using your favourite coffee mug to fill the kettle could save you more than £100 a year on bills, an expert says. With domestic energy bills still sky-high, and most UK households keeping a close eye on their budgets, clawing back any cash around the home is more than welcome.

So one kitchen guru has explained how a simple tactic for topping up your kettle before making a hot drink is a great way to do just that. Jennifer Shaw, from Plumbworld, says the hack will take seconds. She said: “A cup of tea or coffee is a vital part of the daily routine for many people - whether to wake them up in the morning or provide brief respite from a busy schedule.

“But many of us are guilty of over-filling our kettle when it comes to making a cuppa, and the vast majority are not aware of how much this could be costing them. While many electric kettles have a scale on the side that roughly indicates the amount of water being boiled, cups and mugs come in all shapes and sizes.

“So while a half full kettle will be enough for two of three large mugs, it will be far too much for two to three small china cups. Therefore, a good habit to get into is using the exact cup or mug you are about to drink out of to measure out the number needed.

“It’s a good idea to add a little more in, to make sure the heating element is protected when pouring out the final portion. But by doing this you can make some decent savings on bills for both water - if you are on a meter - and electricity.”

Most kettles feature a 3kW element and boil a standard 235ml cup of water in an average of 45 seconds. A basic calculation based on the current average cost of electricity shows it costs approximately 1p to boil one cup’s worth of water and 5p to boil a full kettle - in a time of around four minutes.

So considering the average UK household drinks around 3,250 cups of tea or coffee per year, this means if you are boiling half the amount of water in each kettle, that’s a saving of around £98 every 12 months on electricity alone. Add in some savings on water, and you are over the £100-mark for money back in your pocket.

Jennifer also recommends regularly descaling your kettle to cut the cost of each boil, as any deposits make the appliance less efficient. She said: “Fill the kettle around three-quarters of the way with water and add in a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda.

“Boil the kettle and then leave for 30 to 60 minutes before rinsing thoroughly and then reboiling with just water.”