[Closed] Electric kettel + hard water. Longevity.

Can't you just descale fairly regularly?

No problem here. Lived in hard water area for 40 years and only on 3rd or 4th kettle. Just occasionally SWMBO will stick a descaling solution in there, but only once every couple of years.

Just not something that worries us.

Yes, our kettle has lasted nearly 10 years. But, it only gets filled with filtered water and it also has a wire ball in it.

I've not really had problems, although don't actually boil the kettle that often (once a week maybe). It was only reading Which? tests that had a rating for how easy they were to clean I realised you were supposed to clean inside a kettle from time to time (never have myself...)

I always stick the Delonghi descaler through ours after it's been through the coffee machine. Coffee machine reminds me to do it, kettle doesnt.

Oust (it's probably citric acid) and fill kettle, boil it two or three times and it froths up and removes all the scale. Cheapo vinegar from Tesco does the same job but smellier!

I have an alternative strategy. I buy the cheapest possible kettle from Tesco and keep the box and receipt safe. Guaranteed to die before before 12 months is up and gets replaced free of charge under warranty. On my third one now. I call it "kettle for life" 😉

We have a Kenwood one with the element hidden below a heating plate which means there is no element to get coated with scale. The plate still gets scaled up but it's easier to clean than a cruddy element. We're on our second one as the last one got dropped and leaked a bit from the handle.

'Oust' descaler ever 12 months or so. Or the cheap stuff that Aldi sometimes get in stock.

Lakeland do steel wool balls you drop in to prevent limescale build up.
12 months in and our kettle is still going strong, I would suggest 2, as one cleans a spot to the front of the kettle well and reduces the rest.

Britta filter kettle here for years. Still needs filter replacing regularly and descaling about every 4 weeks so not really convinced the filter is doing anything other than costing me money.

Several cheaper kettles all failed or leaked constantly so we splashed out on a Bosch one and it's lasted 8 years so far in a hardwater area.
When I saw a news article about the inventor of the electric kettle having died recently, he was pictured with the same kettle we have, therefore I'm saying it must be a really good one.

Spookily I just descaled it half an hour ago, this on top of buying new knives last week and then seeing the knife thread on here, I'm pretty sure STW is listening in to my Alexa!!

Good job we don't talk about anything saucy in our house very often!

@Sturdaylad, fancy sharing the model number?

Fill with filtered water. Last a decade or two. I rarely replace the filter for the water but it's still plenty good for un-hardening water for kettles etc and never need to descale them. Never ever direct from tap. Instant fur. Likewise every other pot and pan filled with filtered water only.

@urbanhiker
Not at all...
It's this one
Kettle

I would buy another without hesitation if this one dies.

London water, very hard.

We have one of those 'quiet' kettles, it's amazing actually. It gets louder when it's due a descale, which is handy - as it effectively tells us when it's due a descale.

Not at all…
It’s this one
Kettle

I would buy another without hesitation if this one dies.

I'm on my second one. Kettles are very similar to irons for poor longevity, when it dies I'll do the same as I did when yet another iron died (think it was a Bosch too), go cheap cos the expensive ones make naff all difference.

I have an alternative strategy. I buy the cheapest possible kettle from Tesco and keep the box and receipt safe. Guaranteed to die before before 12 months is up and gets replaced free of charge under warranty. On my third one now. I call it “kettle for life

Yay, more plastic getting disposed of!

I recently switched to that Bosch kettle to (based on Which? reviews), seems OK so far. That said I only binned my old one as the auto shut-off thing stopped working and that was a 10-year Russell Hobbs one that had been fine until then.

Boil what you need and empty any left over water out and you should not get much of a scale issue. I had a cheap supermarket kettle for over 10 years only binned because the lid didn't close very well in the end through doing this.

as it effectively tells us when it’s due a descale.

Does just looking in it not tell you the same?

@cinnamon_girl don't get me started on Irons...
I reckon we've been through more in the last 10 years that my dear old Ma has in the last 70!
Currently awaiting the newest one to fail.

The instructions say don't use descaler but I thought I'd try it just before I binned it off and lo & behold it's done another few months, will be trying the same again this week before it ends up in landfil. Such a waste, if only they'd make things to last.

You too sturdylad! I don't know with irons whether it's the hard water they don't like although always use a filter. It's really not good enough and us consumers need to let the manufacturers know.

Just realised I'm a cheapskate with my kettle, there's ones selling for £125 in Argos and you can double that if you shop at JL. Wonder if there's a 5 year guarantee?!