Informal poll (kettle content)

I fill the kettle to the fill line. Its just what I do. I hate not having quite enough boiling water for the project at hand and I'm taking no chances. My wife hates that, especially if I am making the two of us tea. She watches the fill process and tries to stop me at the two cup plus a quarter inch mark. I will not be swayed. The fill line is the fill line. Who's side are you on?

It seems like a waste of time and energy to heat up extra water you wont use.

I'm on your side.

My wife fills the kettle until it's full, not to the fill line.

This causes a mess of scalding water on the counter.

The struggle is real.

They wouldn't put the line there if I wasn't supposed to fill it.

I'm with ProDarwin.  I estimate what I need for this heat cycle & fill that amount. Occasionally I misjudge & don't have enough, but not often.

I fill what I need plus a guesstimated bit more.  It's ready faster.

secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm with ProDarwin.  I estimate what I need for this heat cycle & fill that amount. Occasionally I misjudge & don't have enough, but not often.

This is the correct answer. 

If the fill line said to jump off a bridge, would you do it?

Sheesh.

ProDarwin said:

It seems like a waste of time and energy to heat up extra water you wont use.

There really isn't a difference though. What, fractions of a cent worth of electricity or gas, and an extra minute?

Basing this off pots on a stove because I don't see a need for a standalone device, but there's not much time difference between 2 cups of water for rice and 3 quarts for noodles.

Always to max fill. Like everything else in life I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Fill line. Period. I cannot stand ending up short and having to wait for it to heat again.

Fill as much as I think I need plus ten percent. Hasn’t failed me yet. 

Tied at four to four as Shawng had a bit of a vague answer. Unless there is a solid tie break by tomorrow I will keep filling to the line as the guy who wrote "fill line" intended.

I don't fill it all the way up, but I damn make sure I at least hit the "minimum fill" line.  Wife doesn't pay attention to that and I have to leave the room when she's doing it.

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

I'm on your side. Fill line.

Fill line.  Then you’re all set for a second cup!

For tea? I heat up water in a mug in the microwave. 
 

But with a kettle I would just do about 10-25% more than I think I need. 

I am also in the camp of filling what I need, plus a small buffer amount.

The real question is, is it ok to waste energy for no particular reason?

Gotta side with the ol lady on this one.

I open the handle, don't put in a K-cup close the handle, boom hot water in a mug. Insert additional mugs as required. 
 

That said if I am boiling water for noodles or something I try not to boil way more than needed. 

I fill exactly what I need--on my sink, it's seven seconds per mug of tea. (Yes, I am OCD enough that I count. Shut up.) 

This means I don't waste energy, and my second mug of tea is also delicious because it doesn't use reheated water, which has less... zsuzs.

Tim fills to the full line, because he is an animal.

Agreed, the struggle is real.

Margie

In reply to New York Nick :

We had a Keurig machine and the water is never hot enough to make a decent cup of tea. 

The tea also ends up tasting a bit like watery coffee thanks to residual stuff in the machine.

If it's being used to make that stuff Americans call "tea" then it's probably ok.

Not tea:

Tea:

In reply to ShawnG :

Lol, I am not a connoisseur of tea. I worked oil and gas with several expats from England and making and drinking tea was like a precise activity full of grandeur and tradition. On the occasion that I want a cup of tea it's usually because I've already had so many cups of coffee that I need a change! 
 

I do appreciate the difference it's like Lemon's racing to IMSA. Maybe one day I'll make the tea big leagues 

I live alone, so I don't answer to anyone.  I turn on the faucet and do a 6-count into the kettle like a bartender.  It's always good for two big mugs of tea with no extra.

RevRico said:

ProDarwin said:

It seems like a waste of time and energy to heat up extra water you wont use.

There really isn't a difference though. What, fractions of a cent worth of electricity or gas, and an extra minute?

Basing this off pots on a stove because I don't see a need for a standalone device, but there's not much time difference between 2 cups of water for rice and 3 quarts for noodles.

With an electric resistance heater immersed in the water, an electric kettle is very efficient at heating up the water and very little else so boiling 8 cups of water will take just about 4x as long as boiling 2.  Some back-of-the-envelope math says it's about a minute and a half vs 5 minutes, which seems about right.

The energy cost is fairly trivial though -- 0.1 kwh to heat the extra 6 cups. 

A stove puts out a lot more heat.

The first world problems thread is over there.

(I dont let my wife touch the stove and she doesnt let me touch the laundry.)

The kettle is a time saving device so I only fill it the amount I need at the moment. 

So one more vote for team "not to the fill line"