COFFEE TIME CHALLENGE | S PONSORED BY MICRO-EPSILON
DONE TO A TEA
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Walk into any British
kitchen and one piece
of equipment you can
guarantee will be there is
the electric kettle. It is, for most Britons,
a vital component of everyday life.
This, of course, is because of the
country’s profound and long-standing
love affair with tea. Putting the kettle on
is an almost reflex action for many and
one that is unlikely to change any time
soon. After all, we consider a kettle to
be a must even in hotel rooms – and
sometimes can be taken by surprise
when we go abroad to discover that this
practice is far from universal.
For all its convenience and ubiquity,
however, the electric kettle comes at
an environmental cost. This is because
the electric kettle is extremely wasteful.
Not only are the heating elements
extremely energy-hungry, but almost
everyone who uses a kettle overfills it.
This means not only that more energy is
used than is needed, but that water that
has already been boiled once is later
getting boiled again the next time the
kettle is used.
This problem is so severe that one
estimate claims that just one day’s worth
of the excess energy use caused by
overfilling electric kettles would light all
the streetlights in England.
THE CHALLENGE
This month’s challenge, then, is to develop
a quick and convenient method of boiling
as much water as you need – and no
more. Ideally, it should be not require
any compromises in terms of speed and
certainly none in terms of safety. !
As ever we have an idea in mind that we will reveal in the July issue of Eureka! Until then, why not let
us know how you would tackle the problem by leaving your thoughts in the comments section of the
Eureka! website or by emailing the editor: paul.fanning@markallengroup.com
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