Then the book keeper received the electricity bill and almost blew a gasket. He asked the office manager to conduct some research, specifically to do with using a water boiler (entrance stage right: Winston) vs. using a kettle (Karl already on stage).
The office manager faffed a bit, then did a bit of internet research and came across Winston’s claim to fame on the AquAid website.
Here’s what he discovered:
Q: How can an AquAid Water Boiler save you money?
A: You no longer have to waste time waiting for a kettle to boil.
An average 3kW kettle takes 4 minutes to boil and if all the water in each kettle is actually used, it will produce 5 mugs of hot water.
Scenario: If you have 20 staff that each have 4 hot drinks per day (80 mugs), the kettle will be boiled a minimum of 16 times. It will probably be boiled more often as no-one ever empties it entirely each time they use it. So assuming they do actually use all the water every time, the kettle is boiled 16 times a day
… 16 x 4 minutes = 64 minutes (or let’s say an hour).
If the person, or the people who make the hot drinks are on a salary of £20,000pa and they work a 40-hour week, their hourly wage is £9.62/hour. You are paying £9.62 per day whilst the person waits for the kettle to boil.
£9.62 x 5 days = £48.10 per week
£48.10 x 52 weeks = £2501.20 per year
30 staff, 120 mugs a day = £3751.80 per year
40 staff, 160 mugs a day = £5002.40 per year
And so on …
Energy Consumption:
In terms of actual energy consumption, there is very little difference between a kettle and an AquAid water boiler. In fact, the boiler becomes cheaper to run the more people use it; Unit of Electricity in kW/h = 12 pence (approximately)
Karl the Kettle:
An average kettle is 3kW and takes 4 minutes (0.07 hours) to boil.
So 3kW x 0.07h = 0.21 kWh, 0.21 x 12p = 2.5p
So it costs 2.5p to boil a kettle of water. If all the water in the kettle is used it will produce 5 mugs of hot water.
Taking the same scenario; if you have 20 staff that have 4 mugs a day each, that’s 80 mugs so the kettle is boiled a minimum of 16 times.
So 20 staff, 80 mugs, 16 boils 16 x 2.5p = 40p per day
30 staff, 120 mugs, 24 boils 24 x 2.5p = 60p per day
40 staff, 160 mugs, 32 boils 32 x 2.5p = 80p per day
and so on …
Winston the Water Boiler:
Standby (Idle mode): The electrical consumption of the AquAid 2.1 (5 – Litre) 3kW boiler, whilst on standby is 0.07kW/h, which means it will use one unit of electricity (12p) in 14 hours (0.86p per hour), or 20.6p per day.
Energy usage (when in use): The AquAid 2.1 is designed so that it only boils the water that is used each time. It will run for approximately 30 seconds for each mug of water drawn-off … 1 minute for 2 mugs, 2 minutes for 4 mugs …
So for 20 staff, requiring 80 mugs it will be on for 40 minutes (0.66 hours) throughout the day;
So 3kW x 0.66h = 1.98kWh 1.98 x 12p = 23.7p
Add this to the standby amount of 20.6p per day gives a total of;
For 20 staff, 80 mugs; 44.3p per day
For 30 staff, 120 mugs; 56.6p per day
For 40 staff, 160 mugs; 68.5p per day
So, the story ended with Winston finding a new workspace in Oughtibridge where he kept a staff contingent of 22 very happy with piping hot (but regulated by law temperature wise) water on demand and …
We hear Karl retired to Kilgetty where he snoozes the evenings away and only flips his lid very occasionally during the day when he’s required to boil water for a cuppa ….
And they all lived happily ever after.
