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Tefal’s Quick Cup Deluxe Water Heater

25 Mar, 2010 No Comments

Tefal’s Quick Cup Deluxe Water Heater serves hot water in just a few seconds, making it an ideal way to make a quick cup of tea or coffee.
The Tefal Quick Cup Deluxe only heats as much water as is needed, achieving energy savings of up to 65% compared to an ordinary kettle – saving you both time and money!

Versatile and practical, the Tefal Quick Cup Deluxe has a 1.7 litre removable water reservoir, a flowstop system for manual or automatic flow, and a safe, cool-touch body. The machine also features an anti-splash spout, removable drip tray, and indicators for changing the cartridge or descaling.

The reservoir is a bit awkward to put in place and remove and it is quite noisy when heating water, apart from this it is an excellent product for people with restricted movement or handling problems.

Tefal Quick cup
Ease of use
Very easy to use and setup

Design
A few minor design faults

Water efficiency
Very efficient as you only boil what you want and no more

Energy efficiency
Very efficient taking only a short amount of power to heat 1 cup of water

Overall
The Tefal Quick cup does just what it is supposed to, hot water almost instantly.

You can buy the Quick Cup Deluxe Water Heater at: Dixons or Debenhams

Eco Kettle

10 Feb, 2010 No Comments

The innovative Eco Kettle has a unique double chamber set up that allows you to measure out exactly how much water you want to boil, saving electricity, water, money and time.

The Eco Kettle ticks every box when you are trying to do your bit for the environment…. and you still get to have a great cup of tea or coffee as the water is never boiled more than once.

There are a couple of design problems. Firstly the handle does get a little warm from time to time, especially if you boil the kettle repeatedly without letting it cool down. Secondly if you overfill the reservoir with cold water it can leak out when you try to pour the hot water from the kettle.

Even with these minor faults in mind the eco kettle is one of my favourite eco products, and I believe an essential for any eco friendly kitchen or workplace.

Eco kettle
Ease of use
Very easy to use and setup

Design
A few minor design faults

Water efficiency
Very efficient as you only boil what you want and no more

Energy efficiency
Very efficient taking only a short amount of power to heat 1 cup of water

Overall
The Eco kettle should have place in every eco warriors kitchen.

Can my water meter record usage without water passing threw it?

23 Dec, 2009 No Comments

simple answer is YES.

“Flow“ –verb

1.	to move along in a stream: The river flowed slowly to the sea.

2.	to circulate: blood flowing through one’s veins.

3.	to stream or well forth: Warmth flows from the sun.

4.	to issue or proceed from a source: Orders flowed from the office.

6.	to proceed continuously and smoothly: Melody flowed from the violin.

7.	to come or go as in a stream: A constant stream of humanity flowed by.

8.	to hang loosely at full length: Her hair flowed over her shoulders.

9.	to abound in something: The tavern flowed with wine.

10.	to rise and advance, as the tide.

As you see the definition above the word flow is not restricted to liquid or water.

water company will say “NO its not possible for your meter to record usage without flow” but they are using the word “flow” and not the word “water”.

Most meters are very accurate and run perfectly fine for years.

However there are some issues that can arise with both types of meter be they digital or mechanical.

Digital meters can be effected first of all by vibrations, so a washing machine on full spin that is close to the meter and touching the pipework can cause it to miss record, also if you have had a new kitchen fitted and the meter has been knocked around by the contractor this can cause it to jump. Secondly digital meters can go wrong if not earthed correctly. If you have a digital meter and there is no earth wire connected it can be miss recording.

Mechanical meters can be effected as above due to vibrations but also can record Air flow as well as water. For example there is a problem with the supply and your water has stopped running, you have left the tap on but nothing is coming out. now this is where simple physics come into play, you have to remember that you water meter is above the height of the mains supply which is probably buried under the road or footpath, so because you have left the tap open the water will syphon back down the pipework past your water meter and leave all the pipework full of air. When the water company fix what ever problem caused you to loose your water supply and start re pressurising the water system this will push air back threw your meter and cause the internal mechanism to spin wildly and record high usage. We all know air is thinner than water so less resistance means faster movement.