I’m an energy bill expert – how to make the cheapest cup of tea
EVERYONE loves a nice cup of tea, but you may not know how much it costs to make one.
Energy bills are soaring and expected to rise to over £5,000 by next year and households are looking to cut back on their spending now.
Last week, Martin Lewis warned the current situation was akin to a Covid-like crisis.
But if you're worried about how making your daily cuppa might affect your energy bills, there are ways to reduce the costs.
Will Owen, energy expert at price comparison website uSwitch, has worked out how much it costs to make a cuppa four different ways.
And you might be surprised at which one comes out the cheapest.
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Based on Owen's calculations, this is how much it will cost you to make 100 300ml cups of tea.
Using a kettle will cost you £1.21 to boil 100 300ml cups.
That's based on it taking 52 seconds to boil and costing 28p per kilowatt of electricity.
Meanwhile, using a microwave will cost you £1.12 to heat up the same amount of water.
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However, using an uncovered pan on a gas hob comes in cheaper at 98p, while using a covered pan will cost you just 87p.
Owen explained: ";Boiling water in a covered pan on a gas hob is the cheapest way to make a cup of tea, thanks to the lower price of gas compared to electricity.
"Making 100 cups of tea this way would save you 34p compared to doing it in a kettle, and 25p against using the microwave.
"Make sure to cover pans when you are cooking on the stove, as uncovered saucepans will lose heat and waste energy."
If you're wanting to make a brew in quick time, the kettle is your best option.
That's because it takes 52 seconds to boil 300ml of water, but for in a covered pan on a hob, it took 217 seconds.
It actually uses less energy to boil the water in a kettle as well, but is more expensive per 300ml because gas is cheaper than electricity per kilowatt.
What other appliances in the kitchen are expensive to run?
It's not just the trusty kettle that can see your energy bills rack up.
There are a number of other appliances that can be costly to run in the kitchen - but you can reduce the amount you pay to use them if you know how.
Experts previously told The Sun using the wrong size hob could push up your energy bills.
So making sure the size of your pan matches up with the ring you're cooking on will help.
Defrosting your freezer regularly and not overfilling it could help you save around £150 a year as well.
And reducing your washing machine temperature to 30°C could save you £13 a year.
Meanwhile, if you're stacking the dishwasher, it's best to wait until it's full otherwise you'll be wasting half the energy.
We previously reported on the cheapest appliances to run in your home.
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And if you're looking for the most expensive, we also have more on that.
Meanwhile, an energy expert from uSwitch revealed one simple trick to reduce the amount you spend on energy bills every time you fill a kettle.