Shall i buy a plastic kettle or a metal kettle?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

i jsut got a retro one never again taking 8 minutes to boil Grr

get a metal on

I got a plastic jug kettle I bought from Sainsbury's about 8 years ago for ￡6 and still going strong. I live in a soft water area so have no scale on the element. Before that I had one of those expensive fancy glass transparent kettles with the element invisble from sight that lasted 6 months.

Sometimes style and price tag come before practical usage and value.

Edit: Oh, I'd say plastic too because metal can get hot to the touch more and also the kettle is as only as good as the element so if it goes you can cheaply replace it.

I think buying either type would balance out ecologically.
A metal kettle is slightly better environmentally when disposed of, however metal is well known for it's ability to transfer heat. Most plastic kettles are poor conductors of heat. Therefore they will use less energy to boil the water. In the long term this will use less fuel at the power station.

If you only drink coffee plastic is fine but if you drink tea it tastes horrid. I can't understand why anyone should be bothered about hot metal on a kettle. Hard water needs to be filtered whatever kettle you use.

My own experience and that of friends.

I love my plastic one. I've had it since 1994 and it still works great. It heats up faster than the stove, easy to clean, and it was only $12.

A good old fashion whistler on my aga :) takes forever but that whistle makes me smile every time i trip over the cat running to take it off!

Plastic, the metal ones get really hot on the outside.

Metal

I think a metal one would be easier to clean and might last longer.

Plastic. More efficient as less heat loss and less likely to cause a burn.

go with metal