Hamilton Beach Electric Tea Kettle, Water Boiler & Heater, Cordless Serving, Auto-Shutoff Dry Protection, 1500 Watts for Fast Boiling, 1.8 Liter, Black

This is the 3rd teakettle we purchased. My wife is British, so we boil water twice a day for tea, once a day to warm the food container for the kids, and once a day in the evening to fill her hot water bottle, so that's a minimum of 4 times per day. The first one I bought at Macy's was $80 and was OK, lasted for over 5 years. The next one was a Brentwood for $31.95 (1.5 L) from Amazon which I bought in Sept 2012 and died 15 months later. I decided to not waste more money and bought the rock bottom cheapest tea kettle on all of Amazon in Jan 2014, and that was the Hamilton Beach K6080 for only $13 (and free shipping). After 5 months of continuous use I have to say this is by far the best tea kettle that we have had for the following reasons: 1) It's the CHEAPEST out there, (2) it is the FASTEST at doing its job by far. The stove doesn't even come close. The fancy kettles we had before this one hide the heating element, which you can't see anyway, and the laws of physics tell you that when you hide the heating element, there's less direct contact between heat and water for exchange to occur, so it takes a lot longer, (3) it's the QUIETEST one, the fancy ones are lot noisier, again, I assume because they don't have the exposed heating element, (4) it is nicest LOOKING one, (5) It has all the FEATURES of the expensive ones (automatic shutoff, cordless, on/off light), the cord is attached to the base just like every otherone out there, (6) EASY to clean, it doesn't get any of the hardness I found on the other ones, not sure why, I do make the effort to poor out the remaining water and rinse with fresh water each time, but its super easy to get rid of the white material using vinegar and they even provide a cleaning solution (which after 5 months, I have not yet needed to do), (7) LARGEST capacity at 1.8L is noticeably bigger than the more expensive ones I've had in the past, and (8) so far, its the most SOLIDLY built one, a real workhorse, despite being very light.The only potential concern is the water inside directly contacts the plastic. If you stick your nose into the kettle after it has stopped boiling, yes, the vapors smell a little bit plastic. But, if you transfer that same water to a mug, and sniff again, you don't notice any smell at all, so I can only presume that the smell is not from something leaching into the water. I don't notice any impact on taste either. You cannot smell it otherwise, you have to really stick your nose in the kettle. Also, after 4 months of use, the smell has gone away even if you try to search it out. So, in a nutshell, it has all positives, no negatives, even if it was $100 it would be the best one out there, but it is not $100, it's the cheapest one.

I've owned several electric kettles. The metal ones eventually rust out. The plastic ones seem cruder in design but last longer. I own three of these Hamilton Beach kettles. One of them has been boiling away for ten years now. And when it finally dies I can replace it for just a few bucks. It does have a few shortcomings, though. A filter that slips in behind the spout is flimsy and can come off. Eventually, mine just cracked. Not an important problem . . . One reviewer here notes that the kettle mates with the base in only one direction (compared to kettles with a circular base and center prong connector). So you have to orient the two to connect it properly. Again, not much of a problem. The position of the cord, as someone noted, does make for a problem in that steam from the spout goes to the underside of a cabinet unless I pull the cord and base away from the cabinet. Someday my chipboard may dissolve . . . One final quirk: the automatic off feature depends, I think, on pressure build up inside the pot. If the kettle lid isn't snapped tight, the shut off feature won't work. But why gripe? This gadget does what I need: it boils water quickly. I haven't noticed any plastic-y taste in the water, although some people have mentioned this. I think any taste dissipates as the kettle is used.

I bought this to replace a 5 year old electric kettle that had started to rust, and so far I'm very happy with it. It was larger than I expected, but heats up water very quickly. I typically only fill it halfway (my teapot holds less than a liter) but even when it's completely full it only takes a few minutes to boil.For the first few runs it will make the water in it smell and taste a bit like plastic. I added a teaspoon of baking soda to the water the first time I used it, and after a few more runs with only water the smell and taste is no longer noticeable.Pros:-Automatic switch off. I consider this to be a must have for an electric kettle.-Runs quietly. This might just be me, but I really appreciate that it is quiet. I'm very sensitive to loud sounds, and the first electric kettle I bought (the Black & Decker KE2020 2.0 Liter Dome Kettle) was extremely loud. I also like that it doesn't make a noise when it is done. I already have enough appliances that make loud, annoying sounds when they are done. The automatic switch off is audible.-Cordless. This is much more convenient than a kettle with a cord. Previously I had to either unplug my kettle when it was done and try to keep the cord out of the way and out of the sink while I poured, or try to maneuver it so that I could pour with it still plugged in. It was a pain; this kettle is not. It is very easy to take off and put on the base.-Fast. I don't remember the exact times but it takes about 3-4 minutes to boil a liter and about 6 to boil the max 1.8 liters.-Lid is easy to open/close. There is a handle on the top that you lift back a bit to unlock it, and then you can swing the lid up (if the kettle is level it will stay up). My previous kettle had a lid that came off completely, and the locking mechanism would sometimes get stuck. This one works smoothly and is comfortable to handle.-Easy grip handle. This isn't visible in the product pictures, but it is nice.-On/off light. This also isn't visible in the product pictures. On top of the handle there is a small orange light that is on when the kettle is on, and off when it is off.Cons:So far I don't have any. I don't consider the plastic smell a con because it is something to be expected from a plastic kettle, and because it will go away after a few uses. If it doesn't go away after 5-8 boils, as some other reviewers complained about, try adding a bit of baking soda or white vinegar to the water.I should note that this kettle has the same inner heating element as my previous kettle, which rusted, so I expect that the same will happen to this one eventually.[EDIT]Less than a year after I purchased this, something went wrong with the heating coil and it stopped functioning. I contacted the supplier and they offered to send a replacement if I sent in my broken kettle. Since I would have had to pay the shipping to do that, I opted to just order a new one off of Amazon for about the same price. I've had no problems with the new kettle. Hopefully it will last longer, but even if it doesn't I am happy enough with this kettle to just keep buying them.As a side note: I have a friend who purchased this same model years ago and it is still functioning normally, so I don't think my experience with it breaking within a year is necessarily typical.

Its a 110V kettle

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