Vektra VEK-1502S Vacuum Insulated Environmentally Eco Friendly Easy Pour Cordless Kettle, 1.5 Litre, Silver

It is hard not be bitterly disappointed with this product because and out of the box it does look a very attractive kettle, and with all the hype of the manufacturer, one is led to expect a quality product. And at that price! But, alas! Let's be clear of what it being sold here - a kettle with vacuum insulated walls that is supposed to keep the water hot so that you save energy. Well, as a kettle it does boil the water, but at 1.5kW it takes its time. What about keeping it hot? As a mechanical engineer who's done heat transfer research, I must say it does it, but rather poorly. I am tempted to rig up some teat gear to measure precisely how well, but a simple comparison has convinced me of what I would find. I have sub-£5 stainless steel 1.5l vaccum flask that was made in China - the sort you get from a discount store such as Home Bargains - and with fresh boiling water in it the outside walls remain almost at ambient temperature and cool to the touch throughout the night. In the morning, the water is still too hot to drink. Now the Vektra: boil a full flask of water and what happens? Well, the outside of the kettle soon warms up to the touch, showing that the heat is slowly, but surely, leaking away at some rate. After a couple of hours, the temperature of the water is definitely too low to make even a cup of instant coffee. If you did leave it overnight, as I would leave my sub-£5 flask, the water is as warm as your room in the morning. It may not be a fair comparison as the base of the kettle houses the heating element and there is bound is poorer heat insulation there. But there is no reason why the upper part of the kettle should be losing so much heat when it is supposed to be "vacuum-insulated". I suspect that the insulation is only some polystyrene material which is often used in cheap insulated drinking flasks. But short of cutting it up, I cannot really tell. That could explain why its walls gets so warm on the outside and is losing heat more than it should. Unless, of course, my particular kettle's vacuum has been compromised during manufacture. I can't be bothered to send it back because while it disappoints, it does keep the water warmish and will probably save some energy. It's like many things today - lots of hype and lttle to show for it.

Saw this advertised on the shopping channel so got one each for my daughters they loved it so much I brought one for myself!

Good kettle.