Whistling Kettles! Padlocks on gas lockers? Green or Blue down the Loo?

[twbm]

Will the fire service actually go for your shutoff valve? I've never seen them at work so I don't know.

 

Dave

 

They would start by cutting the roof off the boat, 'cause they can.

[Nine of Hearts]

 

They would start by cutting the roof off the boat, 'cause they can.

 

Completely but this reminds me of a horror story that occurred to two good samaritans.

Having witnessed a car accident, they pulled over and offered assistance. I think one involved party was elderly, but be that as it may, they offered this shaken individual refuge in their vehicle until the emergency services arrived. When they did, they examined this person and determined that they may have spinal injuries and would therefore have to be lifted out of the car. So they cut the roof off and did just that. Leaving the poor samaritans with a convertible and completely uncovered by their insurance. I'm not sure what you can take away from that, but Zoiks.

[bizzard]

Another vote for Le Crueset, mine's like this:

 

 

Flat bottomed and ultra stable, as well as matching all the other red stuff in the kitchen. Don't know what it cost as Mama bought it as a pressie, but there is no way she paid the advertised retail price. Some of them quote £80

The domed shape of this kettle is the most efficient for boiling water as long as the lid is heavy and a good fit not letting steam and heat escape. In my opinion it would be better with no lid, fill at the spout with an old fashioned removable whistle with knob. My old domed camping kettle is lidless and has the separate whistle, 20p s/h at a boot sale 10 years ago and still going strong. Those fixed whistles at the spout don't normally last long if you use hard limey water, being plasticy they're fragile and you can't give em a really good scrub and poke to clean them.

[Nine of Hearts]

Those fixed whistles at the spout don't normally last long if you use hard limey water, being plasticy they're fragile and you can't give em a really good scrub and poke to clean them.

 

To assuage your fears, I can tell you that I only ever use soft water in my kettle. I determine its softness by noting that a sponge (soft) doesn't bounce, and a snooker ball (hard) does when dropped on the floor. So, prior to using the kettle, I drop a little water on the floor, and if it doesn't bounce continue to fill.

[Emerald Fox]

Thanks for all this, helps a bit.

[Neil2]

Re toilets I've been using that "One Chem" stuff recently, I was sceptical at first but I got it because it has a neat built in measuring device (why don't they all do this) and you use it in the tank and the flush. I reckon it is better than any of the formaldehyde based products.

 

If you use formaldehyde based stuff it is very important to measure the amount you add to the tank accurately - the object of the exercise is to kill the odour without impeding the breakdown of the waste. The reason folk have issues with elsan blue etc is because they use too much concentrate.

[Ex- Member]

If anyone's looking for the La Crueset Kone kettle, found them here at a very reasonable price, free postage too.

 

http://www.go-electrical.co.uk/le-creuset-stove-top-kone-kettle-in-cerise.html

 

The Black ones seem to be out of stock in many outlets.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Julynian

[Ex- Member]

Kettle update!

 

Well we decided to go for the le Cruset whistling kettle @ £50.25 delivered it was a real bargain. Well sort of

 

We ordered on the 27th April but the Black kettle wasn't in stock so we had to wait a week. So 2 weeks go by and no kettle. Lynn phones up Go and they apologise stating there's a delay but now solved and we should get it within 7 days. Several days later it arrived. We had it delivered to my sister's in Bath so drove over and picked it up. On opening and unwrapping we noticed quite a large chip in the enamel about the size of a match head.

 

On returning we emailed Go with a photo of the damage. No problem we had to fill in a form print out a return label and swap with the courier when he delivered. The next day we had an e-mail from the courier confirming delivery on Friday morning between 10am & 11 am.

 

So off to Bath once again, courier arrives at 10.15am. It was the same guy who did the previous delivery. Brilliant, we swap items and the courier rushes off, as they do. So we go back inside and open the package, and would you believe it, the whistle spout had snapped off. A bit pizzed off I phoned them immediately, they were again apologetic but I had a bit of a moan as the replacement wasn't packed as well as the original, in fact all it had was Black wrapping around the flimsy box the kettle sits in.

 

Anyway the kind lady at go said she would make a point of mentioning this to the packing department.

 

So now we do the 3rd trip which was today. The courier e-mailed they would deliver between 10am and 11am So we get there and wait. About 11.15 a White van turns up, but not the usual kettle courier we know. A chap gets out with a great big carton 3 f/t x 2 f/t x 2 f/t Oh well we thought it must be for my sister. As Lynn signs I say check the name, and hey presto it is addressed to Lynn, so we stop the courier and ask him if he's supposed to take a parcel back, he's unsure. I quickly open the box and its ram jam full of White polystyrene, and right in the middle is the wee kettle in flimsy box.

 

Well on opening the kettle is in perfect nick, so courier sets off with the broken one.

 

What a pain in the wosnames though, 40 miles and about 6 hours faffing around travelling time waiting and printing return forms. In all fairness they did sort this promptly and covered all the postage costs. It's annoying that the £50 quid bargain wasn't quite the bargain we thought

 

Still it does boil very quickly and just made a lovely cup of tea. The lid is really thick and tight fitting, it's clearly insulated inside. It looks great too and very stable and a really nice size. So we're well happy

 

It better not break though

[junior]

Kettle update!

 

Well we decided to go for the le Cruset whistling kettle @ £50.25 delivered it was a real bargain. Well sort of

 

We ordered on the 27th April but the Black kettle wasn't in stock so we had to wait a week. So 2 weeks go by and no kettle. Lynn phones up Go and they apologise stating there's a delay but now solved and we should get it within 7 days. Several days later it arrived. We had it delivered to my sister's in Bath so drove over and picked it up. On opening and unwrapping we noticed quite a large chip in the enamel about the size of a match head.

 

On returning we emailed Go with a photo of the damage. No problem we had to fill in a form print out a return label and swap with the courier when he delivered. The next day we had an e-mail from the courier confirming delivery on Friday morning between 10am & 11 am.

 

So off to Bath once again, courier arrives at 10.15am. It was the same guy who did the previous delivery. Brilliant, we swap items and the courier rushes off, as they do. So we go back inside and open the package, and would you believe it, the whistle spout had snapped off. A bit pizzed off I phoned them immediately, they were again apologetic but I had a bit of a moan as the replacement wasn't packed as well as the original, in fact all it had was Black wrapping around the flimsy box the kettle sits in.

 

Anyway the kind lady at go said she would make a point of mentioning this to the packing department.

 

So now we do the 3rd trip which was today. The courier e-mailed they would deliver between 10am and 11am So we get there and wait. About 11.15 a White van turns up, but not the usual kettle courier we know. A chap gets out with a great big carton 3 f/t x 2 f/t x 2 f/t Oh well we thought it must be for my sister. As Lynn signs I say check the name, and hey presto it is addressed to Lynn, so we stop the courier and ask him if he's supposed to take a parcel back, he's unsure. I quickly open the box and its ram jam full of White polystyrene, and right in the middle is the wee kettle in flimsy box.

 

Well on opening the kettle is in perfect nick, so courier sets off with the broken one.

 

What a pain in the wosnames though, 40 miles and about 6 hours faffing around travelling time waiting and printing return forms. In all fairness they did sort this promptly and covered all the postage costs. It's annoying that the £50 quid bargain wasn't quite the bargain we thought

 

Still it does boil very quickly and just made a lovely cup of tea. The lid is really thick and tight fitting, it's clearly insulated inside. It looks great too and very stable and a really nice size. So we're well happy

 

It better not break though

Did nobody tell you that you can get them in TK Maxx for £25?

[patty-ann]

Really TK Maxx? son offered to buy me one for my birthday---am still waiting---I will let him know!

[Laurie Booth]

This is what we use.

 

http://www.whatmyhomewants.com/the-simplex-copper-tea-kettle/

[pquinn]

We started using trigano activ green which is made by thetford on the recommendation of the guy who used to sell us the thetford green.it is at least a third of the price cheaper if not more but i am not convinced that it is as good at breaking down the waste.Does anybody else use it? paul

[Ex- Member]

Did nobody tell you that you can get them in TK Maxx for £25?

 

I think that was a one off half price sale last year. There weren't the cone kettle either but the older Aga type looking kettle. Still a great bargain though, had I come across them I would have bought a dozen and resold on flea bay LOL

[Clifford]

I went to our local le Creuset shop today, to feel the weight and balance of the conical kettle. Felt as nice as you would expect. Obviously very stable. Not sure what lawe of physics makes the domed top particularly efficient?

 

The nice man did tell me how much it cost, but it blew my 'silly price' circuit breaker, so I don't remember what he said.

 

I'll keep an eye on TK Maxx.

 

Question for users? Can you fill it through that little spout? (Yes, with the whistle flipped up!). Or do you not find it inconvenient (and sometimes painful) to remove the lid each time.

[Ex- Member]

I went to our local le Creuset shop today, to feel the weight and balance of the conical kettle. Felt as nice as you would expect. Obviously very stable. Not sure what lawe of physics makes the domed top particularly efficient?

 

The nice man did tell me how much it cost, but it blew my 'silly price' circuit breaker, so I don't remember what he said.

 

I'll keep an eye on TK Maxx.

 

Question for users? Can you fill it through that little spout? (Yes, with the whistle flipped up!). Or do you not find it inconvenient (and sometimes painful) to remove the lid each time.

 

We use jug filtered water so filling through the spout would be tricky. It could be done straight from the tap as we have s/s water tank so water is drinkable, but water here is full of lime so need the filter jug to avoid lime scale in the kettle. The lid is tight, but I can easily remove it with hand around handle and pulling lid knob with 2 fingers from said hand.

 

In fact it's quite pleasant handling something that's a well engineered tight fit

Edited May 21, 2014 by Julynian

[Clifford]

In trying to be economical with leccy/gas, I sometimes go too far and UNDERfill the kettle. By the time I realise, the kettle is very hot or boiling. No problem, as both my kettles (home and boat) can be topped-up via the spout. Taking the lid of a boiling kettle would not be qadvisable, I'd guess. But if a bit of extra water can at least be trickled in via the Le Creuset spout, that would be Ok for me.

 

It's certainly a nice looking bit of kit.

[Emerald Fox]

I got 2 Creuset whistling kettles from Ebay - conical one 15.00 Pounds, and a larger one (in case we have guests) for 15.00 Pounds. Conical came in the post, bigger one I collected from somewhere i was driving past anyway (no-one else bidded on it as it said 'collection only' and I suppose that put folk off). Both red. Both look like new. Green boat, red kettles = good combination