blue boiling kettle to make the next caffeine fix (Russell Hobbs 14440)

Member Name: jillycat

Product:	Russell Hobbs 14440
Date:	28/08/09 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lightweight easy to clean works

Disadvantages: noisy, not a very fast boil, a bit ugly

My husband purchased this kettle in January from Sainsbury's after our current one gave up the ghost. He selected this one at the time purely based on price as it was the usual post Christmas January money blues in our household and this cost about £15.

Appearance of the kettle
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This is what I would term a basic kettle it is made from white and grey plastic so it isn't one of those appliances that adds beauty to your kitchen like a Dualit toaster say.
It is a fairly sturdy kettle with the handle moulded into the body of the kettle. At the top of the handle is the lid release button. This once pressed does what it says on the tin and lifts the lid for you to put the water into it. The spout of the kettle in my opinion isn't large enough for you to fill the kettle with water from there so I would always recommend you use the lid to fill the kettle. Below the handle is the on and off button you press down for on and up to switch off and abort the boiling procedure.

There is a clear panel on the kettle allowing you to see how full the kettle is. This is not marked in cups but in 0.5l, 1.0l, 1.5l and 1.7l marks.

The manufacture claims it is a lightweight kettle and I would have to agree with this. It certainly is light and because of this I would recommend it for people who do have conditions like arthritis as it is easy to hold and lift.


How to use
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Simply, press the switch which is below the handle if you want to cancel the boiling for any reason, you simply knock the switch back up. If you leave the kettle boiling it switch off automatically once the water has reached boiling point.

3kW rapid boil
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I wouldn't say this is the fastest and most efficient kettle despite its claim of being rapid boil. In the interests of my review I timed it this morning the water takes 3 minutes and 16.84 seconds to boil if the kettle is full which in my view isn't rapid or energy efficient. That said I have never had a rapid boil kettle and am happy enough with how quickly this boils the water


Water Capacity
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This is a large kettle in my opinion and it holds a capacity of 1.7 liters of water.

Power Base with cord storage
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The base unit is ideal for both left and right handed people. Meaning you can put the kettle on it any way you like and the earth contact is made so the kettle will boil. As we are both right handed in our household this feature is only now being used really, as we turn the handle to the back of the wall when we replace the kettle. This is to stop our son being able to reach it and the handle and pull the kettle with hot water over himself. You can store part of the cord in the base if you choose but we never have and personally I don't think the cord is that long so I can't imagine many people will use this option.

Removable washable anti-scale filter
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This model has a removable filter which you are advised to clean. The filter is fairly straight forward to remove. You simply press the top of the filter gently down and back into the kettle to release the tabs on the top of the filter from the catches about the spout. The manufacture advises you to rinse this water and a soft brush. The filter is very delicate and in cleaning it I have knocked one of the four mesh panels out slightly how ever it does still work adequately to keep particles out of my cup of coffee.

Illumination
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The clear window part of the kettle illuminates a pretty light blue when the water is boiling. I am guessing the reason it has this function is for people who are deaf so they know when it stops boiling as they are unable to hear it click off.

Noise
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This is certainly not a quite boiling kettle and I can hear it boiling in the next room so if you want I quite a kettle this wouldn't be one for you.

Cleaning
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The manufacture recommends de-scaling regularly using a product suitable for plastic. I have never done this as we live in a relatively soft water area and find just doing the filter and giving the kettle a rinse out to be more than enough to keep it clean and in good working order. The outside of the kettle cleans easily with any of the usual kitchen products with out any problems


Overall
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I am happy with this light weight kettle is does the job adequately and though it isn't a thing of beauty or the fastest boil in Yorkshire we will keep using it till it breaks. At under £20 I would recommend it to people who want a lightweight kettle at a reasonable price.

Where from
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It currently is available new from ebay for £19.99

Summary: A good basic kettle

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