Imagine this situation, I'm sitting on the coach in the sitting room, too lazy to move.
I would love nothing more than a hot brew so I take out my phone, open up an app and press one button. My kettle starts to boil.
By the time I find the energy to go to the kitchen, I think to myself, this technology is so convenient. But how do smart kettles work?
A smart kettle connects to an app on your phone, which allows the kettle to control the temperature the water is boiled at. Using Blink Technology, the kettle is able to be turned on remotely to begin the boiling process.
Smart kettles add a layer of convenience to the boiling process that hasn't existed prior to smart technology.
I wanted to find out more information about them.
Read on to find out more.
Why use a smart kettle
A smart kettle can seem a little overkill when it comes to convenience.
From what I've researched, as with most household smart devices, it's all about giving the consumer that bit of extra control.
Some of the capabilities of a smart kettle allows for some very specific brewing situations. Here are the main features I found:
Remote
This is one of its primary functions. The ability to turn on/off a kettle from anywhere in the household proves to be a winner for some.
By opening up the relevant app, you can trigger the kettle to start the boiling process. By the time you get the kitchen, the water is already boiled.
This is essentially a small time saver for those who can't wait those few extra minutes. It begs the question, is this even necessary?
Possibly not, but in a world where convenience is everything there is certainly a market for it.
Don't get me wrong, I do really like this feature, the frequency that I find myself using it is surprising, however, a small bit of guilt about being lazy tends to rear it head.
Schedule
This is yet another time issue that smart kettles solve. With some brands, you can schedule in when the kettle starts to boil.
So if I want to sip a hot brew 20 minutes after I wake up, I can schedule this in with my smart kettle.
This is another way to make the process even more convenient, this can actually be quite useful for those on a hectic schedule.
For those that like routine, I can see this feature being very useful. Having your coffee ready like clockwork can be a reliable reassurance in those early hours.
However, if you aren't tied down by a strict timetable this might be a feature that can be overlooked.
Water Levels
From a smart device, smart kettles give the ability to measure the amount of water currently in the unit. It can even break this down further by quantifying it in cup measurements.
For example, if your kettle is 1/4 full it might gauge that there is 1 cup available for a standard sized tea.
Impressive? Sure. Necessary? I'll let you decide.
Variable temperatures
This is one of the more practical benefits. Many of these kettles have the option to set a custom temperature variable. Why is this useful you might ask?
Well, for some hot beverage drinkers, there is a well established perfect temperature for their preferred hot drink. For those in this situation, it's probably a smart kettles biggest selling point.
Personally, I like green tea, so the ability to heat water to the correct temperature has been a revelation.
It is generally thought that green tea should be brewed at lower temperatures (160°F to 170°F) and I often find that using boiling water can typically remove some of the flavour for me.
When I've manually set the temperature on a smart kettle, the strong taste of green tea leafs come back.
This is really the main reason I'd look into smart kettles. The option to have variable temperatures will come in handy in many ways when trying to find the optimal temperature for different hot drinks.
It can make all the difference to the taste of your beverage and some brands event come with up 5 preset temperatures to save you the hassle of testing this yourself
LCD Screen
Yes, would a kettle really be smart without a screen on it? From what I've researched, quite a lot of smart kettles have LCD screens that depict some useful information. While there is only so much information you can have about a kettle. Some common things include:
- Variable Temperature
- Current time
- Status of boiling process
This should be useful for those that like to meticulously monitor every steps of their brewing process.
App Integration
By installing an app associated with the brand of your smart kettle, you are now fully in control of your product.
These apps give a nice detailed overview of all the relevant information you'd every need about a water heating device.
While I can't speak much to the metrics displayed on my app, from what I've researched, time of the brew is a main feature.
This gives a real-time update of how long the kettle is into the process. It also shows how much time is left for the brew to complete.
In fairness, this seems to be nearly pinpoint accurate if you are truly looking for the exact finishing time.
An overview of temperature also features, this can actually be set mid-boil, which really highlights how much control you can have with one of these apps.
Volume Sensing
This one took me by quite surprise, some of the top of the range models will start to boil, once they've picked up on any volume.
So, picture the scenario, you just arrive home, open the door and your kettle will actually hear this volume and start the boiling process.
Now, for me personally, I'm not sure if I want my kettle to be actively listening to me but it certainly serves a purpose for those coming home from a stressful day. And there is a certain element of homeliness to this.
On the other hand, it would be perfectly reasonable to to feel like a kettle listening to volume in your home could be a bit invasive.
After all, who knows how this data is being processed?
But if thats not an issue for you, why not enjoy the satisfaction of boiling water being ready for only minutes are you come through the door.
What is a WiFi kettle
A WiFi kettle is actually just another term for smart kettle. It's a more descriptive name for the process of setting up the kettle to your home network.
To take advantage of all a smart kettles remote control features you can set it up to your WiFi home network.
This gives the ability for multiple people in the household to have remote control of the smart kettle.
Once setup, any user can download the iOS or Android app and start controlling the kettle.
Do Kettles work with Alexa?
Yes, Alexa does indeed work with smart kettles.
In case you weren't aware.
Alexa is Amazon's virtual personal assistant.
It's come into popularity in the last two years. It offers its users the ability to use voice commands to control products throughout your home. This includes smart kettles.
This is perhaps one of the most interesting features. After a bit of research, I found that a lot of these top branded kettles have a voice activation feature.
This allows you to use or voice-enabled home hubs and voice assistants like Alexa.
Essentially, you speak to your voice assistant device, tell it to start the boil process. And it will communicate back your kettle to start heating water.
I found a video that shows this in more detail:
Do Kettles work with Google Home
Yes, smart kettles can use voice activation with Google Home in a similar way to Alexa.
Here is a video I found that details it further:
This is just another indicator of how much control you can have over your smart kettle. Having only a basic smart kettle unit myself, discovering these additional options control options was fascinating.
Its a clear indicator of how technology is evolving to give as much control over your homes small appliances. While some of it is, by all accounts, is not necessary I'm still looking forward to seeing how this can benefit other small home appliances.
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