Why Do Kettles Make Noise? (4 Important Facts)
When you prefer a peaceful home environment, you can find noise from different home appliances annoying. One appliance known for producing a lot of noise is the kettle.
The hissing of a kettle can disturb your calm new day or morning routine of resting on your bed. You can also find the noise waking up the rest of your family members.
But what causes the kettle to make noise? Read on to understand why.
Why Kettles Make Noise?
To better understand the working of an electric kettle, we need to consider the operation of a stainless steel kettle. This will also enable us to understand why the kettle makes noise.
The kettle is usually filled with water and put on the stove. The burner will heat the bottom of your kettle. While this happens, heat is transferred through the water, increasing its temperature until it reaches boiling point.
However, modern kettles condense the above setup such that the burner is replaced by an electric heating coil in the kettle. Even though the kettle now becomes convenient and quick, it emits a noise that becomes a nuisance.
When you heat water, it’ll expand. Hot water is less dense than cold water thus will be forced to float on the surface. As hot water moves to the top, it transfers heat to the surrounding cold water.
This will cause the hot water to shrink and eventually cool down. The shrinking of water creates cavitation, which creates a pocket of space in the water.
Therefore, water will rush into the empty pockets creating a loud noise. In fact, this noise stops or lessens before water begins to boil.
For your information, electric kettles emit more noise compared to traditional kettles.
Electric Kettle Loudness
How loud are electric kettles? To understand this, we need to consider scientific data. A consumer watchdog group tested different electric kettles’ sound output (decibels).
The results showed that the loudest kettle produced 95 dB while the quietest produced 79 dB.
The quietest kettle is designed with safety features such as boil-dry protection and shut-off features. With such features, the kettle won’t boil without water. The same thing happens when water falls to a certain water gauge height.
Comparatively, kettle noise is louder than human speech, which is 60-65 dB. Therefore, the sound from your kettle is likely to interrupt normal conversations.
You should therefore be very careful with sounds above 85 dB.
4 Methods to Make the Kettle Quiet
If you intend to make your kettle quiet, you should follow the below tips:
1. Presence of Limescale Solution
In some cases, your kettle doesn’t produce any noise when new but starts to become noisy with time.
Sediments and limescale available in the kettle greatly increase its noise over time. For your information, limescale is also known as calcium carbonate.
It’s difficult to remove calcium carbonate simply by scrubbing. The process of descaling calcium carbonate from your kettle is referred to as de-scaling.
Below are three common solutions to employ if you seek to make your kettle quiet:
Citric Acid
- Mix about 100ml of water with a teaspoon of citric acid.
- Boil the mix for about 30 minutes to 1-hour and willow the kettle to settle for about 10 minutes.
- Rinse the kettle thoroughly.
Vinegar Rinse
- Put an equal amount of water and vinegar in your kettle and allow it to settle for almost 1-hour.
- Boil the solution for almost 1-hour to dissolve the limescale.
- Wash the kettle using dish soap and then rinse it thoroughly.
Lemon Juice
The procedure here is similar to that of vinegar rinse. Ensure you follow the procedures keenly for better outcomes.
Doing this will guarantee effective performance and more quiet.
2. Using Rubberized Undercoating Spray
In most cases, you’ll encounter rubberized undercoating spray in cars to limit noise and prevent rust. When you employ the same on your kettle, it’ll also prevent dust and dirt and, at the same time, make the kettle quieter and soundproof.
We recommend purchasing your rubberized undercoating spray from Amazon. To apply the spray, you must wash the kettle and dry it well.
In fact, you can also use the spray to soundproof kitchen sinks.
3. Employing A Tea Cozy
Tea cozies are in great use, especially in restaurants and homes, for insulation purposes. They’re available in different designs and forms, with most being hand-knitted. You can even get some with padded components that you can easily wash regularly.
The purpose of a tea cozy is to keep the teapot and its content warm for a certain period. They also help to keep the kettle quieter.
When you put tea cozy in the kettle, it can boil for extended periods without emitting a lot of noise.
For better results, use a tea cozy that has thick insulation. We also recommend tea cozies that add character and color to your kitchen.
4. Have Your Kettle on Extra Padding
Thanks to the amplification from the surface it’s resting on, there is a high chance that your kettle is emitting more noise. The water tribulation might also shake the whole kettle, and more noise is emitted as it rattles the countertop.
To prevent noise reflection and vibration, you should introduce extra padding under the kettle. We recommend any thick material that limits noise or a sound deadening mat in such a case.
You should have the materials below the kettle while using it.
Purchasing A Quiet Kettle
You can do away with soundproofing altogether by just buying a quiet kettle. We recommend Secura, the Original Double Wall Tea Kettle, one quiet and effective kettle.
The kettle can hold 1.7L of water. The noise level for this kettle is 60HZ. This level is too low to notice at times.
The kettle is designed with stainless steel inside. It’s safe for your health and BPA-free. You’ll also find the kettle easy to operate.
Final Thoughts
As we have seen, it’s a common thing for your kettle to produce noise. In fact, some kettles might not produce any noise until about 1-month of constant use. This is mostly attributed to improper maintenance.
To eliminate noise from your kettle, ensure you follow the above tips. Additionally, avoid leaving water in your kettle for longer periods.
Ensure you clean the kettle at least every week. A clean and noise-free kettle is good and safe for your health.
Sources:
Elite Gourmet EKT-1203W Double Wall Insulated Cool Touch Electric Water Tea Kettle
3M 03584 Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating
Guteauto Insulation Automotive Sound Deadener Soundproof Insulation Mat
Secura SWK-1701DB The Original Stainless Steel Double-Wall Electric Water Kettle