Cool to the touch and saves energy.

The Thermos Kettle would consist of two metal shells sealed with heat insulating plastic at the top and evacuated to as much of a partial vacuum as is efficient.

The vacuum gap could also contain a honeycomb of heat insulating plastic to increase strength if this is required.
-- st3f, Feb 23 2002

Non-boiling kettle http://www.halfbake...on-boiling_20kettle
credit to gravelpit (and designers of the Rowenta KE-620) [st3f, Feb 23 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Um, how do you boil the water if it's insulated from the outside?
-- phoenix, Feb 23 2002


Isn't this essentially a built-in tea cozy?

(phoenix: presumably the heating element is inside. if it's a stovetop kettle, slightly more difficult.)
-- wiml, Feb 23 2002


I might argue, though; that thermos isn't designed to boil stuff. In fact, it's really hard to boil stuff in a sealed container because the boiling water raises the pressure, which raises the boiling point, etc.
-- magnificat, Mar 21 2002


[admin] changed magnificat's post from a link into an annotation (previously appeared below PeterSealy's 'Baked' link). Please post comments, even comments about links, as annotations.
-- st3f, Mar 21 2002


magnificat: Here's my take on this. It all goes into the nature of how baked is baked. The really interesting ideas are those that few or no people have had before or ways of looking at existing ideas that have not been explored.

If existing ideas are discovered that nibble off the edges (or take a chunk out of) an idea then the idea becomes less interesting.

Peter's found evidence that someone has put a heating element inside a vacuum container. That's a large chunk of the idea.

Why didn't they go the whole way and make an electric vacuum kettle?
• Maybe, even making the connection between vacuum container and heating element they didn't think of the possibilities.
•Maybe they thought of a vacuum kettle and decided that it wasn't their sort of product.
• Maybe they found a flaw in the idea.
• Maybe they looked at the cost of manufacture and the price they could sell it for and for and are holding the design until they can get the cost down or find a marketing spin that will let them sell it for more.

Who knows. To me it's interesting as an idea until it hits the shelves. After that, it's halfbakery nostalgia.
-- st3f, Mar 21 2002


I like it - lots.

I don't think the expending size of water is an issue, any more than in a normal kettle, because it wouldn't be sealed. You'd still have a hole to pour out of, a strip down the side to show how full it is, and a gap for the electric wires to come in. It'd just be a heck of a lot better insulated than current kettles, that's all.
-- sadie, Apr 18 2002



random, halfbakery