British businesses are losing precious time and money each year by using kettles rather than instant hot water boilers, according to recent research.

This presents an opportunity for installers to highlight the benefits of alternative solutions to their commercial customers.

The study, carried out by Redring Xpelair Group, discovered that 81% of UK office workers use a kettle to make hot drinks, with seven in ten people spending more than ten minutes over the course of a day brewing up.

A handful of respondents (7%) even admitted to spending an hour or more each day making hot drinks for themselves and colleagues.

Steve Mongan, head of marketing at Redring Xpelair said: "While 10 minutes a day is not that long, when this is multiplied by, let's say, six staff, it rises to an hour a day of inactivity. Over the course of a year, even taking into account people's holidays, business owners could be looking at more than 200 hours spent waiting at the kettle.

"Of course, hot drinks are an important part of the working day, so it's essential to have facilities to provide these. However, by investing in an instant water boiler, businesses could save hours of time each year by eliminating the time spent waiting for the kettle to boil."

As well as saving time, switching to an instant water beverage boiler has the potential to save money through reduced energy consumption. Filling the kettle with only what is needed can save energy usage, but the survey found that two thirds of kettle users fill it to the top, with one in five stating that they do it without thinking.

Mongan added: "These are two really compelling arguments for business owners to switch from their kettle to a beverage water boiler. For installers, this offers a great opportunity to highlight the benefits of this solution when working within a commercial setting, perhaps when refitting a kitchen, or staff area."