I recently placed 2 room temperature eggs into cold water and then brought them to the boil. I then let them boil for 5 minutes as I wanted hard-boiled eggs. When removing the shells and cutting into the eggs I was surprised to find that the yokes were still runny. Needless to say I wasn't very pleased and wished I had a dog to kick but not to be. My theory is that living in a hard water area means that the shells have become coated in calcium deposits during boiling thus reducing the heat transfer quite markedly. Efficiency has been compromised and my fuel bill has increased due entirely to living in East Yorkshire. My theory is that buying hard-boiled eggs off Ebay might be the solution. But at what price?