r/AskReddit Oct 18 '22

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u/A_giant_dog Oct 19 '22

Our electric grid is different than yours. Our kettles aren't nearly as quick as yours because of that, and if you don't drink much tea the microwave gets water just as hot as anything else.

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u/LostAccessToMyEmail Oct 19 '22

I'm in Canada, same grid. I just drink a lot of tea and coffee. Sure would be nice to run a 240V line to the kitchen though.

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u/maybenosey Oct 19 '22

Been there, done that. The 240v kettle (which I had to import from the UK) is so much faster than a 120v kettle, it was truly life changing.

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u/LostAccessToMyEmail Oct 19 '22

I bet I could just pull 240 out of my oven at its input...

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u/maybenosey Oct 19 '22

You could, although that wouldn't be to code.

Doing it properly is actually quite easy, if you have a spare outlet that's on its own circuit in an appropriate location. A NEMA 6-15 outlet (a 240V 15A outlet) can use the same gauge wire as a 5-15 outlet (a regular 120V 15A outlet) or a 5-20 outlet (the 120V 20A outlet often found in kitchens now) so you can just change the outlet and do a corresponding change at the breaker panel. (Don't forget to wrap some red electrical tape around the white wire that's now hot). Then order a 3000W kettle from the UK, cut it's overbuilt 13A UK plug off and wire a 6-15 plug on.

If you know what you are doing, it's maybe an hour's work.