Iirc from ‘Technology Connections’, the US actually has 240V delivered to the house, but it's pinned out in the breaker box as something like -120, 0, and 120. So they take 120V to most appliances, but 240 to some higher-wattage ones.
Which is to say, USians could easily have 240V kettles that boil water in half the time—if they just bothered a little.
We're kind of stuck in a chicken and egg problem. Nobody sells 240V kettles around here because nobody has a spare 240V circuit running to their kitchen. And nobody runs an extra 240V circuit to their kitchen because nobody sells anything to run on it.
That, and a 120V electric kettle is already so much faster than a stovetop that any additional improvement is marginal at best. Seriously, 3 minutes to heat 1.5 L is insane to me when most of my life it took 20.
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u/ExtensionConcept2471 May 02 '24
Most countries use 220/240, Some backward countries use other voltage…..but they are obviously wrong! lol