7 ms·
Just curious...why use a microwave for hot water instead of an electric kettle?
by mjrbrennan 6y ago
Just curious...why use a microwave for hot water instead of an electric kettle?
- dhosek 6y agoSpeed plus that way I don't need to own an electric kettle.
- Jedd 6y agoSpeed? In terms of time and energy, a kettle is faster and more efficient. I guess a kettle is a single-purpose tool, and if a microwave oven is available, and you don't mind waiting while large volumes (1+ litres) are boiled, and have suitable receptacles to hold and contain that much water while boiling inside a microwave oven, this makes some sense. (In contrast, I don't own a microwave oven.)
- therealx 6y agoIt depends where you live. Kettles are faster in the uk, but the us base power isn't fast enough to be fastly powerful.
- m0zg 6y agoIt's the same electricity, given two times the current, at half the voltage your kettle will boil in exactly the same time, because P = V*I
- chihuahua 6y agoBut given that most circuits in a house in the U.S. are limited to 15A or 20A (rare), you can't just double the current. Electric kettles in the U.S. are limited to 15A and therefore a max power of 1800W.
- m0zg 6y agoThanks for the correction, I didn't know that in the UK kettles commonly have a power rating of up to 3KW. Looks like the EU tried to ban such high power appliances in 2014, but I don't think they did. MediaMarkt in Germany has many kettles with power rating of 2400W. This would be doable in the US (barely), but only with 20A wiring and NEMA 5-20 sockets, which are not very popular.
- zrobotics 6y agoIn the US, I've only ever seen 20A circuits in garages/workshops. Kinda wish we had gone for 220v like most European countries, but it's far too late to change that now.
- bluGill 6y agoCode requires 20amp circuits in the kitchen (and garage). However it allows 15amp outlets so long as you can pass the full 20amps through, which all do. Or did you mean. 230 volts?. Every time I accidentally come in contact with mains (only twice in my life, but that is more than enough) I'm glad we are lower, and wish it was less.
- Jedd 6y agoYou didn't mention where you are. In any case, regardless of geographical location, voltage doesn't kill you -- current does. In Australia most household circuits are ~230V AC at 50Hz at 10 Amp, though 15 Amp circuits are not uncommon (the earth pin - we have three pins in a frowny-face configuration, earth being the lower / vertical one) on those are much larger, so you can't accidentally put that into a standard 10A (female) socket. We have three-phase options too, which is ~ 415V AC - not something that's commonly used in residential environments. In any case, 230V @ 10A is less dangerous than 110V at 15A.
- bluGill 6y agoV=ir. That simple equation is why you are wrong. Double the voltage and the current goes up. The human body is high enough resistance that you won't blow a fuse so current depends on voltage.
- core-questions 6y ago> Speed? I just have a big 12L boiler on the counter, it's always hot and usually full, and I never have to wait very long for a hot drink. It's amazing. I couldn't live without it now.
- dhosek 6y agoIt takes 60s to heat a cup of water to boiling. I'm not heating a liter of water.
- losteric 6y agoPersonally, I don't own the latter... and have no desire to. Microwave serves that need and more
- virgil_disgr4ce 6y agoIf I'm not mistaken, using a microwave to heat water is significantly less efficient than an electric kettle; a lot of EM energy is wasted just bouncing around the cavity and heating up the air.
- Semiapies 6y agoAnd an electric kettle will boil water quickly and controllably (no sudden boil-overs), often in less time than a microwave.
- donaltroddyn 6y agoAnd more safely, as there is no possibility of superheating the water.
- function_seven 6y agoOne less thing to have, and I think it might be quicker? Not sure on that, but I do know that electric kettles are much more prevalent in the UK with their 230V mains.
- m463 6y agoyou could plausibly say microwaves are wireless electric kettles, designed to heat water (molecules)
- r00fus 6y agoLet’s say you want to hear to 85c instead of boiling. Or just use it to heat water to 40c for baby formula. Electric Kettle is wasting energy either way - almost none have configurable temps.
- katbyte 6y agoI purchased one with a temp setting, they exist and are amazing.
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoYou can get a kettle for £30 now with temp control, albeit you choose from 4 temps - 40/60/80/100 (low-mid range, low prices are around £12; mid would be £30-50 IMO): eg https://amzn.to/2Us6fPP https://amzn.to/2Us6fPP [aff]. Strangely all UK stores (Tesco, John-Lewis, Currys, et al.) appear only to sell the traditional boil-only ones, which is curious. As I drink primarily instant coffee I'm in the market for a temp control kettle, hopefully with double-wall insulation. Open to suggestions!
- namdnay 6y agoI found a decent one on Amazon that has a thermometer - so you can hit any temps you want to, at the cost of having to watch it (worst case you dilute with a bit of cold water if you overshoot). Very noisy though (Klarstein)
- dfox 6y agoNormal electric kettle does not work by sensing the temperature, but by detecting change of pressure inside caused by the boiling water. The mechanism is purely mechanical, simple, cheap and reliable but there is no way to make the temperature configurable.
- mjrbrennan 6y agoThis is the one we have at home https://www.breville.com/au/en/products/tea/bke720.html https://www.breville.com/au/en/products/tea/bke720.html, works great!
- kortilla 6y agoFaster and not a single purpose device.
- specialist 6y agoExactly. At some point I figured out I only heat water. (Tired of cleaning it.) So I left it on the curb (poof, gone). I learned a normal small pot boils water faster anyway. Felt really stupid (facepalm) about that.
- mjrbrennan 6y agoFair enough! Looks like there is a big difference in electricity between US and UK as well? I am in Australia and we use our kettle (with several different preset temperatures) all the time.
- billfruit 6y agoOr rather an induction stove, which anecdotally seems to boil water faster.