4 ms·

Brits don’t mess around with tea I guess. I believe they’re mostly on 240v even for residential there. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think it would even b

Brits don’t mess around with tea I guess. I believe they’re mostly on 240v even for residential there. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think it would even be possible to heat water that fast in the US on 120v.

edscho 2y ago
Correct, it takes about twice as long to boil a kettle in the US. But the US is the anomaly here. Most countries use 220-240V mains like Britain [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country#Table_of_mains_voltages,_frequencies,_and_plugs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country#T...
- donw 2y ago
  Technically, the US does as well. You have 240 V at the panel, but you only run half for each common circuit.
  - grundrausch3n 2y ago
    Technically basically all buildings in Germany (residential and commercial) run on 400V 3 phase power. But access to it via sockets is only common in residential homes via sockets in a garage. It gets more common with car charging although they rather use 3 x 230V as far as I am aware of.
    - viernullvier 2y ago
      Fun fact: 400V 3-phase and 3x 230V are the very same thing. You'll get 230V AC between Neutral and each of the three phases, but the AC voltage between two of the phases will actually be 400V.
    - ponector 2y ago
      I'm living in apartment block built in 2016 in eastern EU and here every apartment has a separate 3 phase(5 pin) socket for the stove. It is a 7kw beast, it can easily destroy regular aluminum-steel pan if you put it on max heat. Steel part will fall apart.
      - eru 2y ago
        Same in Eastern Germany, at least up to the 2000s. (Probably still, but I left, so can't vouch.)
    - eru 2y ago
      I seem to remember our electrical stove and oven back in Germany in the 2000s using three-phase power. Here in Singapore I think our pool pump uses three phase power, too. (Our plugs and outlets here in Singapore follow the British model.)
- MengerSponge 2y ago
  British outlets are individually fused so they're typically rated for more current
  - cwillu 2y ago
    British outlets are fused for _lower_ current than american outlets, not more: 13 amps instead of the 15 or 20 that's common here. It's the voltage that's higher, which means that the power transferred for a given current is about double.
  - butterknife 2y ago
    Fused for 13A running off 32A ring main. Continental Europe uses 16A radial circuits so the current rating is higher there. EDIT: Of course, you can't run two kettles on one radial, but you can on one ring.
wbl 2y ago
They have a man watch the telly to hit the button to turn on the power for all the teapots going on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDAvewWfrA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDAvewWfrA
- chickenbig 2y ago
  That poor operator probably gets an adrenaline rush (and finger twitch) every time he hears the Eastenders theme tune.
sgarland 2y ago
Assuming perfect energy transfer (fairly reasonable for conductive heating of water) with no losses to ambient, a starting temperature of 20 C, 1 L of water (which I assume to weigh 1 kg) and a 1800W kettle (the max you’ll find in America): no. t = specific heat capacity of water * mass of water * degC deltaT / power 4.186 J/gC 1000g * 80C / 1800 J/s ~= 186 seconds

edscho 2y ago

Correct, it takes about twice as long to boil a kettle in the US. But the US is the anomaly here. Most countries use 220-240V mains like Britain [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country#Table_of_mains_voltages,_frequencies,_and_plugs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country#T...

donw 2y ago
Technically, the US does as well. You have 240 V at the panel, but you only run half for each common circuit.
- grundrausch3n 2y ago
  Technically basically all buildings in Germany (residential and commercial) run on 400V 3 phase power. But access to it via sockets is only common in residential homes via sockets in a garage. It gets more common with car charging although they rather use 3 x 230V as far as I am aware of.
  - viernullvier 2y ago
    Fun fact: 400V 3-phase and 3x 230V are the very same thing. You'll get 230V AC between Neutral and each of the three phases, but the AC voltage between two of the phases will actually be 400V.
  - ponector 2y ago
    I'm living in apartment block built in 2016 in eastern EU and here every apartment has a separate 3 phase(5 pin) socket for the stove. It is a 7kw beast, it can easily destroy regular aluminum-steel pan if you put it on max heat. Steel part will fall apart.
    - eru 2y ago
      Same in Eastern Germany, at least up to the 2000s. (Probably still, but I left, so can't vouch.)
  - eru 2y ago
    I seem to remember our electrical stove and oven back in Germany in the 2000s using three-phase power. Here in Singapore I think our pool pump uses three phase power, too. (Our plugs and outlets here in Singapore follow the British model.)
MengerSponge 2y ago
British outlets are individually fused so they're typically rated for more current
- cwillu 2y ago
  British outlets are fused for _lower_ current than american outlets, not more: 13 amps instead of the 15 or 20 that's common here. It's the voltage that's higher, which means that the power transferred for a given current is about double.
- butterknife 2y ago
  Fused for 13A running off 32A ring main. Continental Europe uses 16A radial circuits so the current rating is higher there. EDIT: Of course, you can't run two kettles on one radial, but you can on one ring.

wbl 2y ago

They have a man watch the telly to hit the button to turn on the power for all the teapots going on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDAvewWfrA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDAvewWfrA

chickenbig 2y ago
That poor operator probably gets an adrenaline rush (and finger twitch) every time he hears the Eastenders theme tune.

sgarland 2y ago

Assuming perfect energy transfer (fairly reasonable for conductive heating of water) with no losses to ambient, a starting temperature of 20 C, 1 L of water (which I assume to weigh 1 kg) and a 1800W kettle (the max you’ll find in America): no. t = specific heat capacity of water * mass of water * degC deltaT / power 4.186 J/gC 1000g * 80C / 1800 J/s ~= 186 seconds