Canada Dreams

yes i know what you are all thinking. since we have been here, we have brought 2 kettles, just because they dont seem to boil the water very hot, the first one we took back hardly bolied it to any great temp, and the second one seems a bit better, but not great
is it just us, or does every kettle you buy here in nova scotia dont boil water properly, is it the voltage, or is it the electric in this very old house we are renting???????? :curse:
help anyone else have this problem, just want to have a hot cup of tea

BristolUK

Ours cost $8 from Superstore in 2005 and works great.

Perhaps you paid too much?

Judy in Calgary

What my be happening, I'm guessing, is that the switch on the electric kettle is set in such a way that it cuts out once the water has reached boiling point. That means the element doesn't remain hot and force the water to what you might call a hard boil.

Instead of experimenting with many different brand names of kettles (an experiment that would cost you a certain amount of money and inconvenience), I suggest you buy a steam kettle that you place on the stove top. I have found them very effective. You can ignore the whistle for a while, and allow the water to reach a hard boil.

Until you have a chance to go out and buy a stove-top kettle, you might consider heating a pan of water on the stove. The same principle applies. You can leave it on the element long enough for the water to reach a hard boil.

It's true that kettles take longer to heat water in Canada. That's because of the lower voltage.
x

Canada Dreams

i can understand they take longer :curse: but not to boil water to boiling point, cant be right surly.

Judy in Calgary

Quite so.

My electric kettle, which is in storage, along with most of my belongings, works just fine. I can't remember, offhand, what brand it is.

The vacation rental, in which I'm staying while I wait for construction of my permanent home in Nanaimo to be completed, has a stove-top kettle.

The stove-top kettle in my furnished townhouse works so well that, if I was buying a kettle tomorrow, I might very well go for a stove-top model. It's basically guaranteed to work. What could possibly go wrong?
x

BristolUK

That's an excellent point and strong possibility. Our 'cheapie' doesn't have a cut off switch so it won't happen.

JonboyE

A pedant writes ...

If it boils the water it must be at least to boiling point, otherwise it is just heating it up.

Sorry, just ignore me.

Steve_P

Great minds...fools

I'll get me coat.

Novocastrian

No, it can't be right "surly". Water (or any other liquid) boils when its temperature is sufficiently high that its vapour pressure equals ambient atmospheric pressure. Water at what Judy calls a "hard boil" is at exactly the same temperature as any other boiling water. The only difference is the rate at which steam bubbles are being formed as a result of continued heat input after boiling point has been reached.

To put it another way. It's all in your mind.

debbiem

rule 52.

val50

If you are having problems with an electric kettle, have you thought of buying one that isn't electric and leaving it on the stove?

getoutofbritainquick

You may have a problem with your home wiring. The kettles in Canada use twice the current (amps) to achieve the same power rating as in the UK. The kettle may be dragging your property or feeder voltage down every time you plug the thing in so you will never achieve its full output. Suggest get a professional electrician to check it out. The only other condition that can affect the boiling point of fresh water is altitude. If you live in at high altitude (like Calgary) the boiling point of water could be lower.

Silverdragon102

Took us a couple of buys both electric and on the hob before we found a kettle we liked and was one of the cheapest called a Sunbeam although cant remember where I bought it but would be either Walmart or Home Hardware

fledermaus

Ah, now, aren't some kettles designed for making coffee so that they switch off just as the come to the boil rather than go full throttle and bubble away in the way that tea drinkers insist on??

A friend has a kettle that almost gets there, then dies down, then rises again, then dies down again, never quite making it. It's the Canadian way, Shirley.

Novocastrian

My "friend" has something else that behaves rather like that.

Shouldn't that be "surly"?