Silverdragon102

lower voltage here in Canada means it takes forever and a day to boil the kettle, my plan is to buy eventually a immersion cooker so should be quicker

NomadicJ

If I remember my secondary school physics correct, it runs something like this:

It takes a fixed amount of energy to heat (in Joules) each gram of water from room temperature to boiling point. That Power (in watts) delivered equals the Current (in Amps) multiplied by the Voltage (in er... Volts). One Joule = 1 Watt for 1 second.

So P=IV, or in the UK a 2Kw kettle pulls 8Amps at 240Volts (near enough). To get a Canadian kettle to pull 2Kw takes 18Amps at 110Volts (again, ish).

18Amps through domestic cabling is bad. The wires get hot and fuses are set to blow at about 16 to stop that. An electrician can probably correct me on the exact facts, but the solution is to sell lower rated kettles.

So in the UK a 2Kw kettle would take 2 mins to boil but in Canada you'd be using a 1.25Kw kettle which would take a lot longer. Then it has to contend with giving additional heat to make up for the heat that was given out during that additional time...

Anyway, you could just do as my French housemate used to, use a microwave. But I think that's dangerous too...

Math assistance welcome

iaink

I've had the same $15 toaster and $30 kettle from canadian tire since I got here in 1998...

iaink

Its Watts that count, and the current limitations of domestic wiring.

in the UK 240V x 15 Amps = ~3kW

here 110V x 15 Amps = ~1.5kW

Half as much power = twice as long to heat up. Thats why cookers, dryers etc here have dedicated 220V circuits otherwise they would take forever.

Domestic circuits both sides of the pond tend to be limited to a similar current rating for the sake of safety.

WIthout a step up transformer a UK kettle in theory would eventually heat up the water here, although it would only be working at 1/4 the power rating. Try a North American kettle on UK power and you could melt it, or worse, although I expect they have thermal overload protection.

dbd33

I don't know what the kettle cost but I can't see it ever needing replacing. It's metal, it's not exposed to much risk of rusting in the kitchen. I suppose it would melt if I left the gas on and went home for a week but I'm not that senile yet. A kettle is for life, I reckon.

iaink

Ah, you are the "kettle on hob" type I expect... The kettle I was referring to was one of those new fangled electric types Plastic and all.

dbd33

Oh, an urban kettle. The power's not reliable enough for one of those in the country.

iaink

Point taken. No power = no water from the well to boil anyway.

Generator = reliable power in the country.

fledermaus

How safe is it to use transformers all the time?

I know there's one on the laptop but it is designed to be there. I wonder about having an extra connection in the line and whether it poses a risk. Also doesn't this method waste power, the transformer is usually hot so some power is being used to make that heat.

Just an unscientific thought needing scientific clarification

Cdnshaz

We use transformers daily for tv's, I do like to unplug them at night if I remember and yes you are right, they do get hot. Once these appliances go of course we will purchase new cdn ones, and not sure about hydro consumption but prob do add to hydro bill.

fledermaus

I try to unplug stuff we don't use at night but I forget often. It does make a significant difference to the bill though so I really should do it all the time.

Cdnshaz

After reading this going to make conscience effort to turn ours off...(skips off to bedroom to see if unplugged)

pdarwin

Transformers (the wound type) are about 90% efficient, meaning that about 10% is wasted. For a 1000 Watt transformer it's like leaving a 100 Watt bulb burning continuously when it's standing idle but still plugged in.
The electronic switching steppers may be more efficient but they don't work on everything.

iaink

Its safe, but the transformer is not a 100% efficient device, they are lossy, so you use more hydro as a result. Its important to turn off/ unplug when not using them as even with nothing on they will use power.

Simplest thing for dealing with "parasitic power users" like the TV etc is to put them on a power bar and switch it off that way. Kind of a pain though if you have a video recorder that you want to keep programmed and recording on the timer.

fledermaus

So 10% is still less waste than dumping working TVs and appliances.