Hellopaul

I've been looking at the high prices of ceramic hobs in USA - around $860 for nothing special - and wondered if anyone's successfully shipped anything like this from UK to US and had it working ok? The voltage should be fine - I recently learnt that large/power hungry appliances run off 240V in USA - I previously thought everything was 120V. The only issue would therefore be the frequency - 60Hz USA compared to 50Hz UK. I'm sure in the 'olden days' this would not be a problem (an electric element would not care if its supply is 50 or 60Hz) but with pretty much every applicance having some degree of computerisation, I wonder if problems might arise .

Oh yes, and I did check that you can buy kettles on Amazon.com! Mmmm....tea......

Cheers,
Paul

Ray

What is a ceramic hob??

Hellopaul

It's one of these cheap things (in UK):
http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/_5...sp?PID=1000221
or one of these expensive things (in USA):
http://www.appliancesconnection.com/...pp945bmbb.html
...looks like it's 'Smoothtop Electric Cooktop' in American.

fatbrit

The 240v in domestic US electrical systems isn't 240v as you know it. Rather, it's actually 2 x 110v lines but 180 degrees out of phase. Which is about as much use to you as a wet fart.

Forget bringing kitchen appliances over -- it'll be more hassle than it's worth.

Gingerert

No idea about the hob frequency issue, but we recently re-did our entire kitchen and bought brand new appliances. We got a fridge, oven and dishwasher for the kitchen and a washing machine and dryer for the basement. Because we bought everything as a bundle, they were very, very reasonable. You might want to consider this if your moving expenses start adding up, particularly if your new home isn't already fitted with the correct outlets. We had to have a new gas fitting installed in the kitchen and a new electrical outlet for the dryer downstairs - it added quite a bit to our renovation costs (about $400 or so), although most of that was met by our lying b.stard of a home inspector.

Oh, and Target sells electric kettles here. You can have tea on the day you move in!

Jerseygirl

Not worth the hassle...plus what happens if it needs repairing?

Zonie

It's a little person made out of an inorganic, non-metallic solid, prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling.

Oops sorry, that's a ceramic hobbit.

Ray

Oh .. That what I was was thinking ....

Bob

sell it....just not worth the hassle as the power supply is different, which has been mentioned.

It's hassle enough getting a transformer to get a coffee maker or toaster working, so anything larger wouldn't be cost effective, never mind the issue of getting house/renters insurance on something that isn't US spec'ed.

frrussre

Don't bother, not worth the effort.

PC, fairly new. if has 110/220-240, power pack. OK
Laptop, may have multi volt brick, or can buy one. OK

Tv's, tools, appliances. NO.
Reg. Frank R.

Brat1

I'm sure that Macy's also sell electric kettles - also maybe Bed, Bath and Beyond. Some of the expats over there already will be able to correct me if I'm wrong - PS Can you get decent tea bags in Connecticut????

Hellopaul

It seems very easy for this forum to quickly veer off into a discussion about tea! True, I have never had a decent cup of the stuff in the US.

Fatbrit - I was interested to read your comments about the 240V supply. I know it's two 110V (shouldn't that be 120V?) supplies out of phase, but surely this would provide enough power and the necessary 240V? Or would it not be adequate because the full 240V would only occur half as often as a true 240V AC supply due to both phases each being 60Hz...or do I need to delve into the world of root mean squares and such? It's just that I can get high-end kitchen gear for trade prices over here.

...Maybe we should forget about kitchen gear and just charter a cargo ship full of PG Tips!

Brat1

Sorry Paul - couldn't help asking the cheeky question about my favourite drink (apart from wine of course!!)!

We are moving next month and are not taking any kitchen appliances with us as looking at the cost, we decided we will buy new once we get there. What I have noticed is that most houses in Connecticut where we're moving to, don't have separate hobs like here. They seem to be be the oven and cooker in the one, or ranges.

Hellopaul

Don't have a TV, PC & laptops = 110/240V, fridge/washing machine*/drier = staying here/being sold, power tools...hmmmm...I was wondering about the possibility of running a 240V supply to the shed/workshop (which a house must have for us to consider it!) for power tools. Dunno if the 60Hz might be a problem though .

* anyone want to buy a very nice hardly-used Bosch Maxx6 washing machine in Farnborough, UK? (A forum for people leaving UK or living abroad is probably the worst place in the world to "advertise" it...)

Brat1 - yes, most of the places we've looked at (photos on t'internet) have the all-in-one kind of cookers. We would like a separate oven/hob - we think it's so much more convenient having the oven built-in at a higher level rather than under the hob. Whenever we're in USA we have a look round a few shops (Home Depot, Best Buy etc.) to get an idea of costs of "stuff". We were amazed to find those olde-worlde electric cookers with black spiral hob elements still exist! And they're not cheap, either. Hence the whole "buy a nice ceramic hob over here and ship it to USA when we move" theory. We'd also like to buy a fixer-upper and rip out the kitchen and put in a new one. Most US kitchens are not to our taste anyway, apart from those in New York loft apartments ($$$ kerching!) and the like.

Time for a nice cup of tea now. This discussion board needs more smileys. There's one board I used to use that had a cup of coffee/tea smiley that would surely go down well on this one....kinda close. Maybe whoever runs this could download a load more...I love 'em

Brat1

Paul - Just out of interest - where are you moving to and are you going to buy or rent. I'm assuming that you're going to buy, hence wanting to take a new hob with you to re-do the kitchen in your new property. And you're right about more smileys!