Nutmegger

I have all manner of lava lamps gleaned from yard sales at around a buck apiece. Might be a good alternative?

cmsebast

Actually, we have both voltages available in our houses in the U.S., it is just that the outlets are wired with the lower voltage. When I move back to the U.S. I fully intend to take a couple of British kettles with me and pop a couple of 240v outlets in the kitchen so I can continue to enjoy quickly boiled water!

Also I believe that most job sites in the UK require the use of transformers and lower voltage power tools, so there must be some logic in the idea.

tonrob

Thanks, but I think the one I need may the the 1001th bulb...

tonrob

Thanks for the suggestion. I've never seen a lava lamp at a yard sale, but I guess I could increase my chances by starting to go to yard sales.

Asg123

I have an ordinary 120V, 1500W kettle, and it boils water (about 3 cups) in 3 minutes.

They're inexpensive, and you can buy them easily from stores, though of course they're not given nearly as much shelf-space as coffee-makers.

hobbes79

We had a nice, old wooden standing lamp I wanted to bring. I did so then bought a cheapo standing lamp from Walmart, took the wiring and bulb socket out of it and put it in my lamp. Still going strong 10-years later. $8.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays...Brown/21778200

mrken30

You realize this probably isn't code. But nothing stopping you having a 220v outlet for a range/oven you don't have.

Pulaski

MrKen is right - and in any case "just running a cable" for 240v is a lot easier said than done, not least because 240v cables in the US are monstrously thick, and then to stand any chance of being "to code", the plug and socket are also huge, much bigger than British 13A plugs and sockets.

So, my recommendation would be to invest in an induction stove (cooker), as they are very efficient and you can use a stove-top kettle to boil water extremely quickly, because you have access to something like 30A of power (maybe more, depending on the ring you use) and can use that to heat a single cup of water in a stove-top kettle. If you're making even two mugs of tea, if you put the kettle on to boil, it will have boiled by the time you have got the mugs and tea from the cupboard and the milk from the fridge, literally, I am not joking!

I don't know if Lowes, Home Depot and other appliance retailers hold induction stoves in stock yet, but even if you have to order one it is absolutely worth doing. If you look in the shop showroom for a "traditional" stove from the same manufacturer and range of appliances you will see what you'd be getting if you ordered an induction stove

Induction stoves are incredibly efficient because they cause the pan/kettle to become hot directly, unlike a traditional electric or gas cooker which creates heat under the pan and hopes that most of the heat migrates upwards, but in practice much of the heat escapes round the edge of the pan and makes the kitchen hot. The difference is especially noticeable in summer. Also, the power is instantly controllable - if you have a kettle with a whistle it will stopl whistling within two seconds of you turning the heat off, a pan with water bubbling up doesn't need to be moved because turning the heat off stops the bubble rising. Even if a pan boils over you can just pick up the pan and wipe up the spill with a damp cloth because the glass surface is never hotter than the liquid in the pan.

cmsebast

I was thinking of just putting in some UK outlets, which I suppose wouldn't be to code. But if one were to go by the book, I would think a NEMA 6-20 outlet backed up by some regular ol 12/2 would do the trick!

WEBlue

My father did this long, long ago. There were no fast-boiling 110v kettles sold anywhere in the USA back then. He was very handy around the house, but the 220v socket definitely wasn't to code. The second kettle, bought at Tesco in the mid-90s, just stopped working this year....