Do you have an electric kettle?

[jilly]

UK my parents have a stove top kettle, they worked out that it was less expensive on the gas hob than an electric kettle  they are pretty unique though. I have an electric kettle, it's so much faster. ummm tea..............

[PastryGoddess]

I only use my electric kettle for traveling as I like very large cups of tea and usually bring my cup with me. At home I use a stove top kettle.

I'm in the US

[EllenS]

USA but have spent some time in UK, where I was first introduced to the electric kettle.  Also saw them very prevalently in Germany on a recent visit.

I used to have a nice one for the office when I lived in BigCity.  It disappeared in a move (or I donated it to the other secretaries, perhaps).  They were easy to come by an inexpensive up there, I'm thinking under $15 US.

Since I now live in SmallCity in the Deep South, they are very hard to find. I did get one for my dad as a special gift, but they are so expensive!   I think it's a great way to save electricity.  Heating up a burner on the stove wastes so much power and takes so freaking long. 

Of course, I also miss my gas stove.  Someday...

[camlan]

USA but have spent some time in UK, where I was first introduced to the electric kettle.  Also saw them very prevalently in Germany on a recent visit.

I used to have a nice one for the office when I lived in BigCity.  It disappeared in a move (or I donated it to the other secretaries, perhaps).  They were easy to come by an inexpensive up there, I'm thinking under $15 US.

Since I now live in SmallCity in the Deep South, they are very hard to find. I did get one for my dad as a special gift, but they are so expensive!   I think it's a great way to save electricity.  Heating up a burner on the stove wastes so much power and takes so freaking long. 

Of course, I also miss my gas stove.  Someday...

Amazon or any other large internet retailer has them for under $25.

[Carotte]

France here, and by gosh, I'll have one by monday! (or very soon, I might still be up in paint and walls monday).
First, I've had it with waiting more than 3 min for my tea, and since 85% of our meals starts and end with pasta, that will at least cut the waiting time by half.
I just need to find where I put my electric kettle research, not easy finding one that won't be too loud or too short a cord or what have you!

[Lindee]

I'm an Australian from the UK so of course  I have an electric kettle, my latest one is clear glass with blue LED lights and I love it. We were going to get a much pricier glass one without the lights but found this one at Kmart for a third of the price. I couldn't imagine not having a kettle, the last one died and we shot out that morning to replace it.

[NyaChan]

I use everything - microwave, electric kettle, stove top kettle, pots, and those giant tea makers for parties.  I do love the convenience of the electric kettle in particular, but my stove top one is just so darned cute that I'll pull it out anyways.  Blue Whale

[Midnight Kitty]

UK, an electric kettle is essential.

Please don't boil water in the microwave, it can be really dangerous (it can become superheated, and xplode when you take it out).

Hawaii here.  I have a hot pot to heat water for my tea at work, but at home I use the microwave.  There are safe ways to boil water in the microwave.  You could leave a plastic or wooden stir stick in the water.  Or you can use a container with a rough interior.  It doesn't have to be very rough; Just enough of an imperfection for the air bubbles to form on it.

[dawnfire]

Aussie here: most of my adult life I've had an electric kettle. It nice an convenient and is used to make 2 minute noodles , cup a soup as well as tea and coffee (I'm the only coffee drinker in the house, so a coffee maker seems a needless expense)

[MummySweet]

I'm in the US, but lived in the UK for 10 years.   I loved my electric kettle in the UK.  It was my can't live without appliance.   When we moved back it was the first 110v appliance I purchased.  But I've barely used it in the 18 months we've been back.  It takes so long to boil!  My electrical engineer husband finally explained to me that our 110v kettle was never going to heat as quickly as the 220v we had had... something to do with pressure and cycles.   

My electric kettle now lives in a cabinet and I use a stovetop kettle. 

[sunnygirl]

UK - I could not live without an electric kettle. I drink tons of tea/herbal tea so I use my kettle a dozen times a day. It only takes maybe 20-30 seconds to heat enough water in my kettle for a single cup of tea, whereas heating water on the stovetop (because I have an electric oven that takes ages to heat up) takes a good several minutes. It always slightly annoys me when I stay in a hotel outside of the UK and there's no kettle in the room. I know that's the norm outside the UK, but I consider the UK hotel kettle to be one of the hospitality industry's crowning achievements. 

My kettle only cost £5 and it's worked perfectly for years (and its predecessor, which was even cheaper, only died because I used it to heat milk for hot chocolate - turns out they reeally hate that).

I actually do own a coffee maker, despite not drinking coffee, but it's in storage. A relative of mine bought it in Italy in the 1960s. It still works fine (it's metal and goes on the hob, not electric).

[scotcat60]

UK here, and have always had an electric kettle in the house, even 60 years and more ago, when electric kettles were not so common. We also had a fridge, which my Dad bought my nanna before the Secod World War.

Hoe long does it take to boil a kettle on the hob? Electric kettles are high speed over here. And you can get them with gauges on the side so that you only need to fill it with a cupful of water or however much you need to boil.

[Winterlight]

US here. My Alaskan parents have a stovetop kettle, although they have also recently invested in an electric one. I now live on the East Coast and I have an electric at work, and at home I currently use a pot on the stove though I plan to get an electric  soon. I didn't start using the electric till grad school- I never needed it before. 

[veryfluffy]

The great advantage of the electric kettle over a stove-top one is that it switches itself off when it's boiled, so it doesn't matter if you turn it on a forget about it.

[RingTailedLemur]

The great advantage of the electric kettle over a stove-top one is that it switches itself off when it's boiled, so it doesn't matter if you turn it on a forget about it.

I used to have a cat who would go running into the kitchen when she heard the *click* because she knew I'd be heading out there.  She'd start running before I got up, then sit next to the cupboard where her treats were kept