On Sun, 30 Dec 2018 19:51:05 -0000, Mark Lloyd wrote:

On 12/29/18 12:06 PM, William Gothberg wrote:

[snip]

In the UK we don't have that problem, my kitchen is full of 13A 240V
sockets, just like every other room, it's what I plug my kettle,
dishwasher, washing machine, bread maker, etc, etc into. All of which
would be utterly useless on a 120V circuit.

Here, I use a kettle you put on the stove, and all the others are 120V.

We stopped using stove kettles decades ago. We're a bit more advanced over here. You just pour water in and turn it on, and 3kW heats the water directly, no ****ing about with heat conducting from the stove through to the kettle, and leaving a hot stove afterwards.

I thought the USA had 240V
sockets in rooms where they're likely to be needed, like the kitchen?

Some kitchens have a 240V 40A outlet for a stove. Mine is built-in and
hardwired.

So is mine, but my washing machine uses almost 3kW as it heats the water as it fills. Same with my dishwasher. Same with my tumble drier. They can plug into any socket anywhere in the house.

Some older houses have 240V (15 or 20A) sockets (for window air
conditioners).

And where do you plug in a 2kW hoover? I plug mine in any room I'm
hoovering.

Probably get by with a smaller unit.

Useless if you have decent carpets and/or hairy pets.