ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion Motel Electrical Pics (NZ)

The traditional British electric kettle, seen here in a 1960's advertisement:



A current production version of the traditional-style kettle:



And a modern "jug-style" kettle of the type which has become very common in recent years:



Well, making tea is probably the most common use of the kettle, hence the fact that no British kitchen is complete without one! As a coffee drinker, my kettle is very under-used compared to most here!


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 11-06-2004).]

The Federal breakers with the 'on is down' set-up is also here in Australia. I only saw my first set of these about three weeks ago when I was installing smoke detectors & had to drop the power off for the lighting circuit. Bit of a trap if you aren't expecting the brekers to be backwards compared to other manufacturers'.
The cracking around the two switch mechanisms for the bedside light & radio are caused by the faceplates being done up too tightly.More of a cosmetic thing (no chance of the mechanisms coming out the front of the plate).
Are the shaver outlet & the heater switch PDL brand fittings?. PDL gear is starting to appear over here more often in new instalations.
Another thing I have come across in motels is the use of power outlets with round earth pins on the fridge & clock outlets (all other outlets are normal 3 pin flat outlets controlled by the keytag switch to save energy). Bit of a pain if you want to leave something on in your room & take the keys out of the switch.

Yeah...yeah... Spooky indeed! Worried the wife reads yer posts???

LOL. Good pics tho, what a set-up!

Just for grins I did a Google on Electric Kettles in the UK. What a different world it would be to have 20A/240V convenience outlets in the kitchen. They make these kettles in a 3000 watt version! I guess it must heat your tea water in a heart beat.

In the interests of science (who am I kidding? ) I just filled my jug-style kettle to the maximum mark and timed it.

Starting from cold, with exactly 3 Imperial pints of water (that's 3.6 U.S. pints) it took 5 mins. 25 secs. to boil and switch off.

That's with a 2.2kW element. I didn't bother to measure the starting water temperature, but apparently across England it comes out the underground pipes at a fairly constant 50 degrees.

If that's the case, and using rough figures, I make that about 85 - 90% efficiency.

By my reckoning, a 3kW version running at similar efficiency would have taken just a shade over 4 minutes.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 11-07-2004).]

 
Paul — I want one of those “12-volt Car Kettles.” {And we all thought cell phones were distracting…}

Bjarney, I've seen those 12 volt kettles at Truckstop America truckstops. Not only that but 12-volt DC ovens, stoves, refrigerators, frying pans, etc. etc.

What does va mean ? is it equal to amp or watt? and whats an isolationn transformer?

VA = Volt Amp. Watts = Volt x Amperes, so picture it this way (Volt)(Amp) gives you (V)(A). Now remove the parenthesis and you have VA. Another term for Watt.

Isolation transformer means the primary and secondary coils are electrically isolated from each other.

There are some transformers where the primary and secondary share a common connection.

Yes Sven and there are different ideas on using them too.
Commonly called an Auto-Transformer down here in the Antipodes.
The nasty thing about these Tranny's is, is that if they are used to lower the secondary voltage too far, there becomes a problem of Over-Voltage should the Primary and Secondary short together.
For that reason, Under the NZ Electrical Regs, the A-Transformer is not allowed to effect a voltage variation greater than 10%.
Apart from in Distribution applications, meaning lines work, Overhead or Underground