220V kettle on 110V (was: Electric tea kettles)

Mydnight wrote:
I got a Kamjove that I brought home from China last Christmas.
Unfortunately, they lied that it could convert the voltage. I had to
get a step-down transformer, a huge thing of about 20 pounds, just to
drink tea.

Going the other way will usually lead to smoke and perhaps fire. But running a 220V passive heater (no control electronics) on 110V should be fine. It would nominally deliver 1/4 of the rated power. Since heating elements run so far above 100C, the water would still boil; it would just take about four times as long. Actually, the situation is better than that: the resistance of heating elements goes up at operating temperature. So at half-voltage, resistance is lower, current higher, and power not as much diminished.

I wouldn't bother with a transformer; just change the plug if needed.

-D<
.

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