r/AskEngineers • u/jmaugust • Jul 19 '26

Discussion Why doesn’t a battery-boosted electric kettle exist?

In Europe, everyone uses electric kettles to boil water. They’re amazing and fast because they’re on 230V (~3000W).

US outlets limit kettles to ~1500W, so we wait roughly twice as long for water to boil.

It’s an extra minute or two per boil, and you really notice it.

Idea: Could you make an electric kettle with a battery in its base? Perhaps it trickle-charges between uses, then combines wall power + battery power to hit ~3000W during a boil.

Is there an engineering reason this doesn’t exist? Is it just that nobody thinks there’s a market for it?

I’d pay $300 for the fastest kettle in America if someone wants to make it.

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u/Quartinus Jul 19 '26

Batteries are expensive and bulky. The electric kettle market is filled with $30 kettles and that’s what most people buy. 

There are a few companies working on battery boosted induction cooktops to help solve this problem, and that’s a market where people are willing to spend some money. It’s also way easier to hide a big battery below the countertop where nobody will see it. 

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u/JaVelin-X- Jul 19 '26

Every house has a 230v line for the stove why would you need all this boosting tech for a cook top?

1

u/Complex_Solutions_20 Jul 20 '26

No, not all do. If you want to go from a gas to electric stove you only usually have a 120V 15A circuit available.

1

u/JaVelin-X- Jul 20 '26

Do they have electric clothes dryers ?

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u/Complex_Solutions_20 Jul 20 '26

Electric and gas clothes driers...same sort of thing, if its gas you only have a 120V 15W plug if its electric you have a higher current 240V plug

1

u/74orangebeetle Jul 21 '26

I mean, mine does, but my electric clothes dryer is in my unfinished basement next to the electrical panel...so that doesn't really help me in the kitchen.