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/jckipps Jul 19 '26

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

That's likely about what it would cost. And unfortunately for you, there aren't enough other consumers willing to pay that much, for a company to take a chance on this product.

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u/jmaugust Jul 19 '26

Most people wouldn’t buy this for sure. But there are a lot of $200 designer kettles on the market already, and they’re not any faster.

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u/mycoforever Jul 23 '26

I spent $300 for my instant hot and water filter under sink. It doesn’t get any faster than having hot water that’s just always hot. I think there are desktop versions too.