Originally Posted By: siberia37
Hmm do we really have the half the wattage or the voltage? Are you saying that all UK power lines are 230v at 20amps? Or are they really 230v at 10amps which is equal (on a watts basis) to 120v at 20amps..

UK outlets are usually 230V (240V) at 13A, which is 3000W. And electric kettles tend to be 2800-3000W. For whatever reason, most US kettles seem to be 1500W; either your 120V outlets are only 13A (15A?) or someone's being very conservative with a 20A outlet.

Peter