Bay Area

[technix]

hi,

I've seen several listings advertising a 220v kitchen countertop outlet. What common *countertop*/"portable" appliances do people usually use these for here in the US, given that I dont  seem to find too many appliances for sale for the higher voltage?

eg I was trying to look for a 220V electric kettle as these should be able to boil water in a quarter of the time of a 110v electric kettle, but these dont seem to be common on amazon.com.

Do people find the 220v kitchen outlet useful, or is it just a "gimmick"? 

PS: the outlets i'm referring to look like the regular 110v outlets but with an extra "T" shaped notch.

[Leon00]

Just curious, are you sure it is 220V? With "T" shaped notch, it may be a 20A GFCI.

[technix]

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Leon00 wrote:

Just curious, are you sure it is 220V? With "T" shaped notch, it may be a 20A GFCI.

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Actually, I'm not really sure. The house flyer says "220V outlet in kitchen" and this was the only place I could see a receptacle different from the standard ones. It does have a GFCI though.

I found 220v receptacles on amazon with a similar shape (like the one below) and assumed the shape implied 220v

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-5822-W-Receptacle-Commercial-Grounding/dp/B000U3I1S0

but reading through the wikipedia link below,  you may be right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country

It says under "united states" - "A T-slot Type B is rated for 20 amperes for use in kitchens or other areas using large 120 V appliances".

I'll try using a voltmeter and check what it shows....and if its 110v, guess I'll still need to figure out which outlet(s) in the kitchen are the 220v ones.

[technix]

Verified that the T-notch outlet is actually still 110V (silly me making assumptions) -- so the T notch simply indicates 20A as Leon00 correctly pointed out (thanks!). Note though that some of the outlets are not GFCIs but do have T-notches.

The 220V outlet in the kitchen being referred to is probably just the refrigerator and oven connections (which are not visible).

So that also explains why 220V "portable" appliances (like electric kettles) for use in the United States aren't common on amazon!

[ckaught78]

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technix wrote:

Verified that the T-notch outlet is actually still 110V (silly me making assumptions) -- so the T notch simply indicates 20A as Leon00 correctly pointed out (thanks!). Note though that some of the outlets are not GFCIs but do have T-notches.

The 220V outlet in the kitchen being referred to is probably just the refrigerator and oven connections (which are not visible).

So that also explains why 220V "portable" appliances (like electric kettles) for use in the United States aren't common on amazon!

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All the houses I have owned have had a 220 outlet for an electric range/oven.

[RinBenicia]

Unless there is something new , the only use for a 220 outlet in a kitchen is for a an electric oven. I dont know of any portable appliance ( in the US ) that uses 220. 

[Nanomug]

My microwave (Advantium) is 220 but its mounted over the range and not on the counter.

[RinBenicia]

Do you live in the us.?

[bld999]

Isn't that unit hardwired? [ wirenuts, not a plug-in]

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Nanomug wrote:

My microwave (Advantium) is 220 but its mounted over the range and not on the counter.

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[Nanomug]

The advantium has a plug.  However the unit was not shipped with a plug and the install instructions said to install a plug to match the outlet. 

bld999 wrote:

Isn't that unit hardwired? [ wirenuts, not a plug-in]

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Nanomug wrote:

My microwave (Advantium) is 220 but its mounted over the range and not on the counter.

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