Travel kettle vs. Normal kettle

lickylonglips

Hi! Me and my flatmate travel quite a lot (4-5 times a years), mainly to cities in Europe, not seaside resorts. Was wanting to buy a travel kettle to take with us on our trips, as the middle of the road hotels we tend to book rarely provide a kettle. However, it seems that the cheapest travel kettle I can find (argos £9.99) is more than twice the price of the cheapest normal kettle (£4.78).

Is it possible to use a normal kettle in Europe (despite the slight difference in voltage), or is a travel kettle really necessary?

My only other though was buying a cheap kettle in Milan (where we'r going for Xmas), either corded or normal, depending on the price and then using this when abroad...

Your thoughts, please!

littleowl

I always take a travel kettle to France. It draws less power and boils very quickly. It is also smaller than a normal kettle and I fit a cup and spoon inside it. All you need is an English to French adaptor. I have a vanity case which I kitted out as my 'tea bag' - contains the kettle, extra cup, coffee, tea bags and sugar in plastic containers in the elastic loops and some sachets of cup-a-soup. It has been a god send on many occasions!

Minihauk

Hi,
Not sure a "proper" kettle will work in Europe, but I'm sure someone who knows better will be along soon! We also go on a lot of city breaks and usually take a travel kettle. I don't think you will find electric kettles cheap in Europe anyway, they always seem quite expensive compared to the cheapies here (imo).
Also, a normal kettle is a lot bigger than a travel model, so if space in luggage is tight, I would definately go with the travel option. If you think of how much it will save you on buying hot drinks out i don't personally think an initial outlay of £9.99 is too expensive, but that is just my opinion!

lickylonglips

thanks for replies. might keep an eye out for one on ebay or something,....

andrealm

I don't see why you couldn't use a normal kettle and an adaptor. i thought the only difference between normal kettles and travel kettles was the size, but if you have the space to put a full size kettle in your luggage, I would have thought it would be fine.

Disclaimer:I may be wrong though.

lickylonglips

andrealm wrote: »

I don't see why you couldn't use a normal kettle and an adaptor. i thought the only difference between normal kettles and travel kettles was the size, but if you have the space to put a full size kettle in your luggage, I would have thought it would be fine.

Disclaimer:I may be wrong though.

I think it's to do with the voltage. Then again, I've often used an iron that we've taken with us when abroad. The only time we had any problems was in Paris when it kept tripping the electricity! The size isn't really an issue.

McKneff

I have had my little travel kettle for years, its easy to transport. We use it mostly on the ferry over to Amsterdam, twice a year, with coffee at £3 a cup
and about 12 cups a time (for 2 of us) it has paid for itself many many times over. We also travel to Europe so it really has been worth its weight in gold.

Bongedone

You will be fine with a normal kettle in the EU so long as you have a travel adapter. All electrical devices in the EU have to operate to the same voltage standards i.e tolerate the slight differences.

As mentioned a normal kettle is bigger but it would also boil quicker due to being a higher wattage.

America uses a different voltage and most normal kettles will not work there. Also cruise liners are normally 110v.