What do you use your kettle for??

Electric kettles are really expensive in the US, but when we first moved here we were at Aldi and they had some for $20! Score!

We've converted a few people in the US to them. We bought DW's father one when he moved into assisted living so he could easily make some instant coffee (we also take him some decent instant when we go over!) and also Dw's daughter wanted one when she came over.
We are visiting her sister for Thanksgiving, I remember last time she made tea in the coffee maker.....just running water through the machine and the teabags in the pot! I guess it's an improvement on when I was moaning about how long it was taking the kettle on the stove and then I got called in to watch something on the TV and wondered why the kettle wouldn't shut up whistling!

I can say that I've seen people on a frosty morning poring it over their cars windows to get the ice off

It doesn't often get cold enough here for icy windscreens but, when it does, my husband always uses the kettle. No broken glass here! 

It doesn't often get cold enough here for icy windscreens but, when it does, my husband always uses the kettle. No broken glass here! 

As I suspect from your last sentence you are aware that pouring boiling water on a freezing window has the potential to cause a bit of grief. Because of the temperature difference you run the risk of shattering the glass. I've seen it happen a few times. Your best to make it just warm it will still defrost the ice just the same.

I know I'm late to this party but....I've always suspected that one of the reasons that electric kettles aren't as popular here in the US is because the electric current is lower. With the higher electric current, the kettles are much faster in the UK than boiling water on the stove but in the US, it's not really a huge time saver compared to the stove. It's like blow dryers being more powerful elsewhere in the world than in the US (or I've always thought, at least) and drying hair faster because of the more powerful electricity.

I do now have an electric kettle here in the US but it's because I have a very anemic electric stove. I pretty much just use it for boiling water for coffee, tea and pasta.

My MiL uses it to clean her black granite countertops. It's constantly covered in fingerprints and is impossible to clean. It works a treat! I plan on using it on my surfaces as well.

I use it for all of the above. I don't make couscous or ramen on the stove top anymore; saves on dishes as I don't have to use a pot and then a bowl. And yes, I do still eat ramen, esp since I discovered this fantastic Japanese supermarket nearby.

We use it for all the things mentioned.. except the beer and bunnies.  I think we're the only people in our circle of friends who actually have one though.