Mondo Knows Facts
Electric kettles use a bimetallic strip to shut off when boiling
Rising steam heats expanding metals to trip the power switch automatically
Modern electric kettles feature an automatic shut-off mechanism powered by a bimetallic strip inside the handle channel. Steam rising from boiling water travels down a tube and heats two expanding metals with different thermal properties. As the strip bends, it triggers a mechanical spring switch that disconnects the electric power.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: appliances, kettles, engineering
Electric kettles use a bimetallic strip to shut off when boiling: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Rising steam heats expanding metals to trip the power switch automatically. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a everyday life fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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