Ishbel and the other Brits are the most qualified to weigh in on that. My expertise is coffeemakers--my coffeemaker now is a Cuisinart drip coffeemaker with a thermal pot. I love it.

But I have also owned a number of electric kettles, which are faster and more efficient than waiting for an electric stove to heat up the kettle. If you are a regular tea drinker, it might be worth the investment.

Just want to add, I read that one of the reasons electric kettles never caught on in the States is because the voltage in Britain is higher, so the water in the plug-in kettles does indeed heat up much faster there than it would here. Not sure how true that is, but here's the link to that hypothesis: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-a...ve-top-2015-12