[RE-wrenches] AC voltage in North America
Hugh
hugh at scoraigwind.co.uk
Tue Oct 19 19:14:01 PDT 2010
Hi
In the UK the voltage is usually 240 volts whereas in the rest of
Europe it is 220. However we are united by a standard voltage of 230
+/- 10% They like to keep the voltage up since it sells more
electricity. However if the local renewables push the voltage too
high it can still cause problems on low load days.
Wikipedia says:
"All of Europe and most of South America, Africa and Asia, as well as
Australia and New Zealand use a supply that is within 10% of 230 V,
whereas Japan, North America and some parts of northern South America
use a voltage between 100 and 127 V. In general, most of the world
uses the 230V standard. This also means that standard 230V equipment
can be used in most parts of the world, with only a minor change in
the equipment's electrical plug for a specific country."
Hugh
>Darryl,
>thank you for that! i've often wondered myself where the 110/220 and
>other random voltages mentioned from time to time came from (as
>opposed to 120/240 which is all i've worked with in my electrical
>career). i've often assumed that the other numbers were
>grandfathered in from other systems, but was never really sure.
>
>If the change to 120/240 was in the 60's then why do some appliances
>still reference 110-115V?
>
>i'm impressed, it must have been something working your electrical
>career thru, among other things, the change from DC utility systems
>to AC systems
>
>benn
>DayStar Renewable Energy Inc.
>benn at daystarsolar.ca
>780-906-7807
>HAVE A SUNNY DAY
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:49:26 -0700
>From: daryl_solar at yahoo.com
>To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC voltage in North America
>
>Thanks Joel
>When I first started working most of the city was DC and we had a
>lot of work tearing out DC motors and putting in AC motors.
>
>--- On Tue, 10/19/10, Joel Davidson <joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
>From: Joel Davidson <joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net>
>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC voltage in North America
>To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 11:24 AM
>
>Hello Darryl,
>
>I tip my hat in honor to your many years working with electricity.
>110 volts was Edison's choice for direct current. Then
>Tesla/Westinghouse chose higher voltage alternating current stepped
>down to 120 volts.
>See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents 115-volt
>AC/DC universal motors in drills and other tools were fairly common
>until low-cost induction motors became widespread.
>
>Best regards,
>Joel Davidson
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From:
><http://us.mc519.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=daryl_solar@yahoo.com>Darryl
>Thayer
>To:
><http://us.mc519.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>RE-wrenches
>Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 7:18 PM
>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC voltage in North America
>
>When I was an electrical apprentus back in the late 40's we called
>it 110/220 then in the fifties the voltage was reised to 115/230
>and some time in the 1960 it was raised to 120 240
>
>Darryl
>
>--- On Mon, 10/18/10, Marco Mangelsdorf
><<http://us.mc519.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=marco@pvthawaii.com>marco at pvthawaii.com>
>wrote:
>
>
>From: Marco Mangelsdorf
><<http://us.mc519.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=marco@pvthawaii.com>marco at pvthawaii.com>
>Subject: [RE-wrenches] AC voltage in North America
>To: "'RE-wrenches'" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>Date: Monday, October 18, 2010, 8:27 PM
>
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>
>I just don't understand it.
>
>
>
>Lots of people-from reporters to homeowners-consistently refer to
>the AC voltage in their homes as "110/220."
>
>
>
>Where does this come from?
>
>
>
>If North American utilities were putting out power at that voltage
>range, they would be in serious trouble.
>
>
>
>Anyone able to educate me on this matter?
>
>
>
>marco
>
>
>
>
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Scoraig
http://www.scoraigwind.co.uk
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