The rest of the world is 220 volts (or thereabouts)

[irishScott]

And why are we not using metric?

 

[So]

Originally posted by: irishScott
And why are we not using metric?

Because the cost of converting wholesale would outweigh the cost of simply letting it gradually ease in to the public mind like we're doing now?

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: irishScott
And why are we not using metric?

Because the cost of converting wholesale would outweigh the cost of simply letting it gradually ease in to the public mind like we're doing now?

There's no gradual easing anywhere. For instance, the Air Force is FIRMLY wedded to English units for flying (and, presumably, so is the civilian flying community as well) to the extent that even though the ground pounders use metrics and grid coordinates, USAF insists on nautical miles and lat/long coordinate system.

Until there's a serious push to incorporate metric (dual signage, for instance), it will NEVER happen.

 

[DVK916]

220v doesn't use half the power. A device using 220v or 110v would draw the same amount of power, the difference th 220v would draw half the current. But the power they use would be the same. Since power aka watts is measured in volts * amps.

 

[marulee]

Wrong... what about Canada dude!

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
so the US has 50% more fatal shocks than the UK, but with 5x greater population. now, there may be something else going on, but it looks like 110 isn't as dangerous as 220.

Or maybe the UKers are dumber?

 

[RU482]

everything you ever wanted to know about electrical standards worldwide

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: DVK916
220v doesn't use half the power. A device using 220v or 110v would draw the same amount of power, the difference th 220v would draw half the current. But the power they use would be the same. Since power aka watts is measured in volts * amps.

they didnt say it would use less power, they said it would waste less power, and they are right. you seem to forget that P also equals I^2*R, so 220 wastes 1/4 the power of 110.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Assuming "clean power", as clean as it can be from a mains input, 220v is better.

Twice the wattage = half the amperage needed for the same task, right?

Why is the USA all by itself with a measly 110v, when the rest of the world is 200-something?

Several issues:

1. 220/240V lines are more dangerous. If you come in contact with them, you are more likely to be seriously injured, while I've been hit a few times by 110V with no problems. Also, the higher voltage makes arcing more possible; arcing leads to fires. It is also harder on switches since they have to break the arc when turning off and 220V has a longer possible arc (spark).

2. All US homes DO have 220/240V lines. Your stove, air conditioner, electric drier, and/or electric water heater all run on 220 for exactly the reasons stated - less current draw for the same power.

3. Anything in industry uses even higher voltages for high power applications - either 208/230 3-phase, 480V 3-phase, or even higher.

I'm sure someone has stated this, but the first page didn't look promising so I just wanted to clear it up.

EDIT: Oh, bother; I see So has taken care of things. Nevermind, then...

 

[Robor]

Can someone answer me this...?

If I plug my IBM Thinkpad into a 110v outlet everything is 'normal'. If I plug it into a 220v outlet when I gently rub my hand across the lid (titanium?) there's a sort of electrical 'hum'. It's hard to describe exactly but there's definitely a difference.

 

[UMfanatic]

yes the US uses both, Driers run off 220, that is why you have 2 power lines running into your house 110 each thus combining to make 220 for the drier, as for power converters you can not max them out, you must check the total volts or amps before choosing the right converter, I burnt a few 85 converters up because my JBL creature speakers were maxing them out, it was pretty interesting to see a melted converter

 

[smopoim86]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
You are right about lower power loss in lines using higher voltages, but you do realize that if you cut down a power line anywhere in the US you won't find and 120V lines, right?

They transform higher voltages (14 KV?) to wall outlet levels very close to your house, probably within a few hundred feet. Using 220V will not affect the power loss in that short of a run by any meaningul amount.

Right, the loss from using 110 instead of 220 is minimal. The main lines vary in woltage, from 7500v to 350kv. The transformer is generally with in a few hundred feet of your house, where the 7500v is stepped down to two lines of 110.


I was wondering, in countries where 220 is the standard, is single line to ground 220 and hot to hot 440?? or is it similar to here, where single line is 110 and hot to hot is 220 ??

 

[smopoim86]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
does the rest of the world really run on twice the voltage or are we just the only ones using split-phase(theres a better word for this but i can't remember it) power in our homes?

That's what i'm wondering. It's know as single-phase (i'm not sure why, because it is two channels of power though)

There is also 3-phase that is used for commercial businesses that use large amounts of power, it has 3 channels of 177v, that when all three are combined, you have 480v.

I don't think the OP thought about how we use a voltage that is relative to the amount of current a device draws.

 

[The Green Bean]

we use 220v without having proper grounding anywhere. Sadly, not too many die by shock.

 

[rahul]

Originally posted by: So

2,3,and 4 are HUGE. I mean the franklin stove pretty much stopped people from cooking in their fireplace worldwide, and the lightning rod made tall buildings much safer. He wasn't Einstein, but he was the ideal "Enlightenment man."

I can think of several places around the world where people neither cooked in/over a fireplace nor used a Franklin stove.

Also;

While Franklin is often credited with its invention, some historians believe the circulating stove was actually invented 70 years prior to Franklin's experimentation with stoves. The metallurgy at the time, however, required that it be made of cast iron, which cracked when fired. This caused smoke to pass through the cracks and into the room: as a result, the original inventors did not patent or sell their device. Franklin designed a similar stove with more advanced metallurgy and was successful in making it work?at some point in 1742, according to his own account.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stove

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: smopoim86

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
does the rest of the world really run on twice the voltage or are we just the only ones using split-phase(theres a better word for this but i can't remember it) power in our homes?

That's what i'm wondering. It's know as single-phase (i'm not sure why, because it is two channels of power though)

There is also 3-phase that is used for commercial businesses that use large amounts of power, it has 3 channels of 177v, that when all three are combined, you have 480v.

I don't think the OP thought about how we use a voltage that is relative to the amount of current a device draws.

Not quite right - power coming into your house is from a center-tapped transformer (google it). I don't know for sure if you could consider it polyphase, but I think not as you will only have one phase angle available on your output. The main lines are all 3-phase, and residential transformers are connected across two of the lines. The output is center-tapped to allow either 120 from the center to one of the legs or 240 from one leg to the other. They probably split the circuits in your house between the two halves of the transformer.

Polyphase (the three-phase version) has three wires, same as comes into your house, but each line is hot and the three AC signals are 120 degrees out of phase - this is polyphase. The voltages don't just add like that, either. There will be 480V potential between any of the two lines, but if there is a neutral line, the potential from any of the hot lines to neutral (or ground) will be 480/sqrt(3) = 277V. The difference in potential comes from the phase shift and you need complex math to calculate it (complex as in complex numbers, it's pretty easy though).

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: Robor
Can someone answer me this...?

If I plug my IBM Thinkpad into a 110v outlet everything is 'normal'. If I plug it into a 220v outlet when I gently rub my hand across the lid (titanium?) there's a sort of electrical 'hum'. It's hard to describe exactly but there's definitely a difference.

It's probably due to the switching power supply. At twice the voltage, the supply only has to be switched "on" for about half as long resulting in half the duty cycle. At lower duty cycles, switching supplies can hum more since there's more fluctuation in the output of the switcher and more stress on the inductor (usually the source of the hum).