[Elecraft] Curiosity Only, somewhat off topic.

[David Dunn]

*240 volt in USA*

Thanks to several folk who so promptly and sensibly repllied to my posting.
Now I understand  and can see why the local electricians do not have to use
pipe benders to get the wire around the corners......
I have over the years wired several complete houses, both new and
"rebuilds"  and seen the requirements  in a house change from a supply to
light about half a dozen  100 watt lamps and a 1 kW heater occasionally,
to the current trend needing  hefty cable of sufficient capacity to run two
10 kW electric showers plus kettles and heaters Tvs  and all the other
gadgets we seem to require in modern living.!
                                                    All comments much
appreciated,    Compliments of the Season to all and       Happy
Elecrafting......  David in Sunny Yackandandah


On 14 December 2011 22:33, Milt -- N5IA <n5ia at zia-connection.com> wrote:

> David,
>
> The standard residential service in the US of A is 120/240 Volts AC.
>
> It is provided by the center tapped secondary winding of the utility
> transformer.  The center tap is grounded and becomes a Neutral such that in
> the home you have two 120 VAC legs, one from each of two ends of the
> secondary winding.  The two legs are 180 degrees out of phase to each
> other,
> and separately are used with the grounded neutral to provide the 120 VAC
> service.
>
> For larger appliances such as stoves, ovens, hot water heaters, clothes
> dryers and Amateur Amplifiers, the current is sourced by connecting to both
> 120 VAC legs, resulting in 240 VAC being delivered to the appliance.  No
> additional step-up transformer is required.
>
> There is no free lunch.  The laws of physics cannot be changed.  It is just
> a different scheme of power delivery which allows a grounded neutral to be
> carried to each small appliance or lighting fixture.
>
> I hope that helps a bit with your understanding.
>
> Milt, N5IA
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: David Dunn
> Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:04 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Elecraft] Curiosity Only, somewhat off topic.
>
> I noted recently several refs by USA users asking about 240 volt ac power
> plugs etc.
>
> Now I have never even been to a 110v  country -  possibly only USA ? -
> and
> I can see a degree of (shock)  safety offered with that system, but I can
> hardly imagine the mass of copper required to carry possibly 200 amps
> around the house.   Nevertheless, I just wondered why there seems such
> interest in running 240v equipment, presumably via suitable transformer.
>                    David VK3DBD/G3SCD.
> .
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