220v circuit ?

[Crusty Old Shellback]

f-18,
We don't convert it. reread my post. There are two 115 volt lines coming in. We just put them together in a 3 wire setup and make it 220.

laverda,
I think it's a myth when you stick to the actual formula. Running 220 V for a big tank might not save you money per se on the electricl consumption of the pump motors but could possibly save money in cooling in that at the higher voltage/lower amperage motor, you will be producing less heat. But you would still need 115 volts to the tank for smaller items that are not made to use 220 Volts.

The meter basically converts your usage into watts, or to be specific, kilowatts used per hour. They run off of the 220 volts, ie both 115 volt lines coming in, and measure the current draw (ie amps) on the lines.

As far as I know, all household applinces are made for 115 volts so that is why we are set up like we are. At this point in the game, it would be very expensive to try and convert the whole country to 220 volt applinces.

 

[Bui]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7502410#post7502410 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blown63chevy
f-18,
We don't convert it. reread my post. There are two 115 volt lines coming in. We just put them together in a 3 wire setup and make it 220.

laverda,
I think it's a myth when you stick to the actual formula. Running 220 V for a big tank might not save you money per se on the electricl consumption of the pump motors but could possibly save money in cooling in that at the higher voltage/lower amperage motor, you will be producing less heat. But you would still need 115 volts to the tank for smaller items that are not made to use 220 Volts.

The meter basically converts your usage into watts, or to be specific, kilowatts used per hour. They run off of the 220 volts, ie both 115 volt lines coming in, and measure the current draw (ie amps) on the lines.

As far as I know, all household applinces are made for 115 volts so that is why we are set up like we are. At this point in the game, it would be very expensive to try and convert the whole country to 220 volt applinces.

I belive it was design way back then to use 110V so the electric cable that hook up to most of our appliances could be thinner.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

The cable size is determined by the amount of current that will be going thru it, not the voltage.

 

[NicoleC]

From FAQFarm.com:

Answer

In terms of power production - all power is the same. It is then transmitted over High Voltage cables - usually above 10K Volts. The power is then stepped down before it reaches our homes.

U.S, Japanese and some other countries receive 110V in the form of 2 wires - 1 Live and 1 Neutral (2 phase system)

Other countries receive 2 live and in some cases 2 live in addition to 1 neutral to create this 220-240V.

Historically many countries originally used the 110V or 2 phase system.

Some may argue that the US is behind or has just managed to stay afloat with this old system longer.

The only advantage to receveing 110V is less injury to the nervous system in case of electric shock.

The downside is due to more current to compensate for the power you are more likely to get more burn (Yes skin burning) due to the 110V.

The disadvantage of 110V as compared to 220V is more losses due to resistence. Higher current needed to compensate for lower voltage creates more heat and therefore more resistence in the system and thus the need for more power.

Hope that helps.

Advant


Answer

The US is at 120 volts, not 110 volts. It was increased sometime around the 1950s.

The historic reason for 110 volts was due to the DC power systems created by Thomas Edison. I think he chose 110 volts because that is what his light bulb worked on. Later on these systems were converted to AC so you didn't need a power plant on every corner but the voltage wasn't changed so existing lighting didn't need to be replaced (they didn't care if they got AC or DC)

An interesting question is why the rest of the world did _not_ wind up using 110 volts. How did 220/230/240V get started over there?

The US system theoretically could be made as good as (slightly better, actually) than the European system with no infrastructure change, except to houses themselves. US houses get 240 volts at the panel. If wall outlets all were fed with 240V you'd have the lower current and higher power advantage of the European system and it would be safer, since each "hot" would still be only 120V from ground (not 240V) which keeps the reduced shock hazard advantage. Of course it is still possible to touch the two hots.

The top answer also says why 220 is more efficient -- less resistance. Therefore both sides are correct: a 220v appliance will generally be more efficient compared to a 110/120v applicance, but watts are still watts when it comes to power usage so if it isn't more efficient, it will draw the same amount of power.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

NicoleC,

Not sure where you got that but it is a bit incorrect.

I just went thru all of this when I had a new service hooked up to my house along witha new meter and box. Plus I've been doing this since 1979. There is no such thing a 2 phase. We use single phase in our homes and there is a 3 phase that is used in most 440 V applications and some 220 V uses in large comerical types of setups but not in home. There is even a 110 Volt 3 phase motor that's used on naval ships in some Radar equipment but they are a bit rare. There are phase converters that can be used to turn single phase into 3 phase power for use on some 3 phase machines. There is also 2 types of 3 phase power. A single phase motor will not work on a 3 phase power and vice versa.

As I stated earlier, we do have two 115 volt power lines and one netural line going into our houses. Also their story on the skin burn etc when electricuted is not correct. it has nothing to do with the voltage and everything to do with the current. Both lines are cappable of drawing large amounts of current, up to that of the breaker in the box, at any time which is more than enough to kill you.

The thing with the high power lines, ie 10,000 volts is that they use high power/low current to travel long distances on the power lines. Once the power gets to a transfer station in your area, it's converted back to low voltage/high current for use in your home.

Another formula to remeber if your talking about restance, voltage and amps is ohm's law; Voltage = Current X Restance.

 

[GTR]

I have an oulet in my shop, 220, 3 phase which ran a printing press for my old business. How do I convert that to either 220 single phase or even split it into two 110 lines. To do the split would a have to run one more wire?

SteveU

 

[NicoleC]

NicoleC,

Not sure where you got that but it is a bit incorrect.

Source cited above.

 

[laverda]

My pump is external and does not produce much heat at all, so I am not worried about that aspect. But always looking to save some money on the electrical bill.
Good info Nicole. Sounds like basically the 220 is just more efficient. Probably why most high current electrical items run on 220 already.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Steve,
Not for sure about your situation. It would be best to call a comerical electrician that knows about 3 phase. I don't think you can just split the lins and bring in a netural. Best to ask them though.