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smart power strip (australian plug!)
ChadTower:
--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on April 18, 2013, 11:18:58 am --- Typically in your average household there are only two devices that require 220 (note that's still not 240)... the washing machine and potentially your heat/ac unit.
--- End quote ---
This varies by region. In my house for 220v I have the oven, the clothes dryer, one outlet in the kitchen that isn't being used and a line to the subpanel in my shed. It's a small house without central air. There are no natural gas lines were I live so people have electric ovens but no gas lines also means we have oil heat. Furnaces only need electricity for the controls and the blower and I believe mine is 110v.
I haven't seen any 220v home model washing machines in New England.
Howard_Casto:
That's certainly true.. I forgot about electric stoves and 220 dryers, not washers (that was a flub on my part, sorry) are certainly almost extinct at this point (they do exist though). But what I was getting at was any appliance that uses over 110v is fairly rare.
Vigo:
I've wondered, is there a significant advantage to 240 power supplies these days? I know it is common in a a number of countries, had me cussing that I couldn't plug anything in HK. I have to wonder if it is just because that's how it was back when everything took more power. It seems half the stuff I plug into the walls these days only takes 5v. :dunno
As far as the law about electrocution goes, I personally think it is ridiculous, but maybe it is related to the voltage difference. I have been zapped a few times, but can't imagine ever being compromised enough where it would be harmful. I think the batteries on cars would be far more dangerous. You guys are some of the most brilliant DIY'ers I've ever seen, and it from my point of view it seems a tad silly that you can't *legally* do your own electrical work.
I've done so much electrical, I can't imagine the amount of money I would've had to put down over the years to have a licensed electrician do it. It would probably be in the 10's of thousands. I'm pretty darn thankful I have been able to put custom lighting and electrical all over my house, and the modern three phase wire makes standard work so ridiculously easy.
ChadTower:
I did the electrical on the gameroom I am building now. When I started I only had basic house wiring skills enough to replace fixtures. I ended up learning enough to put in 1 new 20A circuit with a series of quad outlets and 1 new 20A circuit with more quad outlets and two zone track lighting on dimmers. This is legal, I have an electrical permit, and it is subject to full inspection by the town wiring inspector.
I am pretty sure some states do not allow a layman to do their own electrical work like this. Massachusetts allows it but I think Rhode Island does not. In Rhode Island people get around that by hiring an electrician to pull their permit for them.
Learning the wiring codes can be tricky but they do make sense once you understand what you're doing.
Howard_Casto:
It's politics I'd imagine. Edison wanted the world to run on DC current, which is ridiculous and he had so much political power that he almost got his way. Americans are eternally grateful for Tesla.
Anyway... when the power grids across the globe were in their infancy, your major household appliances included a lightbulb, an iron and...... well that was it. Aside from industrial parks (which typically generated their own power back then) there weren't any real power needs when most nations grids first started popping up. So long story short, no it wasn't because of greater power needs in the past.
It's been some idgit that said "yup we've gonna run 240" and now it's too late to rectify that mistake.
I think some countries have a rather "bass-ackwards" way of looking at things. I know here in the US and I'm pretty sure in most of the UK, anybody can do any work they want on their homes or appliances legally. The thing is, to make your work legal you have an official inspector come in and look at the work. This varies by region of course (pretty sure CA is afraid of diy) but it makes a lot more sense to me to do it this way. In terms of appliances, it might effect your insurance coverage, but then again it's nearly impossible that the mods we are talking about could cause a fire.
In terms of house wiring, a moron could do it in most cases. You get your local regulations book, make sure you do what it says in terms of terminations, conduits, ect... and it's literally as simple as screwing three wires to a fuse box.
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