240 or 120 Volt?

[LD1]

I'm going to add something here that always bugs me. People refer to their electrical service as being 110V or 220V (or even worse as a 120V/220V service...it CANNOT be 120V/220V) but it isn't, it's 120V/240V, and here's the reason why.
Your basic voltage control at substations, regulators etc is always based on 120 volts. You might have a substation with a 72,000V or 138,000V line feeding it and the transformer might be putting out 25,000V but when we adjust the transformer for output voltage, it's ALWAYS done based on 120V. At the substation transformer, that might be set at 123 or 124 volts to offset voltage drop through the power lines but down the line residential voltage should ideally be 120V to neutral/ground and 240V phase to phase (single phase power).

Yep, it does get very confusing indeed for the average person.

Currently, I hear 3 main ones: 110/220 115/230 and 120/240

110/220 was old terminology.

115/230 is typically what appliances and stuff are rated to. +/-10%

120/240 is what the power companies actually deliver +/-5%

So your appliances @ 115+/-10% should be good from about 104v up to about 125v. This should cover you on the power companies +/-5% as well as voltage drops within the houses branch circuits themselves:thumbsup:

But to refer to it as 120/240 is the most correct way.

 

[chopped]

Mace very informative.We do tend to change some of the reality sometims of description.I personally had never thought much on it.. Just figured there was a swing in the voltage tolerances..

 

[czechsonofagun]

Mace very informative.We do tend to change some of the reality sometims of description.I personally had never thought much on it.. Just figured there was a swing in the voltage tolerances..

Yes, voltage and frequency both.

 

[grsthegreat]

Mace, is that 120/240 Canadian :licking: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[Mace Canute]

Mace, is that 120/240 Canadian :licking: :laughing: :laughing:

:laughing:

 

[Travelover]

Mace, is that 120/240 Canadian :licking: :laughing: :laughing:

Yes, and it is "eh C"

 

[Mace Canute]

Ohhhhh that's sooo bad! :laughing:


(But...I like it! )

 

[vsumoski]

Mace,

Get them going...

Tell us what you pay per KiloWattHour.

I know that several years ago Alberta electricty was almost free compared to Pennsylvania.

 

[Mace Canute]

Ok, from my last electric bill:

I have a basic monthly charge of $19.28.

My consumption cost is $0.1061 per Kwh and I was billed for 393 kwh over a 29 day period...total electrical charges were $60.98.

Then I had a 10% Municipal Surcharge Tax of $6.10 which goes to the municipality I live in (City of Saskatoon) and 5% GST (Goods and Services Tax) which was $3.05. Total bill was $70.13.

 

[vsumoski]

Maybe it was a lot more years ago than I remember, or Alberta has a much lower rate.
Your rate is higher than Pennsy!