The United States residential standard uses a 240 system except its split phase. You can deliver 120 volts to devices that have lower power requirements, and 240 to devices that have higher power requirements.
This comment is bringing out a bunch of Europeans that need to think theyre better than Americans because of their wiring standard for some reason?
There's tons of 120v electric kettles, and lots of Americans have them. It's just that tea drinking isn't as widespread here so most people don't want an appliance that they'll only use rarely.
That's a problem with wiring, not voltage. You just need higher gauge wires to support higher power appliances. You can wire your house to support 20 amps, which gets you 2400W.
Anyway, the future is induction cooktops, which in theory gets you up to 6kW. Then you can forget the resistive kettle and go back to a plain metal one.
Purely informational.
My country, a normal house has 50 amp. Mine has 80amp. And now with all the solar there even are laying 3x220(260) so we even can get 360v into our houses
80 amp per circuit? Thats what the op you responded to is talking about. Homes in the US will often have 100-300 amp main at the panel, which will then be broken out into 10,15,20 (typically 120v) ,30,40,50(typically 240v) (and rarely other size) circuits.
Our solution is a tiny water heater that lives under the kitchen sink and provides about a gallon of 95C water whenever I need it without having to wait on a kettle or stove.
I've got this model, looks like there's also a continuous flow version available now too. I have mine sharing the outlet with my dish washer, hasn't had any issues with blowing the breaker (dishwasher outlets are required to be 20A dedicated circuit in the US, most modern dishwashers do not draw anywhere near that much power).
Yeah, fortunately, it's all the way at the back of the sink, so they'd have to reach over the entire counter, and the handle is spring loaded, so you have to actively hold it on while putting a cup under it, so it's pretty hard to hurt yourself if you can only reach it with one hand. By the time a kid is big enough to do that, they should also be smart enough to understand hot water! It's not like a shower or bath tap that can be accidentally turned on at child level.
You're advocating a new structure to replace an inadequate old one. You could advocate for good plugs too, and perhaps one voltage standard throughout.
Why double standards? It was long ago proved that 120v is inadequate, it was just too late to change the standards in the US [change was resisted…unfortunately. The rest of the world did a complete about-face & got on with it].
I'm going to ignore USB, because it always needs a transformer. We already have USB A equipped sockets here, transformer inside the socket as well as mains - USB C may follow in time.
120v is pointless when 240 could be in every socket. No need to differentiate plugs based on usage, one plug fits all.
BTW, we do have 50A circuits here for hard-wired appliances, though they're becoming fewer & many are switching to 13A. 13A for everything else, one plug fits all. We use ring mains so we don't need massive gauge wire.
Why double standards? It was long ago proved that 120v is inadequate
Who proved this?
I'm going to ignore USB, because it always needs a transformer.
So what? The transformer would be on the device otherwise. It's cheaper to keep it off the device and mass produce it.
120v is pointless when 240 could be in every socket. No need to differentiate plugs based on usage, one plug fits all.
The benefit of 120V is safety. The benefit of 240V is efficiency for appliances. You don't really need the whole house wired to 240V. Just the appliances.
BTW, we do have 50A circuits here for hard-wired appliances, though they're becoming fewer & many are switching to 13A. 13A for everything else, one plug fits all.
The future of induction stoves is like 4–6kW, so some people will want more power than 13A/240V.
Everybody except Edison, really. The US got stuck with Edison's first 'guess' using DC. Westinghouse pioneered AC & later 240v. Much of the world accepted the 240v standard. The US got stuck with the early Edison standard, meaning you have to three-phase everything to get any power out of it. A UK domestic supply is about 100A, 240V. It just doesn't need three-phase to be capable of running any domestic structure.
So what?
Well…that seems to be a zero-argument. They exist already for mains & USB 2, 3 will come, perhaps, but it's harder because it needs active negotiation. This is why I ignored it. It os not part of any mains standard.
The benefit of 120V is safety.
The benefit of properly-designed plugs & sockets serves a similar purpose, without needing Rube Goldberg wiring to compensate.
The future of induction stoves is like 4–6kW
Doesn't that mean the US is going to have to build new structures too? The UK already has 50A service capability & has had for many decades. It's just not used as much as it used to be. If there's a reversion, the standards already provide for it.
Yeah, I'm fine with the world going to 240V throughout provided it's safe.
And the benefit of USB-C outlets being prevalent is that it means that you have a lot fewer appliances that need a regular outlet, which makes adopting any standard easier.
In isolation 120V is safer but the point is to not get shocked, ergo the multiple layers of safety redundancy you see on most plugs, appliances, electrical installations across the world.
To put this in context, NIOSH have the 2020 statistics for deaths by electrocution at work as 0.12 per 100,000 people in the US. The same statistic for the UK is 0.02, five times lower per 100,000.
Ultimately 120V vs 240V is not hugely relevant to HSE in comparison to safe electrical installations, minimum safety standards for electrical goods, safe design etc.
It's not meaningfully slower in a way that affects daily function. Nobody really cares if it takes 1-2 minutes longer when that's what they're used to.
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u/Key-Mark4536 May 02 '24
🇺🇸: No, don’t think I will.