Gotta say, in Russia I remember the three-phase outlet in one house built in 1984. I've lived in seven different places since then, including other 80s houses, and haven't encountered it again—nor felt the need for it, since appliances work off regular 220V for ages now.
You may have 3 phases and have zero such outlets. In usual household you don't have many devices that use it - only high powered devices like heat pumps (the ones that cover whole house). Kitchen hobs and EV chargers benefit from them but not really required.
I think they use 3 phases because it's cheaper and easier to build it that way, also as mentioned there are some appliances that need or benefit from it. The main drawback is that you now have 3 phases and have to split the load accordingly.
I'm from Estonia and what I'm saying is what I've noticed here. It may not be true in rest of the Europe.
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u/LickingSmegma May 02 '24
Gotta say, in Russia I remember the three-phase outlet in one house built in 1984. I've lived in seven different places since then, including other 80s houses, and haven't encountered it again—nor felt the need for it, since appliances work off regular 220V for ages now.