3 ms·
It's a nice story, but in modern times it's massively over engineered and really not practical. I get that the voltages are higher but even that is a bit silly
by swingbridge 11y ago
It's a nice story, but in modern times it's massively over engineered and really not practical.
I get that the voltages are higher but even that is a bit silly. In many ways the US system makes a lot more sense. 110V for most things and then 220V only for things that really need it (electric dryer, oven and such).
- aurelian15 11y agoWell, in Europe we have 220V rated at 16A for most things (including electric dryers), and a 3-phase connector with up to 400V @ 32A only for things that really need it (oven) [1]. The higher voltage allows for less bulky connectors, cables and electric kettles which heat water in a reasonable amount of time. And honestly, the European systems (Schuko [2] and the UK plugs) look a lot safer than their US counterparts. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IECEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IECEE [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko