3 ms·
> The normal outlets in the house are wired across half the transformer, giving 120 V. Ovens, water heaters, dryers, EV chargers, air conditioners, etc get wire
by qwerty456127 5y ago
> The normal outlets in the house are wired across half the transformer, giving 120 V. Ovens, water heaters, dryers, EV chargers, air conditioners, etc get wired across the full transformer giving 240 V.
Why not just give the 120 V up and go full 240 V in every outlet?
- throw0101a 5y ago> Why not just give the 120 V up and go full 240 V in every outlet? No one feels it's worth the effort. You'd need two sets of plugs in every home and redesign a whole bunch of appliances and sell both types during the change over period, which could last decades.
- selfhoster11 5y agoMost appliances that draw less than a kilowatt of energy are capable of switching to 240V or 120V as needed, some even automatically.
- qwerty456127 5y agoIf so, then I would prefer to make all the outlets in my hypothetical American home 240V. Why don't actual Americans do?
- selfhoster11 5y agoBecause that doesn't account for the 20% of random devices that aren't directly 240V capable. It's not as plug and play as it could be.