3 ms·
North American electrical infrastructure is natively 240v, split phase (two 120v hots, with a centre-tapped neutral). All houses have 240v power, and all stoves
by frosted-flakes 4y ago
North American electrical infrastructure is natively 240v, split phase (two 120v hots, with a centre-tapped neutral). All houses have 240v power, and all stoves and ovens are already 240v at 40 or 50 amps. If there's a need for 240v power at a particular location (such as a high powered window AC unit), it's generally quite easy to switch a standard 120v circuit to 240v and replace the outlets on the circuit with their 240v counterparts (identical except the prongs are horizontal).
- cmclaughlin 4y agoGetting a bit off topic here, but I’d like to learn more about this… In most cases wouldn’t you need to run a thicker wire to replace a 120v outlet with 240v?
- frosted-flakes 4y agoNo, only if you increase the amperage of the circuit breaker. Doubling the voltage just doubles the power you can deliver over the same wire. To keep it the same, you can actually use a thinner wire. That's part of the reason long-distance transmission lines are at many thousands of volts.
- petre 4y agoYou run two hots instead of one, that's 200% "thicker". Between the two hots you now have 240V. Between each hot and the neutral you have 120V like before.