4 ms·

Why Doesn't the US Use 220V Like Everyone Else in the World? (2021)

18 points by throw0101c 1y ago

SpecialistK 1y ago
What's with the horrible post title? It goes from "Like *everyone* else in the world" to "why do 1/3rd of the countries in the world" in the subtitle. In what clickbait world is 2/3 "everyone"?
- eqvinox 1y ago
  Everyone is people, and on that front - it's less than a billion out of >8 billions. >87.5% seems... acceptable to round to "everyone", if only barely.
  - SpecialistK 1y ago
    To make things more complicated, I'm not in the US, this PC I'm typing on is powered by 120V, but I also have the stove running and that's 240V so as a person am I using 120V or 240V? And even the subtitle says "220/230V", so what about places that use 240V for all home electronics? It isn't inspiring me to excuse lazy writing and clickbait, although I am curious as to where you got those population numbers.
    - eqvinox 1y ago
      > curious as to where you got those population numbers. I summed up the populations of CA, JP, MX and US, then rounded up a bunch for the smaller 110V countries. FWIW, I also think it's rather clickbaity & wouldn't have used that headline. Only saying I can rationalize it.
HarHarVeryFunny 1y ago
On a related note, when you go on vacation to Europe/etc where 220-240V is used, don't think that a cheap travel plug is going to let you use all your US appliances like hairdryers, laptops, etc that you may want to bring with you. A typical travel plug doesn't have a voltage converter in it, and is only designed to let you plug your US devices into that European/etc 220V wall socket. Whether your device can handle it is another matter! A laptop with dual 110V/220V capability (read the label!) will work just fine, but a cheap 110V only hairdryer will burn out in short order!
- atombender 1y ago
  I moved from the U.S. to Europe and knew about the voltage difference, so I left things like my Vitamix behind. But for some reason I didn't think about my Bosch orbital sander, and it took me a really frustrating sanding session to realize that the reason it was zooming around uncontrollably was, of course, the voltage. It worked, just way too powerfully.
kazinator 1y ago
Why doesn't western Japan use 60 Hz, like everyone else in Japan?
- sidewndr46 1y ago
  That area of Japan's standard is actually 100 volts/60 Hz from what I recall. Which is even weirder
- unsignedint 1y ago
  Actually, it’s the western region of Japan that uses 60 Hz. In the early days of electrification (around the 1880s), during the transition from DC to AC, western Japan adopted a 60 Hz standard using a generator built by General Electric. Meanwhile, eastern Japan imported a generator from the German company AEG, which operated at 50 Hz.
jschveibinz 1y ago
The U.S. does use 220-240v for some applications and every house is wired for it--at least to the panel. Large appliances, car chargers, and other high current devices are almost always 220-240v in the home. But 240v between your hand and ground is twice as likely to stop your heart.
- sidewndr46 1y ago
  No, not all homes are wired to that voltage. Some have 120 only. Some are 208. Some are 480 if they need lots of power
  - Kirby64 1y ago
    > No, not all homes are wired to that voltage. Some have 120 only. Some are 208. Some are 480 if they need lots of power There are exceedingly few homes, especially single-family homes, in the US that do not have split-phase 240V power. 208V (2 legs of 3-phase) power is almost always relegated to condos or apartments and never single-family homes. Even in that case, many 240V appliances function just fine on 208V albeit at a lower maximum power. Even fewer still, to the level that you don't have a 'home' at that point but, but a small commercial building, have 480V power. Only commercial buildings have 480V, and they basically always will have conversions to usable residential power for using... normal stuff.
    - justinclift 1y ago
      > Only commercial buildings have 480V ... People do get it hooked up in garages and similar to run industrial/hobby equipment. ie lathes and stuff along those lines
      - Kirby64 1y ago
        Right, so if you’re getting 480V hooked up you have a small commercial building at that point. And you probably still have 240V feed for the rest of the house. Also, these days you have many more options than just getting 480V. Running a VFD off 240V to generate 3-phase is much more affordable generally for a used lathe or something. Even getting 480V connected to a house is sometimes impossible, or at very least so expensive it makes no sense.
ribcage 1y ago
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18 points by throw0101c 1y ago

What's with the horrible post title? It goes from "Like *everyone* else in the world" to "why do 1/3rd of the countries in the world" in the subtitle. In what clickbait world is 2/3 "everyone"?

eqvinox 1y ago
Everyone is people, and on that front - it's less than a billion out of >8 billions. >87.5% seems... acceptable to round to "everyone", if only barely.
- SpecialistK 1y ago
  To make things more complicated, I'm not in the US, this PC I'm typing on is powered by 120V, but I also have the stove running and that's 240V so as a person am I using 120V or 240V? And even the subtitle says "220/230V", so what about places that use 240V for all home electronics? It isn't inspiring me to excuse lazy writing and clickbait, although I am curious as to where you got those population numbers.
  - eqvinox 1y ago
    > curious as to where you got those population numbers. I summed up the populations of CA, JP, MX and US, then rounded up a bunch for the smaller 110V countries. FWIW, I also think it's rather clickbaity & wouldn't have used that headline. Only saying I can rationalize it.

HarHarVeryFunny 1y ago

On a related note, when you go on vacation to Europe/etc where 220-240V is used, don't think that a cheap travel plug is going to let you use all your US appliances like hairdryers, laptops, etc that you may want to bring with you. A typical travel plug doesn't have a voltage converter in it, and is only designed to let you plug your US devices into that European/etc 220V wall socket. Whether your device can handle it is another matter! A laptop with dual 110V/220V capability (read the label!) will work just fine, but a cheap 110V only hairdryer will burn out in short order!

atombender 1y ago
I moved from the U.S. to Europe and knew about the voltage difference, so I left things like my Vitamix behind. But for some reason I didn't think about my Bosch orbital sander, and it took me a really frustrating sanding session to realize that the reason it was zooming around uncontrollably was, of course, the voltage. It worked, just way too powerfully.

kazinator 1y ago

Why doesn't western Japan use 60 Hz, like everyone else in Japan?

sidewndr46 1y ago
That area of Japan's standard is actually 100 volts/60 Hz from what I recall. Which is even weirder
unsignedint 1y ago
Actually, it’s the western region of Japan that uses 60 Hz. In the early days of electrification (around the 1880s), during the transition from DC to AC, western Japan adopted a 60 Hz standard using a generator built by General Electric. Meanwhile, eastern Japan imported a generator from the German company AEG, which operated at 50 Hz.

jschveibinz 1y ago

The U.S. does use 220-240v for some applications and every house is wired for it--at least to the panel. Large appliances, car chargers, and other high current devices are almost always 220-240v in the home. But 240v between your hand and ground is twice as likely to stop your heart.

sidewndr46 1y ago
No, not all homes are wired to that voltage. Some have 120 only. Some are 208. Some are 480 if they need lots of power
- Kirby64 1y ago
  > No, not all homes are wired to that voltage. Some have 120 only. Some are 208. Some are 480 if they need lots of power There are exceedingly few homes, especially single-family homes, in the US that do not have split-phase 240V power. 208V (2 legs of 3-phase) power is almost always relegated to condos or apartments and never single-family homes. Even in that case, many 240V appliances function just fine on 208V albeit at a lower maximum power. Even fewer still, to the level that you don't have a 'home' at that point but, but a small commercial building, have 480V power. Only commercial buildings have 480V, and they basically always will have conversions to usable residential power for using... normal stuff.
  - justinclift 1y ago
    > Only commercial buildings have 480V ... People do get it hooked up in garages and similar to run industrial/hobby equipment. ie lathes and stuff along those lines
    - Kirby64 1y ago
      Right, so if you’re getting 480V hooked up you have a small commercial building at that point. And you probably still have 240V feed for the rest of the house. Also, these days you have many more options than just getting 480V. Running a VFD off 240V to generate 3-phase is much more affordable generally for a used lathe or something. Even getting 480V connected to a house is sometimes impossible, or at very least so expensive it makes no sense.

ribcage 1y ago

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