Outlets here in the US only use 120V, but in the UK, they get up to 240V. Is this just the way the market played out, or is this government caused?
It seems that it was how the market played out. The US was an early adopter of electrical grids, and most lighting fixtures and other common devices back then would only reliably take 120 volt power without blowing out. When things later improved, there was a whole lot of infrastructure that was built up around 120 volt, so that’s what we stuck with. Your home can be wired to 240volt though, that’s what most washer/dryer sockets are. It’s just that you can’t usually go out and pick up the stuff for it, as almost everything they sell in the US is for the 120 volt standard.
Electrical and many other “standards” correlate with political boundaries. Do the math.
The US electrical outlet is an archaic dinosaur. Have you ever tried plugging something in the dark? Can you imagine how dangerous it is for blind people (for example) when trying to plug in electrical devices? The electrical standards are the maidservant of the government’s electric utility monopolies.
Clayton -
“The electrical standards are the maidservant of the government’s electric utility monopolies.”
So, without the government intervening, do you think we would be off the 120V standard? Or at least see it in a different form?
I think it is both. The voltage differences in the US and UK I believe have to do with the way the infrastructure is set up. I think it has to do with the distance electricity has to travel… .
The voltages in your home really don’t have to do with transmission distances. Transmission lines run at much higher voltages, in the range from 14-16Kv to 500Kv or more, and the power is stepped down at local substations and transformers when it gets hooked up to the home.
You’re right in that it’s probably a bit of both though. Obviously it’s codified into law now, but it seems to have it’s origins in the early days of commercial electricity.
Japan has both within one country 120V and 240V. As far as I know this is because they bought power plants from the US and Europe…
