why 115v and not 230v

[ben7]

Re: why 115v and not 230v

You would NEVER get circuits fed by 2 separate breakers past NICEIC, NAPIT or any of the other notification bodies, nor past the IET or CENELEC.

The way its headed is that UK will likely standardise back on radials (which would make working on houses so much easier, nightmare trying to work safely when the whole house's sockets are on one circuit and you need to use mains tools, usually means creating a temp circuit...thankfully not too many houses like that anymore but there are still a few) and ring mains will be eliminated, already kitchens are usually rewired on their own circuit due to load and sometimes multiple circuits to cover high inrush current items such as fridge freezers etc and high draw items like dryers etc.
I don't see the UK headed onto Europlugs anytime soon though, simply due to Xenophobia and also as the French stuff especially can have terrible quality control...

Some houses only have one circuit?

All the houses here have multiple circuits, usually one for each of: A-C/heater, bathrooms, kitchen, clothes washer/dryer, basement, attic, livingroom, diningroom, bedrooms...

It is common for breaker panels here to have nearly 25 breakers. Ours is something like that, and a 200-amp service (240v/120v)

[delaware74b]

Re: why 115v and not 230v

25 Breakers? Most newer homes have 42-space panels and they're usually 2/3 filled. I can easily fill 8 spaces in a 'regular' residential kitchen: 2 countertop circuits, refrigerator, dishwasher, garbage disposal, over-the-range microwave and 2 spaces for a regular electric stove.

Of course, lighting is usually tied in with other rooms, so I don't count it unless it's in a new home. Arc-fault breakers required for all 120-volt circuits in a home except for lighting in the bathroom and kitchen.

BTW, my voltage has a wide range due to number of homes (8-10) on the pole transformer. I should go see the KVA rating on it. My normal range is from 107 to 119 volts. I rarely see more than 119.

[tom66]

Re: why 115v and not 230v

I don't know about the US but I have always seen the fridge, washing machine etc. run off the ordinary kitchen ring main. If there's an electric cooker, it always has a second breaker; sometimes there's one for the hobs and one for the oven/grill.

[turbozutek]

Re: why 115v and not 230v

Hi barman, 568.261485 millilitres of carlsberg export please.

Or, like the rest of the world, order a litre stein. More booze = better!

You would NEVER get circuits fed by 2 separate breakers past NICEIC, NAPIT or any of the other notification bodies, nor past the IET or CENELEC.

I agree, yet, it's not witchcraft. It's done all the time here and it's how devices are fed with 220v: from a symmetrical breaker with over-current on each side of the circuit, because two 110's = 220. The two phases are physically linked so shutting off one side shuts off the other at the same time.

So it can work!

Some houses only have one circuit?

Sure, if they are wired in ring main, that can provide 32 amps @240v which is plenty enough to run a small apartment (say one bed with a combination kitchen / living room). Bigger house have multiple RMs, so you might have the upstairs room on one main and the downstairs in another or areas split up like an RM for the living room and kitchen and another for the bedrooms and hall.

It's perfectly normal to run high current appliances like fridges, AC, freezers, washing machines etc from a standard socket. 13amp @240v is normally plenty enough to run these devices, so we usually don't bother with separate connections for these. The exception are things like stoves and cookers, which normally have a simple 40 amp (IIRC, it's been a while) spur. Whole house AC (which is uncommon) will have its own spur too normally.

That's why my house in the UK had a small 8 panel breaker and my house in Canada (same size) has a 38 way monster with more wiring than a telephone exchange! Separate spurs for anything high power, separate spurs with two hot sides for anything 240 and the rest a horrible mishmash of parallel, split plugs and random spurs.

Another difference? Everything in the UK is protected by RCD; GFCI as North America calls it, at the main panel before it hits the breakers, so every device in the home is protected by 30ma trip. That isn't the case on my house here, there are simple breakers and nothing else unless you've wired a GFCI onto a socket. Grab a live wire here and, well, good luck!

Chris...