Old world electrics

[MBfreak]

Hi,

When I see all the wonderful garages set in acres of lush, rolling landscape, a few hot cars outside, and epoxi floors, roll out cabinets and god knows what else, it is easy to dream away.
Here up north on the 60th parallell, houses are built to survive 4 months at - 25 Centigrade EVERY YEAR and 2 meters of snow.
Kind of restrictive when it comes to area and building material.
And landscaping tends to be centered around how to plan to be able to shovel the driveway clean.

BUT
When I see the electric installation stuff you guys in the US are using, that gives me some consolation.

Even a modest house in Sweden has a 3phase 400 Volt supply. We use 50 Hz so when scoping stuff we get a 10 ms timebase free of charge And we use a 5 wire system, 3 phases , a neutral and protective earth.
Residual Current breakers are more or less standard.
Most stuff run on 230 V, connected phasee to neutral. Stoves, washers, welders, compressors are run three phase 400 V
A typical fuses size on the incomer is 16 or 20 A three phase.

Ola

 

[Norcal]

Residential 3 phase in the States is rare, normal supply is 120/240V single phase, min size for a new service is 100A w/ 200A common & 400A also, in Phoenix, Arizona they did supply some residences w/ 120/240V 3 phase which the 3 phase was used for air conditioning equipment, as services are upgraded this is being removed since single phase A/C is readily avail. now. In some areas 120/208V is supplied to a residence but this would be more common in multi-family units such as apartments & condos where the load requires a 208Y/120V 3Ø supply & single phase power to each unit. (120/208 network). For large non-residential services 480Y/277V is used, 277 is a widely used voltage for lighting. Canada uses 600Y/347V.BTW, the National Electrical Code, NEC prohibits voltages in excess of 120V being used for lighting in a residence.

 

[Gary S]

Hi,

Here up north on the 60th parallell, houses are built to survive 4 months at - 25 Centigrade EVERY YEAR and 2 meters of snow.
Kind of restrictive when it comes to area and building material.
And landscaping tends to be centered around how to plan to be able to shovel the driveway clean.

Ola

There are parts of the US where we deal with similar temperatures and snow. We commonly see -40F (-40C) here and deep snow for 4 months here. We build for it. That means that any water lines need to be 6 feet or more below the surface of the ground. Dealing with the snow and cold isn't any more difficult than dealing with the heat in the southern parts of the US. You just do things differently.

And, we are only at 47 degrees latitude.

 

[ddawg16]

You have to have that 400V 3-phase to make up for the lost cycles in your frequency...

In truth....each has it's advantages.....your higher voltage means smaller wires....but that higher voltage also makes your system more dangerous....if I get across the line of a 120v wire....it stings...but I just shake it off and keep going....400V? That is going to hurt!

240 or 400v also creates other issues....I know in England, if you have an extension cord, you have to use what is basically a portable GFI box to plug your tools into...

What we have works very well....

As for 50hz vs 60hz....lot of history there....even here in the US, some parts of the US were still using 50hz up to the start of WWII. There are still parts of the US using 25Hz systems (Niagra Falls).

Personally....I like ours....our electrical equipment is cheaper....I know our plugs are a lot cheaper than the counter parts in Europe...