Re: Powe lines
- Subject: Re: Powe lines
- From: C* D* <c*@charter.net>
- Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 21:56:57 -0700
I suspect safety is at least a minor consideration. I put my finger in a "hot" 120 V socket and got a bit of a jolt when I was about 8. I'm glad it wasn't 220V.
I was in New York City for eighteen months about 1956-7. If my memory isn't playing tricks on me they switched Manhattan Island from DC to AC while I was there. I had a record player (a cheap one fortunately) in my lab. When I turned it on one day the turntable went around very briefly and a small puff of smoke rose above it. It seem somebody made a mistake and ran 220V in the line briefly. I suspect other things got fried that I didn't hear about.
When I was in England and Italy a couple years ago I bought adaptors and ran my computer with no problems. Were they on 220? Did this adaptor change the voltage? The adapter looked like a simple change in the geometry of the pins. If I'm being a bit dumb I would appreciate being enlightened! ---Chas---
///////////////////////////////////////////////////---------------------------------------------
On Aug 26, 2004, at 8:44 PM, Krzysztof Kozminski wrote:
On Aug 26, 2004, at 7:21 PM, Bill Grant wrote:
During the lovely summers I spent in Bavaria, I learned that the reason their power lines go from house to house or underground - it is the short distance. Figure the amt of miles in California to string lines!!!! So we cannot blame the power company (though I would love that) for the problem. That is also why we have 120 instead of 220.
Short distance has nothing to do with the 120/220 difference. As a matter of fact, higher voltage is more efficient for transmitting electricity over long distances, and transmission lines use hundreds of thousands of volts.
The reason US uses lower voltage is that early light bulbs burned out too fast at higher voltages. The rest of the world got their household electricity installed a bit later, when this was not an issue any more, and so could adopt a somewhat more efficient voltage.
KK
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: Powe lines
- From: &* G* &*
- Re: Powe lines
- References:
- Powe lines
- From: &* G* &*
- Re: Powe lines
- From: K* K* &*
- Powe lines
- Prev by Date: Re: Powe lines
- Next by Date: Bay Tree
- Previous by thread: Re: Powe lines
- Next by thread: Re: Powe lines