On 2010-10-28, Nate Nagel wrote:

Nothing. 240V is useful if you need lots of power; that is, more than
you can get out of a typical 15A or 20A 120V circuit.

Like during start up. I had a 9.5CFM air compressor wired for 240.
It also included instruction for rewiring the swith/motor for 120,
which on one occasion had to do. Ran fine, but could barely get past
a cold oil start-up. Always made it, eventually, but was iffy a
couple times. Hadda turn on/off/on/off couple times to get it past
start-up. Many 15A motors are like that. Run ok, but draw twice the
max amperage to get started. That the reason for slow blow fuses.

nb