wrote in message
...
Are ovens and clothes dryers 240V? Every modern installation has a
neutral.

What's usually called single phase is really two-phase -- two phases
180 degrees apart.

Wrong. It's really a single split phase.

Three-phase has the phases 120 degrees apart. Two
phase is fine for balancing. You really only need three-phase for
certain kinds of electric motors, which for obvious reasons aren't put
in appliances destined for residential use.

Completely wrong. Three phase isn't put in appliances for residential
use because three phase isn't installed in residences in the US. In
many places it's not even available at the street in residential
neighborhoods.

With either 2-phase or 3-phase, appliances which need 120V are
attached to one phase and a neutral. With 2-phase, appliances which
need 240V are attached to both phases. With 3-phase, appliances which
need 208V are attached to any two phases (dig out your trigonometry to
figure out where the 208V comes from). Three-phase motors are more
complicated ...

Wrong. Don't give up your day job.

Another US power ****ing contest.

The normal home service of 240 volts is single phase with a center tap.
There are actually some real 2 phase systems, but not in most of the homes.

I would like to see how one plans on hooking up a 3 phase 208 volt appliance
to only two of the phases of a 3 phase system..

In areas that do have 3 phase 208 volt systems, it is easy to get 120 volts.
That is from one of the phases to a center of a Y network. Same as you get
277 volts single phase from a 480 volt 3 phase system that is common in
large plants.