On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 11:41:06 AM UTC-5, Mr Macaw wrote:
On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 16:32:19 -0000, trader_4 wrote:

On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 10:18:16 AM UTC-5, Mr Macaw wrote:
On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 05:04:22 -0000, wrote:

Why are more outlets "inconvenient"?

Because of the two different types. If I want to plug in a hoover, I use any outlet. You have to find one of the right voltage. So to make it as likely to have one, you need twice as many outlets.

All the common everyday appliances, eg microwave, electric kettle, lamps, vacuums, are 120V here and those are the only outlets distributed around the
house.

So your vacuum must have quite a beefy cord on it. Our vacuums typically use 5 amps, the the flex is quite flexible.


They don't seem beefy to me. I don't see why a small electric motor at 240V
would use 5 amps. A 1 hp motor uses about 7. Even my shop type
vac has a cord that I'd say is about the size of a pencil.



240V is used for electric dryers and ovens and it's about the only
place you'd find a 240V receptacle in a typical house. Some might have
it for some shop type gear, in their basement, garage etc too.

In fact our code requires that you are pretty much never more than 6
feet from a receptacle, not crossing a door or other opening.

Why on earth would convenience be in your code? I thought "code" was for safety?

That is part of safety. Having sufficient receptacles within a given
distance means that people are less likely to run extension cords which
are a known hazard, for example.

I wasn't aware America was over the top on safety. An extension cord is not a hazard, what do you think it's going to do? Catch fire for no reason?


They are actually the source of a lot of fires. People put them under
carpets for example, where they get rubbed, frayed. Or they take a
minimal gauge cord and plug 6 things into it. Or they string together
several short ones, that aren't in the greatest shape, etc. Plus
they are a trip hazard. Plugging a hot plate or similar in on an
extension, you could trip on the extension and have a hot pot of
water land on you.




240 equipment is generally going to be fixed in place anyway.

I will say that in my travels I was impressed with the 240v tea
kettle, if you really make that much tea.

So what are your kettles? 110 volts and 1.5kW? That would take an age to boil. Or do they have a 30 amp flex?

~1.5KW is what they are. I would agree, 240V for that would be real
sweet. Still the 120V electric kettle can heat it faster than using
the range and more efficiently.

I find the 3kW one too slow if it's full.


I can see that. The 120V one here I used to heat about a liter of
water to make coffee or tea. If I need more water than that, I do
it on the stove. I agree having a 240V electric kettle would be a
very handy thing. I never thought about it until you brought it up.
Maybe we can get something started here, put in 240V receptacles for
new kitchens. I'd like it.



What about an iron? A portable fan-heater or convector heater? There are loads of appliances which need a lot of power that you may wish to move about.

They too are limited to ~1500W. There are some that require a 20A
circuit, have a different plug, but those are the exception, not typical.

If we're not in the middle of nowhere, heating, hot water, and cooking is done by gas (it's 3 times cheaper), so we don't use that much electricity.

Same here. If nat gas is available, it's by far the most economical.
Electric is usually most expensive. We've found a tremendous amount of
new nat gas in the last decade or so.

I think ours is all from the North Sea, which being in Scotland I'm right next to.

Showers, washing machines, and dishwashers tend to heat their own water, so those and a tumble dryer (our weather is very damp) are about the only things that wil use much.

Here shower and washing machine, in vast majority of cases, don't
heat their own water. Electric dryers do and are on a 240V receptacle.

Do you still have those washing machines like I saw on a TV show once, where the detergent is dispensed automatically fro a big tank above it?


I've never seen those. Trend now is to more front loaders. There the
detergent goes into a reservoir at the top of the machine, but I think
it's loaded for each use.