On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 11:41:00 -0500, wrote:

On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 15:18:08 -0000, "Mr Macaw" wrote:

On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 05:04:22 -0000, wrote:

On Sat, 05 Mar 2016 21:11:01 -0000, "Mr Macaw" wrote:

On Sat, 05 Mar 2016 19:50:19 -0000, wrote:


More wires and outlets all over the house, inconvenient I guess.

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.

We don't really have that much 240v equipment and most is fixed in
place. The required outlets are all 120v


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?

In the case of receptacle spacing, the safety thing is limiting the
number of extension cords used and making it unnecessary to string
cords across openings.
There are plenty of people who say we have allowed too many things
into the code that are not safety related. Manufacturers have a lot of
influence in the code process.


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?

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.


120v equipment is pretty much limited to 1440w. Irons seem to function
just fine at 1kw or less and we don't really drink that much tea.
I am not sure you can even buy a dedicated tea kettle here.

Actually lots of "tea kettles" "coffee pots" and "coffee makers" here
in Canada. Indo recall not that many years ago friends from the USA
buying tea kettles here and taking them home with them because they
were not readilly available at home. I've seen them for sale in the
USA when we've been down in recent years.

People
boil water on the stove where they have plenty of power.
We really try to avoid the use of portable heaters by having robust
central systems but there are still plenty of 1440w heaters around.
They cause a disproportionate number of the fires, usually in older
homes with bad electrical systems.

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. 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.

My usage ranges from about 2 MWH a month

Looking at my last bill, I used 1.5MWH between April 25th and Oct 11th, which is several times less than you. WTF are you doing with all that power?

Pumping and heating water, cooking, heat and A/C, running a spa and a
pool. It starts adding up fast I guess
Heat is not really an issue but when we do it we have toaster wire
heaters. I have not had the central heat on in a couple of years but
we do have a 1440w "electric fireplace" in the living room that my
wife uses on cold mornings for a little warm up.

That is between $200 and $300 with all the fees taxes and other
charges.

Here, 2.5MWH would cost £340 = $480, about twice what you pay. Why is America cheaper for everything? There's a phrase "rip off Britain" but nobody knows why it's the case.

Everyone knows why. Same reason we pay a bit more (taxes) here in
Canada. As the level of "socialism" goes up, so do the taxes. You
choose the level you are comfortable with and pay accordingly.

I imagine you have a tad more in taxes but we also use natural gas for
electrical generation and that is pretty cheap here.