On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 6:18:03 PM UTC-5, Mr Macaw wrote:
There are no 240 volt "outlets" in a typical north american home. Only
high current items such as driers and ranges run on 240 volts - and
they have specific connectors for the amperage of the appliance. A
range uses a different plug than a drier., and those connectors are
installed only where that specific appliance will be installed.
So rearranging your house is a bugger then. No thanks.
I've lived in a lot of houses and never had the need to rearrange where
a 240V appliance was. The only typical appliances like that which are on
receptacles are electric dryers and stoves/ovens/ranges. Never seen the
need to put the dryer or stove in a different spot. And if I did, the
dryer is almost always right next to the washer. The washer needs water
lines, a drain. The dryer needs a vent to the outside. Don't the ones
in the UK vent outside? I'm just not feeling the need to be able to
plug my dryer in anywere in the house. And a lot of people have gas
dryers too. Should we put gas outlets all through the house too, in
case someone wants to dry their clothes in the living room, while they
fire up their turkey fryer there too?
Out tea kettles are generally 120 volt and 1500 watts, +/- and can
heat a cup of water for tea in about 45 seconds to 2 minutes.
So if more than one of you wants a cup, or you want a large mug of coffee, you have to wait 5 minutes? That is unacceptable.
It doesn't take 5 mins to do a cup at 120V. I can do a liter in a little
more than that. If you really want it fast, we have instant hot water dispensers that you can install under the sink. They have a tank, ~ 1/2 gal, that is constantly hot. I stated previously that I agree having 240V
for that would be nice, it would cut down the time. But I think you're
way over doing how important it is.
Heating a quart takes a bit longer - and some heat faster than others.
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.
Portable heaters generally run 1500 watts on high, and 750 or 850 on
low. Irons are generally 1200 watts. They do not heat up immediately,
but mabee the "colonials" have a bit more patience then folks from
"the old country"
Good enough to maintain a room temperature, but useless for heating one up in under a decade, or drying out something very wet.
Please. It doesn't take a decade to heat up a room. Also, as pointed
out previously, few people use them that way. We mostly have central
heat. Some people, not many thought, use them to supplement that in one
room, so they can keep the rest of the house set lower.
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.
Here we don't generally use "widow-maker" showers
I had to look that up, and got this image:
https://theuntilmatters.files.wordpr...dow-maker2.jpg
Although ours don't look like that, those ones are cheap **** you get on campsites, ours do heat the water with electricity, in a box on the wall. Why would you think that was dangerous?
I agree with that part. I assumed what you meant was an on demand,
point-of-use type water heater. They are safe, as long as they are
correctly installed.
And current code requires several 20 amp circuits for the kitchen.
Now you see that's convenience not safety.
It's both. Unless you think having an electric fryer, electric kettle,
etc on cords running God knows where, that can be tripped over, run to
a non-GFCI outlet, etc is safe. And "convenience" is a stretch. I'd
say it's "functionality" and safety.