On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 18:26:52 -0000, Uncle Monster wrote:

On Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at 10:38:32 AM UTC-6, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 03:28:42 -0000, Uncle Monster wrote:

On Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 6:21:29 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jan 2017 21:09:15 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

On Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:34:57 -0000, wrote:

You folks just do not have as many electrical appliances I guess. To
start with I doubt air conditioning is that prevalent. In most of the
US it is standard equipment.

That only uses about a kW?

More like 6kw

Our "cookers" (ranges) are typically 40a
or maybe 50a.

At 240V presumably. Not much higher than our 30A. And there are a fair number with double width cookers (two ovens, six hobs).

You are going to be looking at 50 or even 60a then

If you can't get natural gas, you will have electric
water heaters

We do too. Gas isn't everywhere.

and maybe even electric heat.

Same here.

My electric heat strips are 10kva.

Add a swimming pool,
electric dryer, spa and perhaps a shop, then the loads add up fast.

Some have those aswell.

My welder is 48a but the whole shop really runs in 60 since I am a one
man operation and I only run one or 2 things at a time.
The spa alone is 70a with 11kva of heat and a 2,5 HP jet motor and a
3/4 HP circulation motor that loafs along at about 1/10HP in standby
mode when it is not in use..

What is your typical main breaker?

100A = 24KVA. You really run your whole home on just 4.8KVA?! I can exceed that by a factor of 2.5 with my cooker alone. The shower another factor of 2 over that.

Sorry I dropped a decimal place 48KVA.
24KVA is the minimum service you can have for anything, most are 48KVA
(200a) and a large home will have 400a (96KVA)

I see. Although I can ask for more if I want it. I believe I can even get three phase.

3p is rare here in residential. I don't even have 3p on the pole
outside.

It's been years since I did any work on a large home wired for 3 phase power. The large AC units ran on 3 phase power which I believe is because larger AC units were not available at the time that ran on single phase power.

North of Birmingham is Cullman, Al which is not served by Alabama Power but by TVA. In the early 1980's, I did some work in the rural area of Cullman County around Smith Lake and the power lines in the area consisted of a single high voltage line connected to one side of a transformer and a ground rod connected to the other side of the transformer. I don't recall the kv on the power line but the power from the transformer was standard single phase 240vac. It's the only place I've seen a power distribution system like that. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

[8~{} Uncle Rural Monster

Three phase is on the national grid. Supplying only one phase off that would be lop-sided. That's why all three phases come right to every transformer in the UK, then alternate houses are connected to each phase..
--

Alabama Power runs 3 phase here in the city. I'm not sure about sparsely populated rural areas. I don't think you realize the difference in size of The United States and The UK. The UK is 241,590 sq km in land area and The U.S. is
9.16 million sq km. The UK would fit inside the state of Oregon. A power company is going to run power everywhere in the most economical manner. It would be absurd to run 3 phase power in a sparsely populated area where homes/farms/ranches are miles apart. The family farm that I own one ninth of has a 1/4 mile long driveway but It's been so long since I've been there that I don't recall what the power lines looked like. I'm guessing there is a transformer down the mountain on the road to supply power to the homes that are relatively close together. One neighbor has a home across the road from the driveway entrance for my family farm and I suppose it's connected to the same transformer. I think my father had to pay the power company to set power poles and run lines up the mountainside to our home but it's been more than a half century since the house was built and my family moved there from a small town. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-...aphy/Area/Land

[8~{} Uncle Transformed Monster

That makes sense.

--
What is the punishment for bigamy?
Two mother-in-laws.