Member location?

[brassmonkey001]

Not a complaint, but a suggestion.
It might be worthwhile if all members had their country location under their avatar so that when someone is reading their advice, it would be helpful to know what their knowledge is based on i.e. US members work with 110v, UK members work with 240v and obviously local laws and regulations differ. Also, some recommended products are not always available in certain parts of the world.
Just a thought...

 

[Getyourbone]

Yeah I also thought about the idea if there was a plug-in for the forum that showed a map with “thumbtacks“ of all the members… Obviously if they opt in.

 

[Rider]

If the member has already entered that info in their profile, all one needs to do is hover your mouse over the member's avatar, and that info will appear.

 

[svetz]

... i.e. US members work with 110v...

Actually, residential US households are primarily split-phase (aka single-phase three-wire; a center tap on a 240V transformer gives two 120v legs or 240V). So, we're really single phase, 120V, 240V, split-phase. Confuses everyone.

The reason you see 110v appliances is because manufactures advertise them that way so customers know that should they happen to not be seeing 120v at their residence the appliance will still work (those appliances still work at 120v too)

 

[brassmonkey001]

Actually, residential US households are primarily split-phase (aka single-phase three-wire; a center tap on a 240V transformer gives two 120v legs or 240V). So, we're really single phase, 120V, 240V, split-phase. Confuses everyone.

The reason you see 110v appliances is because manufactures advertise them that way so customers know that should they happen to not be seeing 120v at their residence the appliance will still work (those appliances still work at 120v too)

Ah, perhaps it's not such a good idea after all then! ?

 

[brassmonkey001]

Yeah I also thought about the idea if there was a plug-in for the forum that showed a map with “thumbtacks“ of all the members… Obviously if they opt in.

I realise that there would be a lot of folk here who are keen to be off-grid in many senses of the term and would not want to share their location. I was just thinking nothing more specific than country.

 

[eddie1261]

It might be worthwhile if all members had their country location under their avatar so that when someone is reading their advice, it would be helpful to know what their knowledge is based on i.e. US members work with 110v, UK members work with 240v and obviously local laws and regulations differ

And a damn good suggestion. I didn't know Will had worldwide popularity like he does. It looks like there are more members outside the US than inside the US. So many people on 220v!!

 

[crozza]

We are on 240V here in OZ, (actually we changed to 230V a while ago but no-one here hardly even knows that!).

Will sure has many and varied members doesn't he?

 

[svetz]

We are on 240V here ... actually we changed to 230V ...

Why?

 

[crozza]

Why?

Apparently the powers to be (ie the government) decided to follow the proposed international power supply recommendations.
Which means that someone somewhere has decided that they would like the "Whole world" to go to 230 V and the OZ Goverment said "yeah we will do it".

I Really don't know if I believe the garbage that is produced as "news", but that is the official reason ... perhaps!

 

[svetz]

Tesla calculated 240 @ 60 Hz was the most efficient and Westinghouse went with it and it's why the U.S. is that way. To make it safer Tesla used a split tap transformer at the pole so homes can have safer lower voltages (e.g., 120 V) but also 240 when needed. Also safer as neutral is bonded to ground.

The German monopoly AEG used 220 @ 50 Hz to make the numbers even for the metric system. The UK switched after the war so they could grid and appliance share with the Europeans.

So, it just seems odd that Austrailia has 230 V as the Official voltage. The power in homes is typically +/-5%, so 240 to 220v @ 50 Hz). Where do you guys buy appliances from? Are they specially made? Sorry for all the question, just curious as to the why/how of things.

 

[Supervstech]

If the member has already entered that info in their profile, all one needs to do is hover your mouse over the member's avatar, and that info will appear.

I wonder how many on here use a computer to view and not a tablet as I do...
no ability to hover... no cursor.
Touchscreen...

 

[gnubie]

In practice Australia's 230v has pretty wide tolerance, 216-253 is considered OK. Mains at my house is sitting on 240VAC right now, measured with an RMS meter.

 

[b.james]

. They are a bit crazy down there.

 

[gnubie]

What's the timeframe for these changes?
Queensland’s Electricity Regulation was amended on 27 October 2017 to mandate a transition to the 230 volt standard in Queensland.
By 26 October 2018 our network electricity supply voltage limits will transition from 240 volts to 230 volts as per AS 60038.
From 1 July 2020, we'll maintain network supply voltage within the preferred voltage range set out in AS61000.3.100 (Steady state voltage limits in public electricity systems). This sets an 8% ‘preferred operating zone’ (between 225 and 244 volts) within the allowable range (between 216 and 253 volts).

230 volt transition

Ergon Energy is planning to trial a change in voltage from 240 volts to 230 volts in 2016 in 7 areas across the state.

www.ergon.com.au

Amazing what you can find with a modicum of effort.

Note that in practice the change to 230v can infact mean no actual change. The standard permits enough variation in normal supply voltage to consider 240v to be well within spec. These days observed voltages in random locations in any state vary quite a bit due to the effect of solar feed-in. The days of a tightly regulated supply are long gone. Now that the sun is down and people are no longer pushing freshly baked electricity into the network, my mains at my house is now 235VAC RMS.

 

[svetz]

....my mains at my house is now 235VAC RMS.

8%? Wow!
Do all of the old appliances everywhere still work? No outrage? No civil unrest at the mere thought of not being able to purchase efficient appliances? I'm guessing not ... @crozza did say most weren't even aware of the change. I'd have thought 10V and 10 Hz would have had a bigger impact on RMS power.

One of the reasons I'm curious about this is in the states utilities want to be able to control the amount of power coming from coming from grid-tied systems because they talk about all the bad things that will happen if they don't. It's already mandatory in a few states for new solar (CA, HI, PR). If you guys are successfully doing this with your power, then it means solar home owners can fight back with that information here.

 

[eddie1261]

no ability to hover... no cursor.
Touchscreen...

Even if you touch and hold? That's how I hover on my Dell 2 in 1 laptop/tablet.

 

[gnubie]

8%? Wow!
Do all of the old appliances everywhere still work? No outrage? No civil unrest at the mere thought of not being able to purchase efficient appliances? I'm guessing not ...

No one would even have noticed, even if the voltage was nudged down a bit to bring it into the sweet spot when the 230v standard was adopted.

 

[somewhereinusa]

When I was a kid US electricity was 110/220 now it's 120/240.

 

[eddie1261]

When I was a kid US electricity was 110/220 now it's 120/240.

Inflation.