Re:Why does the USA use 110V and UK use 230-240V?
by askvictor on Tuesday August 29, 2023 @05:46PM
(#37314576)
Nice over-provisioning; I doubt the gas shortage or electric cars were on the radar when 3 phase became the norm...
How are loads balanced to phases in a standalone house?
Re:Why does the USA use 110V and UK use 230-240V?
by mschuster91 on Wednesday August 30, 2023 @02:57AM
(#37318576)
Usually the circuit breakers are sequentially assigned to phases with wiring blocks [1].
In the end load more or less averages out across all the individual grid users.
[1] https://www.zaehlerschrank24.de/phasenschiene-kdn363f-3-poli...
German here. Virtually all houses built after the 60s will have at least 3x63A @ 230V (L-N) / 400V (L1-L2/L2-L3/L3-L1) AC. Individual flats/apartments/studios from before the 90s will usually have a single phase 32-40A uplink, so in a 12-unit house you'll have four flats wired to L1, four to L2, and the last four to L3 to ensure even load across the phases. More recent builds that don't have gas stoves any more will have a 3x40 connection to allow for powerful electric stoves and ovens.