Around here a non union sparky can usually be had for about $75 minimum charge - up to half an hour - Plus about 2 bucks for the new outlet and a buck for the plate. No need to change the breaker (usually -)
Agreed. 240 volt AC units other than central units are scarce as hen's teeth around here.
Around here more likely to find it on the kerb on trash day than at a thrift shop - - - sometimes find them at a garage sale - ask on them about 35 to 50 - and just as often at the end of the driveway when the sale is over.
Yes, that look like what I'll have to do but I wanted to use the 220v plug because it's going unused and it's on its own circuit.
Free-standing, like this 115v/12,000 BTU unit from Amazon:
I'll use that if I have to but the unused 220v socket is on its own circuit. No extension cord needed.
You just need to change that at the panel to 120 (move the white wire from the breaker to the neutral bus) and replace the receptacle.
A 240V breaker sits across both hot legs. I doubt it's code compliant to use just half of it for a 120V circuit, but IDK. Fretwell?
On 12/4/2019 8:30 AM, trader_4 wrote: ...
Isn't. No dedicated neutral to the circuit that way.
Only (used to be but even it isn't allowed any more) was the 3-wire service for dryer-like appliances with the ground serving as secondary
110V circuit neutral. That now requires 4-wire, not just three.
There would be a neutral when you connect it. Right now there are two hot legs from a 240V breaker, going to the receptacle. What I assume Clare meant by "no need to change the breaker" is to just move one wire from the existing breaker to the neutral bar. That would work, the only question is if it's code compliant or not. I would not do it though, because breakers are cheap and to do as suggested is going to be confusing for anyone else who comes across it.
Might look sloppy but not illegal. It is just a "spare" overcurrent device as long as there are no wires connected.
There is one remote possibility here that they actually did run 3 wire with ground into that box in which case he could install a 5-15/6-15 combo device and have the best of both worlds. I would be surprised if it was true tho.
This is what the 5-20/6-20 (20a) device looks like but they also make the 15a.
As some background, that was allowed so that items such as dryers (or more commonly, ovens) whose main power draw (such as the heating elements) was 240V, could also operate some secondary items (such as the timer, lighting, fans..) at 120V.
This was Way Back, before routine international shipping, when getting 240V versions of clocks and light bulbs was a pain...
A range or dryer is assumed to be a 120/240 load and needs a neutral but if the equipment is 240 only, it is not required to have a neutral. (no 120v load).
Funny then that today they typically still require 120V. It's also illogical to suggest that the major companies building millions of machines can't easily source
240V timers or light bulbs. Many of them were also major electrical component suppliers themselves too. Westinghouse can't find or make a 240V timer or bulb? It is an interesting question as to why they evolved to require 120V, but I doubt that it's because 240V timers were hard to source.
Legacy and inertia.
Same reason, more or less, that many of the hybrid cars, with their high voltage DC battery systems, still (usually) have a second 12V wiring harness for the radio (well, "enterntainment system"), lighting, and, to quote from the first season of Gilligan's Island, "and all the rest".
Ugh! Those "portable" air conditioners are f****ng noisy. At the very least, buy a thru-the-wall unit. For a few hundred more, you could put in a nice quiet mini-split.
So it comes down to if he wants to convert the circuit to 120V, minimally it takes moving one wire at the breaker and putting in a new 120V receptacle. Optionally and to avoid confusion and make it look normal, he could remove the old 240V breaker, put in a new
120V one. A competent person could do that in 30 mins. IDK what an electrician would charge. The other alternatives are to buy another 240V AC, which could be costly too, or plug a 120V AC into another 120V receptacle.
I have heard of:
110/220 115/230 117/234 118/236 120/240 125/250There is always a 1:2 ratio (higher voltage is twice lower one). Older people often say 110/220. I measure almost exactly 120/240 here.
I have a friend who used to live in a house too old to have central AC. It had 240V 20A recepticles in each bedroom for window AC. I installed a
5000BTU unit about 10 years ago and it was 120V 4.7A. It cooled the room adequately, and appears to be much more efficient than those they had 60-70 years ago.
Maybe replace (that double-pole breaker) with TWO single-pole breakers, so you don't have a hole in the panel. You'd now have an extra breaker in you later need a new circuit.
[snip]
Except where there isn't.
Many places in NYC are... 120/208
This is what happens when you take two hot legs of a "three phase" circuit.
Because of the housing density (especially with all the apartment office buildings) it's quite common to have three hot legs (plus neutral) come off the local transformer.
Apartment A will get legs 1 and 2 (plus neutral), apt B gets legs 2 and 3, C gets 1 and 3
Rinse, lather, repeat.
All three legs (plus neutral) go to the elevator motor and the HVAC system, etc.
This is also the case with private homes, where the first one on the block gets legs 1 and 2, etc., etc.
And yes, despite manufacturer claims that their higher voltage equipment can handle the lower voltage, a LOT of the time it doesn't.
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