Why are motors not current limited?

[Ralph Mowery]

now.

Many places had one side of an outlet switched. It was often before overhead lighting. The side that was switched would have a lamp plugged into it. The switch would be on the wall near the door so you could switch on the light before entering the room

Someone told you something different than what you heard.

Unless it was done special like I have wired some outlets, the standard practice is that both outlets on that one doublesocket is fed together. that is the hot side and the neutral side of both outlets are wired together.

I do have a couple of sockets wired so each outlet of the double outlet are connected to each side of a 240 volt line. The reason is it is next to a 240 volt socket that feeds that 120 volt one. I did that for my ham radio station so I can run an amplifier on 240 volts. I also have a

120 volt amplifier that draws lots of current so when using it, I have heaver wire. That is one place where your system of everything on a 240 volt line would have been handy.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

Of course if you converted to the proper 240V like the rest of the world, you wouldn't have to have a different version of every appliance made for you.

[krw]

Pretty flat for about 20 years.

You'll probably find that the usage of central AC has increased, largely offsetting the efficiencies you note.

[krw]

It is/was code in some areas. Either the room had to have permanent lighting (e.g. ceiling lights) or at least one switched outlet. It has to have unswitched outlets at the normal spacing, so splitting outlets makes a lot of sense.

More likely he didn't understand *anything* he was told.

That (Edison circuit) isn't cricket. You can't guarantee the neutral current is within spec. I have 220V outlets wired with normal 12/2 (with white wire painted red) but a shared neutral between two 120V circuits on opposite legs of the 240V isn't legit.

[krw]

Nonexistent.

[trader_4]

switch? I have double outlets in my house in the UK, with a single pair o f wires feeding it. There's a switch on each one, and I alsdo find it odd ou don't have switches on every outlet. The UK used to have no switches on outlets, but they're all switched

ouble outlets. An American told me this long ago.

No reason I see that isn't just as sound as any other Edison circuit, as long as the breaker is sized for the conductors. If he has 12 gauge wiring, with a 20 amp double breaker, the neutral current will not exceed 20 amps.

[rbowman]

We (this state) doesn't have stickers. But then it doesn't have inspections either.

[rbowman]

I turn the burner on...

[Ralph Mowery]

I don't know the code for the above. However I used a cable with a red, black, white, green. Not sure about the green, but the other 3 wires are all # 12. The breaker with one handle is 20 amps. All wires that will normally carry current are the same size. In any case the neutral wire can only have 20 amps or less on it as supplied by the black or red before the breaker trips. It will have less if both of the 120 volt sockets are used. That is the only 120 volt receptical on the wire. It is in parallel with a 240 volt socket.

[Clare Snyder]

Dmned right it is. It's not only legal, it was REQUIRED BY CODE for kitchen countertop outlets in Canada for over 20 years. The last code revision is now requiring 20 amp countertop outlets instead of the "split" 15s.

and if there is 20 amps on each side, there is NO neutral current.

As long as the "split" and the 240 outlet are in the "shack" you are OK.

[Clare Snyder]

For cooking - for sure.

Or for coffee or tea I use the Kuerig.

A 1500 watt kettle heats water plenty fast enough for making hot beverages. The old toasters were also pretty fast. I think some of the cheap Chinese crap we get is made for 240 with a 120 volt cord - - REALLY slow compared to the older North American made stuff.

[rbowman]

I'll stick with beans freshly ground in a Kyocera mill and brewed in an Aeropress with unchlorinated, unfluoridated water brought to a boil over a gas flame....

Kuerig seriously? I'd leave a trail of those expensive little pods behind me.

[Clare Snyder]

I just use it, generally, to make a cup of hot water for Tea - ior hot chocolate. I'm not a coffee drinker.

[gfretwell]

In a coffee maker. I cold brew tea.

Do you have a link to where I can buy one of them? What model is it?

[gfretwell]

So? The equipment is designed to run on either ... less complication, not more

Then stop pointing to industrial plug catalogs. Virtually every socket in a dwelling will be a NEMA 5-15 and virtually everything will plug into it.

[gfretwell]

Still is code anywhere that uses the NEC on one of it's derivatives.

[gfretwell]

HVAC is getting a lot more efficient tho so that will tend to null. The thing that makes overall usage higher is the number of yankees moving south and still wanting their house to be 70 all year long.

[gfretwell]

Actually you have that backward. Overhead lighting was standard long before switched receptacles became the norm. The oldest lights were converted from gas. That is why all of the standard luminaire parts use pipe thread sizes although they are running threads now, not taper. I worked on a project in Sarasota where they were restoring some old chandeliers from the 10s and 20s that did have tapered threads in them. It made using modern parts hard so they chased the threads with a running thread tap.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

A hand tool requires zero power.

A power tool (not a drill, but say an angle grinder) requires over 2kW.

Not in the UK. Cost - zero. No rewiring, just plug things into the nearest socket.

Fridges have a wire about 2 metres long, you can plug it into whichever socket is nearest.

An oven is bout the only appliance we hardwire. But I have moved mine a couple of metres, I just used a longer wire to the same outlet.

Nope.

Are Americans so fat they need to wash twice as much as us? My dryer does a load of washing in just over an hour.

A change is as good as a holiday.

You actually fit gas just to run a dryer? Holy shit.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

A kettle heats it much faster.

Actually the newer kettles using he flat heatplates instead of traditional elements are 3kW.

I don't have to find other tasks to do.

It uses the rated amount of power when you're grinding, obviously less when it's free running.