DC mains (was: Are 3A plug fuses really necessary?)

Scott · 2016-11-21T22:11:54+00:00

If direct current electricity supply continued into the 1950s in some areas, I wonder what the practicalities were. Appliances such as heaters, cookers, kettles and lighting would presumably run on either DC or AC (provided the voltage was suitable). There is mention of AC/DC radios so I assume they could be used interchangeably (again, voltage dependent). However, what about items with motors, such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines? Could you buy AC and DC Hoovers? What were the arrangements when the current was changed to ensure all appliances were safe to use? I remember during the change from town gas to natural gas every appliance in every property had to be inspected. Did the Electricity Board carry out similar inspections for current change? Did houses without an earth have to be rewired? Were new meters needed? Scott

Nov 21, 2016 63 Replies

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rick 9 years ago

We have used a High Voltage DC link to share power with France (due to different peak demand times) ... initially a 160MW connection and now a

2GW link

Also to a smaller degree with Belgiumn, NL and Eire

So DC still in use.

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newshound 9 years ago

All the main undersea national interconnectors are DC (not sure about short ones like to Isle of Wight), I believe partly because of cable capacitance but also because the UK and French grids are not synchronised.

I can just about see a case for having DC circuits around a house (although since switched mode power supplies are cheap and efficient, I'm not even sure about that).

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Mike Tomlinson 9 years ago

En el artículo , rick escribió:

The new Western Link from Scotland to Deeside, Wales is 400kV DC.

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Fredxxx 9 years ago

AFAIK the first serious submarine cable was in 1954:

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Unless you include various DC systems in the USA and UK that existed before.

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