O/T house electric question

D

Dozer Guy

Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

Hey guys , I am by no means a electric expert , but before I make a mistake I thought I would ask yall this ....
Isnt 240volts = 220 , and 120volts = 110 ?
Might be a stupid question but I dont want to mess up... Thanks in advance , Yall have always been great help .... Larry

 

R

relaurain

Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

Not always, it depends on the line current coming in. It will vary between 110-120 volts.
I've seen 480 running at 488 volts.
220 -240 varys also. Doesn't really matter unles it's way off.

 

S

Sparktrician

Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

To answer your question....yes. Common "110" as most call it can be 110, 115, 120, 125. OR, any voltage between. Many factors to keep in mind, Voltage drop on your system, voltage drop on the utility, ect. Now, if you have say 98 volts, you got a problem, and if you have say, 135 volts, that MAY cause problems as well....

 

OP

OP

D

Dozer Guy

Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

I am putting in a water heater and the one that came out said 240volts and the one I am putting in says 120volts..

 

J

JDemaris

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

General house current can be called 110 or 120 VAC even though it's more like 170. It means the same. To be specific, grid power called 110 or 120 AC is actually around 170 volts at the high and low peaks of the cycles. The 110 or 120 states is a basic average of the voltage.

 

MarkB_MI

Well-known Member

Location

Motown USA

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

Well, I reckon you'll be putting in another one, then.

 

C

Chris(WA)

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

Then you have the wrong voltage heater for the circuit you have the old heater on. Return it and get a 240V heater.

 

OP

OP

D

Dozer Guy

Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

I am installing a whole new (used) water heater in and is a 19 gallon ... The one that came out is a 40 gallon .. The 40 gallon heater was leaking so I had this 19 gallon and thought I would change it out .... Thanks, Larry

 

G

Gary from Muleshoe

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

You can still put the 19 gal in but you need a 110 circuit near by. You can use the existing wiring to run 110 but probably be best to have a electrician do it for you.

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

240 volts is 1 /a20 line +another 120 line Plus ground. If you take 1 hot line and ground you will have 120 volts but must cap and tape other hot wire. Not best but can be done

 

Janicholson

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

Peak to peak volts = about 170. Take the peak to peak and multiply it by .707. That number equals the RMS (root Mean Square) voltage. (common definition of the AC we live with) This is very close to the DC equivalent power expected in a resistance circuit. Good call. JimN

 

N

noncompos

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

If you decide to use the 19 gallon, remember you'll have much longer "recovery" times, longer waits before you have hot water again, especially if it's more than one or at most two people using the system. You can stagger showers-one before going to bed, one on getting up, etc, if either likes long showers. 19 gallon is pretty small capacity, especially if incoming water is really cold. Calif/Florida: maybe workable. Minn: brrrrr!

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

I remember when I was a kid it was 117.5/235. Haven't seen those numbers for years. 115/230 seems to be the more popular number these days.

Areo

 

B

buickanddeere

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

220/380 which is also 240/416 in Europe and a few odd spots in Canada.
Used to be 550 or 575 here but it's all considered to be 347/600V now.
Only see 255/440 which is also 277/480 stuff on imported. The the engineers that should have known better have to find an excuse to add transformers into the project.

 

B

Bus Driver

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

The NEC specifies the use of 120/240 for calculations. Thus those who use the NEC have simpler lives if they use that terminology all the time.
Your power company could supply varying voltages. Anything above 125/250 is getting dangerous to the health of some devices. I have a VFD (inverter) that specifies 253 as an absolute maximum.

 

OP

OP

D

Dozer Guy

Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

Hey guys , Thanks for all you input (help) in my time of need... I am going to use this temp. till I can get a nother one that is a 40gallon ... Got it going now .... Thanks, I knew I could count on yall... Larry

 

S

steveormary

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2009

• #1

I have installed flourescent lights with 277v ballasts. If you use a single hot and a nuteral on your 480 3 phase circuit you will get 277v.

Of all the voltages I have worked with I think the 480 3 phase 4 wire system is the simplest. You can transformer it down to 120/208 for lighting and such.

steveormary

 

R

relaurain

Member

• Jan 4, 2009

• #1

Well, RMS is really what we are talking about anymore today, in common terms. Sure you can scope out a wave pattern to show the peaks and valleys but that's beyond the idea of this question. Good point for those who can understand it though!

 

O

Oldmax

Member

• Jan 4, 2009

• #1

In our area the power Company in the last few years has upgraded all its lines to 72,000 volts and all the new transformers are putting out 120/240 before that you might get between 90 to 130 depending on the time fo day. You can put volt and hertz meter on line now will read 120 volt & 60 hertz right on money . 3 ph also has gone up to 240/480 and some places can be as high as 502 Have had a lot of trouble with motors built for 480 have had to have some rewound for 500 volts .