| phil-news-nospam@ipal.net 2005-06-23, 12:25 pm |
| On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 04:23:53 -0400 John Gilmer <gilmer@crosslink.net> wrote:
|> I don't know that it is status quo. I still see new home construction
|> with a mix of 15 amp and 20 amp circuits. 14 AWG wire is cheaper than
|> 12 AWG wire, so it seems home builders want to put in 15 amp circuits
|> everywhere the code does not require more amps so they can use that
|> cheaper cable.
|
| Not only is the cable cheaper (but not as much as you might think) but it a
| heck of a LOT easier to install.
|
| From the view of having safe and cost effective power distribution in the
| home, "they" (the government and the NEC) should start to "encourage" use
| installation of 240 volt (no neutral but with ground) outlets and also
| require that all appliances that draw from than, say, 1 kW have at least 25%
| of their distribution (US) be for 240 volt supply. Dish and clothes
| washers that attempt to HEAT the water would work MUCH better at 240 volts;
| microwave ovens would also work better.
|
| A #14 circuit with a 2 pole 15 amp breaker would be as "safe" (for most
| purposes) as the 120 volt circuit but could supply twice the power.
I would definitely go along with this idea. Currently the NEC requires
the opposite in homes at the 1440 watt level ... e.g. if less than 1440
watts, 120 volts must be used. That's a rule I'd like to see dropped or
even inverted as in your recomendation.
Many of these products are already available for 240 volts, and even work
on 60 Hz ... just not in the USA (though in some, some rewiring can make
it work on 240 volts again).
I'd also like to see use of the neutral discouraged on appliances that now
do use 120/240 volt circuits (e.g. clothes dryers and ranges). Most of
the world knows that power supplies for electronics really can operate on
240 volts AC coming in. Even the light bulbs inside these appliances are
these days using bi-pin type mountings, eliminating the risk of contact
with an electrically hot shell base for a bulb.
--
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| Phil Howard KA9WGN | http://linuxhomepage.com/ http://ham.org/ |
| (first name) at ipal.net | http://phil.ipal.org/ http://ka9wgn.ham.org/ |
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