3 Feb
1999
3 Feb
'99
3:52 a.m.
>My parents have 3-phase electricity at home, but I
don't (yet). But I
>think it's more common in the UK than in the US. (BTW my parents have a
>16th century farmhouse which they heat electrically during the winter.
>Maximum load we've measured, 36kW.)
36kW!! Ouch! And cost of electricity is, I understand,
higher than in the
US, true? Except Jamestown, we pay only $0.03565 per KWH :-) so electric
heat is not such a financial killer for homeowners (or for nuts like me
with working big iron computers in the basement).
My line is prepared for 40 kW 3 phases, since the former owner also
used electric heating (this kind of night loading heating), but since
I switched for gas, I can use anything for my computers :)))
Anyway, figure that we're stuck with 230 volt
single phase (115 volts from
either leg to earth) at our NA homes, while as I've seen for example
normally in Southern Germany at least, 380 volt 3 ph (220 volts from either
leg to earth) is the norm in most other modernized parts of the world.
In facht it is 400V/230V since more than 10 to 15 years, but everybody
is still talking about 380V/220V ... And yes, 3 phases are the only kind
of connections the power companies offer - so the outlets will be split
up among the phases to get an even load (3 phases outlets are not very
common :).
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK