26 Nov
2014
26 Nov
'14
8:01 p.m.
I can't speak to other areas, but where I live, in California, 3 phase is already
brought in to most houses. But it is split at the power box. One phase to common is used
for 120 volt single phase service. The other two phases to each other give 220 volt for
major appliances. This shifts from house to house to balance out the loading.
You can apply to have 3 phase service at the distribution point for heavier machine use.
It doesn't involve any extra wiring but is a bitch to get permission. Zoning is very
tight to prevent residences from being used for businesses.
And also because most of the applications came people looking to set up a grow house.
Though lately, most grow houses just steal the power by bypassing the meter.
Billy
26 Nov
26 Nov
8:08 p.m.
On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 9:01 PM, Billy Pettit <bpettitx at comcast.net> wrote:
I can't speak to other areas, but where I live, in
California, 3 phase is already brought in to most houses. But it is split at the power
box. One phase to common is used for 120 volt single phase service. The other two phases
to each other give 220 volt for major appliances. This shifts from house to house to
balance out the loading.
Actually what you describe is single-phase, with split-phase wiring to
the house. There might be three-phase distribution on the pole, but
the transformer on the pole has a single phase primary and a 240V
secondary with a center tap. It's wired to your panel such that 120V
circuits are between one end or the other and the center tap
(neutral), and 240V circuits are wired from one end to the other.
Balancing the load is done by wiring some pole transformers with the
primary between phase 1 and 2, some between phase 1 and 3, and some
between phase 2 and 3. But each house only gets single-phase power,
not three-phase.
8:10 p.m.
In the US, if your house was wired for three-phase, you would have
208V nominal across your clothes dryer and range outlets, rather than
240V. A friend lived in an apartment building wired that way, and
they routinely had problems with appliances designed for 240V not
working properly or failing on the 208V.
27 Nov
27 Nov
9:16 a.m.
On 11/26/2014 10:10 PM, Eric Smith wrote:
In the US, if your house was wired for three-phase,
you would have
208V nominal across your clothes dryer and range outlets, rather than
240V. A friend lived in an apartment building wired that way, and
they routinely had problems with appliances designed for 240V not
working properly or failing on the 208V.
Yes, there are industrial air conditioning and such gear
made for 208/240 use.
Generally, most consumer-grade A/C's are 240 only. The 208
V situation in
the apartment buildings is quite common, and the gear
installed when the building
went up would be the right type. Any A/C installer who goes
to an apartment
building OUGHT to know about this, and if they installed a
240 V unit there, they
were just not well-trained.
Our building at work has 240 V Delta, 120/208 V Wye and 480
V Delta, rather
haphazardly scattered around. The office area has the
120/208 and there are
autotransformers attached to the walls near the windows for
running 240 V
window A/C units off the 208 V.
Jon
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