Why doesn't the US switch to from 120v to 240v

[thatjonguy]

Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian American[2][3][4][5] inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.[6]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents


Edison developed direct current -- current that runs continually in a single direction, like in a battery or a fuel cell. During the early years of electricity, direct current (shorthanded as DC) was the standard in the U.S.

http://energy.gov/articles/war-currents-ac-vs-dc-power


S_M

I stand corrected. I must have been drinking. *Hint: I am.

 

[brew_ny]

I stand corrected. I must have been drinking. *Hint: I am.

me too

 

[DrunkleJon]

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html

I wish that site was around when I was in school. Coming up with paper topics would have been so much easier.

 

[b-boy]

I'd say he was prominent, but first is subjective. I'm sure we could find other famous examples in early Rome.

Found him....

 

[MaddBaggins]

God Save the Cesar!

 

[Zepth]

Beat me to it! Silly Edison and his one generator station per 4 city block system. What a guy.

Pretty sure it is the other way around.

Ah yes. 4 generating stations per city block. That must have been it.

 

[mattd2]

And if the "switch" was made, all of the America's would have to change as well, No ?

North, Central, and South, as the electric grids are "connected", within reason, which would be a large group to have to swap out your toasters in............

No - The grids are HV and nothing to do with the LV 120/240 decision.

 

[bu_gee]

No - The grids are HV and nothing to do with the LV 120/240 decision.

To a degree. Most grids feeding 240v endpoints also run at 50Hz instead of the 60Hz we have here.

 

[mattd2]

To a degree. Most grids feeding 240v endpoints also run at 50Hz instead of the 60Hz we have here.

But that would not be the case for grids that are connected as the original issue was stated - north / south America connection (is that a real thing?)

 

[Pkrd]

Well actually, no. The line loss rate is minimal since the high voltage lines do most of the work and they wouldn't change anyways. V * A = W. Double the voltage and in a perfect world you'd double the wattage keeping amperage the same. My power bill charges by the watt.

V is the voltage drop in the power lines, not the nominal line voltage.

P = I^2 * R
And you need double I for your 110V lines so the power losses are x4 (R is constant).

 

[brew_ny]

God Save the Cesar!

The Pistols ?

 

[podz]

Really, it's just a matter of invested infrastructure.

In the beginning, i.e. back in mid-late 1800s, household voltage output could even vary from city to city in Europe. It didn't really matter because all people were running were lights and heating elements. With the advent of mass production of electrical appliances, standard voltages were needed.

People who were winding stepdown transformers for neighborhoods didn't all agree with each other as to which voltage was best, so they just did what they wanted. Eventually, they all came into step with each other due to economy of scale. Except for the US, which is big enough to have it's own economy of scale so it doesn't really matter.

There is no incentive, that's the answer.

 

[bu_gee]

But that would not be the case for grids that are connected as the original issue was stated - north / south America connection (is that a real thing?)

The grids within the US aren't even interconnected let alone connected to other continents.