Comments by "DrScopeify" (@drscopeify) on "The US electrical system is not 120V" video.

  1.  @kj8476  You don't need 3 phase in the USA because we use natural gas. I have natural gas dryer, furnace, water heater, stove and as such I pay very little money per month around $58 a month in summer and $80 in winter it is crazy cheap. Also because the furnace is forced air it blows around the entire house and with the heavy insulation in the wood frame walls, the whole house is the same temperature, there is no cold area every inch is perfect temperature every minute and it is very cheap to do so. I lived in Europe this is much better way to heat a home and also cool a home. In addition I never found something that needs 240v, kettle goes on the gas stove very fast and almost free. What else needs 240v? Nothing! Also my natural gas appliances are cheap to buy and are 97% - 98% efficient so very little loss probably less than the transmission of electricity or the manufacture/transport of wind turbine I would guess is more polluting.
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  2. One is positive the other is neutral so to make you get the plug in correctly that is how they are made.
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  3.  @Reaktanzkreis  Residential houses don't need high voltage as that means they are using too much electricity. The idea is to reduce usage not increase it and keep in mind that high voltage is efficient at transmission at long distances and does not create heat in the wire but does create very very large heat and major losses at the transformer on the street and inside devices.
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  4. Never going to happen because each country and area has different challenges, distances, energy sources, issues with natural disaster and so on. Due to the differences mentioned that just will never happen. Even inside the USA there are major changes, like on the west coast there is a risk of earthquakes so most electricity is above ground WA/OR/CA and the connection to the home is let to be a bit loose so both sides can move without pulling the power line. While in cold climate states the electricity is underground to prevent damage and power outages.
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  5. One thing to add to the complexity is that the USA/Canada has cheap copper so like my house has 20amp breakers and 12 gauge wire which I think is why Europe and I guess Australia as well uses higher voltage so that they can use less wire and thinner gauge wire. I think it all comes down to copper prices. The USA has the world's largest copper mines.
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  6. You can also get 400v in the USA if you need it. Usually most houses have natural gas so they don't need anymore than 240v my heating is natural gas so it s very cheap I pay like $45 in winter -10c to heat my house super super cheap. So I don't need to waste money for 400v panel.
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  7. In all reality it is not up to the end user to be efficient but up to device makers to do so. To make efficient products that do not waste power when not in use and except for a very very minor draw for say phone chargers almost everything else these days is very good at conserving power when not in use.
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  8. It is 2x 120v so if you have a breaker that has a leg in each you get 240v. The USA has both 120v and 240v but the wall sockets are always 120v and any big appliances are wired with a different plug for 240v.
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  9.  @matthewjohnson3610  Yeah it is really the appliances that needs to be efficient not the user and this is how it is today. Sure your phone charger uses a little over time but most things like screens, audio gear, kitchen appliances they all nicely conserve power when not in use. This is a more recent change though, I am guessing like since the year 2000 or so.
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  10. Another point to make is that European homes are mostly cinderblock and have no insulation or very little to Canadian and American standards. The loss of heat is very extreme in Europe and I know it first hand. Also many Europeans use things like space heaters to heat their home or older buildings use boiler system with radiators which is very ineffective as it does not properly spread the heat around the room. Essentially in Europe people are always fighting with the temperature but in the USA and Canada that is not an issue as forces air and heavy layers of insulation thanks to the wood framing makes houses have perfect even temperature anywhere in the house. Since these systems are for many natural gas or propane the need for high voltage is totally removed. Natural gas appliances are mostly 97% efficient today or higher mine is 98% as such there is just no need for 240v outlets because everything is dealt with by natural gas. Kettle is just one I put on the gas stove they don't even sell electric kettles here, it is old world thing. Overall American homes are focused on gas which is higher efficiency than electricity even when electricity is made by renewables due to power loss in transmission and the manufacturing of things like wind turbines I would bet is much higher than 3% loss.
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  11. My house has 100 AMP service panel but I never had an issue since I have gas dryer, stove, furnace, water heater. Really the only thing that takes power is oven and microwave that is it!! Who cares if it is 120 240 400 whatever I get natural gas which is 10000% better. In addition copper wire is very cheap in the USA comapred to Europe so I have 20A breaker and 12 gauge wire for the entire house so there is no need for high voltage for the purpose of cheap thing wire like in Europe.
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  12. Different countries have different set of challenges and do things differently for a reason. The US/Canadian system is not worse it is not better it is just doing the same exact thing a different way. That is all there is to it, thinking the USA needs to change something is just total misunderstanding.
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  13. The copper wiring in the USA/Canada is a thicker gauge which is why 3 phase or higher voltage is just not needed, we have 12 or 14 gauge for 120v and 6 gauge for 240v car charger with 50amp so not having 3 phase is not an issue neither is higher voltage is not needed. This because the USA has abundant supply of cheap copper and Europe needs to save $ as copper is much more expensive.
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  14.  @damionlee7658  The USA adopted electricity long before the rest of the world so it is not changing anything I can assure you that. The long term plan I think in 20-40 years is to move from 120v to 125v but that is the only change. You can get 480v if you really need it n problem at all but it is overkill. The reason is that copper in the USA/Canada is very cheap which is why 120v is 15A or 20A breakers and 12 or 14 gauge wire. 240v 50amp car charger is usually 6 gauge wire which is much thicker than in Europe which removed the need for 3 phase or 480v.
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  15. The USA can manufacture thicker wire for cheaper because copper is cheap so there is no need for that extra complexity. It is more than just the power output but the wires used is one of the main reasons for such complex system in Europe to save money of wire. In the USA and Canada that is just not an issue as there is abundant copper including the largest copper mines in the world.
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  16. There are major benefits, like when you measure wood which is so common in USA and Canada it is easier to use inches as the measurement is larger and you never need to be perfectly accurate anyway so it is just faster with imperial. This helps in the crazy speed at which they can build houses here. That said almost everything you buy in a store, food, tools, chemicals, liquids has both systems so if you only know metric it is not too big of a deal. I use both metric and imperial and they both do the same exact thing at the end of the day but each as strong areas and weak areas.
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  17. There really aren't any devices in the house that need 240v in the ]room outlets just appliances that are permanently installed as is standard in USA and Canada, it is as simple as that. I never once said; man I wish I had 240v, it just never happens. Heating is central, we don't really use kettles ever since using gas stove is much much faster and cheaper almost free and my natural gas price is 0.19489 cent per term, even in the coldest time in winter my heating costs just a few dollars. When I had an electric heat pump the heating element kicks in at around 24f and the electricity bill goes to easily over $300 for the month instead of like $45 for gas. Huge difference and why natural gas is not going away in colder climates. Europeans has a very serious superiority complex even though guess where electricity was invented???
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  18.  @Jukke55  In the USA copper wire is very cheap which is why my house has 20A breakers with 12 gauge wire, they are just really cheap and also why we don't need higher voltage because the wires are just thicker. New cheap homes have 15A breakers and 14 gauge wire but nicer homes still use 20A and 12 gauge wire.
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  19.  @ploed  Yes there is a serious misunderstanding of what 3 phase is. In all matter of reality higher voltage is only efficient at long distances if you feed it to house devices it will create heat not at the wire but at the transformer in the device. You shift the waste in to the device itself for no reason. Higher Voltage still create heat but it is bottled up at the end, transformer.
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  20. No because these are usually central to the house, they are installed and have 240v form the panel directly.
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  21. Old houses are grandfathered in you still have houses in the USA with knob and tube wiring. Not an issue unless you hire a hack electrician or mess it up somehow.
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  22.  @Biden_is_demented  This is not true at all. 1. The electrical grid is very advanced allowing the use of solar fields in the desert and hydro plants to reach the populated areas efficiently. 2. The water grid is different in every area, the USA is like 50 countries all in one so you can't say the water grind is bad because there are a million different ones, my state was mostly private water so almost everything is brand new. 3. Internet is great I have google fiber 1gbps. 4. Health Care in the USA is great by far #1 in the world and in order to be #1 it is not going to be free but if you work at a company, are a kid under 21 or retired person all have proper care 2. USA has both wood and cement block houses depending on climate and natural resources available, keep in mind that hurricane will destroy a cement home the same as a wood home just much more $$ to repair or replace. 2. The USA needs to build almost 1 million new houses each year to meet the demand from large population growth and wood is renewable. 3. The USA at least the west half has serious risk of earthquakes and wood houses do very well with that risk. A fire is a risk to cement houses the same as wood houses as the exterior of wood houses is guess what?? Also made of cement! Most of the outside siding of USA houses is cement boards so it is also fire resistant just like a cement house.
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