Home electric

JimS

Member
I recently moved from a trailer at the end of the service line on a rural property to a house. In the house, built in the 50s,
the toaster and toaster oven work better and toast more thoroughly, and the hot water heater is of the same make and model and it
works better than the old place. did the old home suffer from a lack of voltage? What other issues could have made my appliances
less efficient at the old place?
 
Many factors can come into play. Things as simple as what size wire feed from the meter to the breaker box can effect thing greatly
 
Yes, you probably had low voltage at your old place. At our cabin I am 1/4 mile from the substation, have 250V, my welder works much better than at my previous home. Also it makes a difference what time of day and what time of year. On a hot summer evening when everyone gets home from work, turns down the AC, and then starts cooking, it can go way down.
 
Location relative to the transformer can easily make a HUGH difference in how electric appliances work. I can remember as a kid when the TV screen would go down to a small circle when the silo unloader was turned on. The lights would flicker with the milk vacuum pump ran.

The first house we owned ran HIGHER voltage. Usually around 115 volts rather than 110. The lights where brighter but bulbs did not last as long. Electric motors LOVED the higher voltage as they would start faster.
 
Some older trailers had aluminum wiring that didn't conduct as well as copper. Also if they were connected copper terminals with anti corrosion compound such as noalox the junction would corrode and drop the voltage.
Elmo
 
On the other side of any issues on your side of the meter, voltages on the utility Co's side of the meter can vary dramatically from place to place or by time of day.

I helped out at a sewer lift station today with some control issues. 223 Volts from phase A to phase B this morning, 259 Volts tonight.

(Issues they were having were not voltage-related.)
 
Even in residences aluminum was used a lot in the 1970's and 1980's eras.

When I was doing insurance inspections a standard question on inspection forms was if there was any aluminum wire present.
 
Question for those who know about these things: Would the lower voltage have made a difference in his electric bill? In other words, does the meter count kilowatt hours or amp hours? Or would lower voltage make any difference in either?
 
(quoted from post at 06:53:48 03/26/17) Question for those who know about these things: Would the lower voltage have made a difference in his electric bill? In other words, does the meter count kilowatt hours or amp hours? Or would lower voltage make any difference in either?

Inefficient wiring does seem to make the meter spin faster.
 
Lower voltage shouldn't matter since they sell the power button the watt, which is the product of voltage multiplied by the amps. So 100 volts x ten amps is 1000 watts, but if using 120 volts then the amps are only 8.3 to make the 1000 watts but you are still using the same 1000 watts. However if the wire is too small then the resistance in the wire increases the amps aND increases heat in the wire which in turn increases resistance more. So the the 1000 watt load now has an added load of, for example, 1 amp. Not much but over time it adds up. When I was in the electrical apprenticeship my teacher said that if a person wired a house and upsize the required wire 1 size for everything the power savings would pat for the increased size of wire after X many of years.
 
(quoted from post at 07:52:49 03/26/17) Lower voltage shouldn't matter since they sell the power button the watt, which is the product of voltage multiplied by the amps. So 100 volts x ten amps is 1000 watts, but if using 120 volts then the amps are only 8.3 to make the 1000 watts but you are still using the same 1000 watts. However if the wire is too small then the resistance in the wire increases the amps aND increases heat in the wire which in turn increases resistance more. So the the 1000 watt load now has an added load of, for example, 1 amp. Not much but over time it adds up. When I was in the electrical apprenticeship my teacher said that if a person wired a house and upsize the required wire 1 size for everything the power savings would pat for the increased size of wire after X many of years.

Thank you. I've read that explanation many times, but I can never remember the specifics. I agree with the one size larger theory. If 14 gauge will do, 12 gauge is better and the extra cost is insignificant.
 

I used to own a business where I sold and leased commercial dishwashing machines. I sold one to the owner of a small restaurant in a rural area, and when I got it installed the motor would not come up to full rpms because it was starting and stopping quickly. When I checked voltage it was very low. The owner called his utility and they took care of it right away. I believe that it was two occupancies on one transformer and it was maybe 150 yards away.
 

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