The gas ones not

Robert-Jan

 

The US doesn't use a two phase power system, the correct term for the 120-0-120V system is split phase.

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Nope.

Those that are electric use 240V (the split-phase system I described earlier). The rest use natural gas...

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Corey

Rapp's Law of Inanimate Reproduction:
"If you take something apart and put it back together enough times, you'll eventually have two of them."

 

I was just wondering.
Our electric stoves here in SA is 3-phase, that would mean, either they bring three phase into our houses, or have to somehow make up 3-phase power from combining single phase somehow, then again, maybe only 3-phase is brought in, and that is somehow split up to provide the required 3-phase and various single phase connections.

Everything I said is under correction, don't take me to book on it, I have not enquired about it.
Just a statement by Nigel made me wonder how we're so different, then again, this is SA, almost everything is different to the rest of the world.

No need to worry about it though.

 

SA = South Africa??

If you have 3-phase appliances, then I'm sure it's brought into the home that way, four or five wires, depending on whether ground is generated at your meter. The higher voltage would be between phases, the lower voltage between any of the three phases and neutral. (For us here in the US it's 208V between phases and 120V between phase and neutral [208V / √3 = 120V]).

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Corey

Rapp's Law of Inanimate Reproduction:
"If you take something apart and put it back together enough times, you'll eventually have two of them."

 

Yes that's what it's short for, South Africa.

Come to think of it, even the geysers could be 3-phase, but I'll have to check.
That's right then, three phase in, and from there you pull your single phases.
Every normal appliance(fridge, microwave tv, etc.) is 220V at 50Hz, except the stove and geyser I think.

 

Well, you got me again. Geysers?? :-)

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Corey

Rapp's Law of Inanimate Reproduction:
"If you take something apart and put it back together enough times, you'll eventually have two of them."

 

Shower perhaps?, or water heater?.

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Geyser - a hot water heater.

Named after the village in Iceland where there are "geysers"

JimB

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Sorry I did not even think of that.
You don't call them geysers, shucks (oops, another south african term), I thought that is like an iso standard term.
But yes, it's like a beeeeeg (rather big) kettle like thing, we install them in the roofs (between ceiling and outer roof tiles or whatever) of our houses to heat the water. If they burst the whole house floods with hot water, I know, great idea isn't it.
You just call them water heaters? Geysers sound better, I'll stick with that.
This is so funny.

Another interesting thing is that South Africans are slowly converting to a pre-paid electrical system. there is good logic for this, using the normal account system whereby the local municipality sends you an account for usage at the end of the month meant you would pay around R600 or more per month for electricity use, switching to the pre-paid system means you can get through a month just using around R350 for electricity.
Is that not amazing. No one can explain it, well I can, but I'm not making a big fuss about it.

 

Here in the UK and I assume US as well, a geyser is a hot spring which made it pretty obvious to me you were talking about a shower.

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Sorry to mislead you guys there, we just refer to showers... as, well....showers.
WE also have things called a spa, and a range of things similar to a jacuzzi.
Then we have to places in SA where the hot water from underground springs or something is captured and pumped into pools, where you can go and swim.
I'm a bit icky about public pools, so I would just watch other people swim, besides my tummy is so white, everybody always think I'm a milk add.

 

Well, not so obvious, as it was a water heater and not a shower, as Arrie states. A geyser around here is when someone has a burst sprinkler head in their lawn sprinkling system.

Ah, assumptions...

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Corey

Rapp's Law of Inanimate Reproduction:
"If you take something apart and put it back together enough times, you'll eventually have two of them."

 

Yes, and I'm sure somewhere else the word geyser is to describe a person having a real big belly/tummy.
We just call them fridges.
In any case we have to move this chatting to chit-chat, otherwise we'll get crapped upon.
Thanks for providing wonderful insight about how things work around the globe, I would not have know about your split-phase system.
And in SA stoves not using electricity uses lpg - handygas. I still say they work out more expensive that electric ovens.

 

In many (most?) parts of the US, natural gas (usually close to 100% methane) is distributed underground to the home at a price considerably lower than the equivalent heat value of electricity. It's distributed as a gas (not liquid), and finally to the home at very low pressure. (0.21-0.25 psig, or 6-7 inch column of H2O)

In some pollution-challenged areas, particularly California, natural gas is used to generate a lot of our electricity.