|
|
|
|
New Member
|
|
May 5, 2009, 05:00 PM
|
|
Wall mount A/C, 110 volts vs 220 volts?
I live an an 580sq ft apartment, & I know some of the other tenants have 220 volt A/C, & some have 110 volt A/C. Which is better & Why??
:confused:
|
|
|
Ultra Member
|
|
May 5, 2009, 05:01 PM
|
|
Are we talking window units? Or mini split systems?
|
|
|
Plumbing Expert
|
|
May 5, 2009, 05:10 PM
|
|
240 is better (believe it or not) because it will use less energy.
|
|
|
Uber Member
|
|
May 5, 2009, 05:37 PM
|
|
Mygirlsdad:
Let's get rid of that myth. If I had a 120 Watt load. At 120 Volt it would draw 1 Amp and at 240 V it would draw 0.5 amps
P = V * I or (240)*(0.5) or 120 * 1
At which voltage does the 120 Watt load use less electricity?
If we neglect 3 phase and concentrate on single phase, the primary reason is that there is less copper at 240 V. Copper is expensive. Thick copper wire doesn't flex as well.
In the limit it may use less electricity because of less eddy current losses, less current, less voltage drops, but these are not the primary reasons.
The primary reason is less copper. It may be less expensive to wire. It may not. There will not be that much difference in operating cost. Reliability, probably yes.
Install costs maybe.
15-20 A 120 V circuits are easy to deal with, but we are not going to have a 120 v whole house stove or water heater.
A 5 HP motor at 120 V isn't likely. A 1 HP at 120 V, probably. A 1 HP at 240 volts probably.
So, it's economics.
With 3 phase motors, its an entirely different playing field.
|
|
|
New Member
|
|
May 5, 2009, 09:17 PM
|
|
Wall Mount
|
|
|
New Member
|
|
May 5, 2009, 09:19 PM
|
|
Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77
240 is better (believe it or not) because it will use less energy.
I've been told you use more electric with 220v, not 110v
|
|
|
Ultra Member
|
|
May 6, 2009, 01:44 PM
|
|
You only need 8000 btus so I would go with 110 volt
|
|
|
Plumbing Expert
|
|
May 6, 2009, 03:07 PM
|
|
Great explanation Kiss. Josh, I agree that with a unit this small, the asker would be best off with a 110v unit.
|
|
|
New Member
|
|
Feb 3, 2011, 08:43 PM
|
|
Remember you pay for Kilowatts not Volts. Double the voltage gives you half the Kw. The 220 unit will always be less expensive to run. It will be more expensive to buy and more expensive to run the wiring.
e=i*r
1800W = 120V X 15A (this is why some hair dryers blow 15 Amp circuits)
With this example you are paying for 1.8 KW per hour.
If you live like I do in the Philippines and MOST foreign countries you use 220V
The same unit in 220 uses half the electricity.
1800W/220V = 8.2A
or what actually happens is that the Wattage is way lower on electric appliances.
Max voltage hair dryer is 1000W here. My Refrigerator is only 750W and my Air Conditioner is only 713W.
They only reason the USA uses the 110V standard is because that is what house holds started with when electricity started A/C delivery. I believe that was the Niagara Falls Generation Plant. It was cheap back then and by the 1950's all the appliances were 110V. It was too late to change. The rest of the world followed but in a much smarter way by using 220V. There are very few places in the world that use 110V. If America switched over we could use about 1/2 the copper in our motors and pay half the electricity costs. Too late for America to change. What a shame. I'm a Brooklyn, NY boy and when I was younger, many of the plants used DC but you had to be near a power station. The electricity did not travel as far as DC load Vs. AC. This is also why our Dryers and Stoves are 220V. It would be prohibitively expensive to run these 110V and you could not generate the heat needed with out everything being made with #4 wire.
|
|
|
Plumbing Expert
|
|
Feb 4, 2011, 05:25 PM
|
|
So I was correct. 240v uses less energy than 120v. Thanks for the explanation Lancasterpa.
|
|
Question Tools |
Search this Question |
|
|
Add your answer here.
Check out some similar questions!
208 vs. 220 volts
[ 1 Answers ]
Is 220v terminology actually meaning 208v at my meter?
120 volts vs 240 volts tools
[ 3 Answers ]
How do I configure a 120 volts 60hz woodworking tools bought in the usa to work on a 240 volts 50hz power rating in my country without having to compromise the motor operation. I understand that the stepdown transformer can only reduce the voltage but not the cycles. That means that a tool with...
Cl 200 220 volts ?
[ 1 Answers ]
Does the CL 200 mean it's a 200 amp service? I can't see the numbers but I'm sure its 2-2-2 alu... the jacket is 1 inch wide 5/8 or so thick... what amp panel can I put in with that.. I have 100 amp service now.. I won't use more elect I just want a bigger box with 30 spaces for more room to...
View more questions
Search
|