Re: 110/220 V AC why ?

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Article #15534

#15534

From: Henry Spencer
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 20:52

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In article <1992Dec29.160117.12068@cbfsb.cb.att.com> medha@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (keshav.havnurkar) writes:
>  I am curious to know why some countries have 110V AC supply
>and some 220V AC as their main line voltage ?

Historical accident, mostly.  As others have pointed out, there are other
voltages in use too.  The higher voltages have both advantages and
disadvantages, and electrical power systems evolved in parallel so there
wasn't a single pioneer that everyone else followed.

>... Is there
>any talk of standardizing this like SI syatem of measurement ?

Not a prayer.  The costs of switching would be astronomical, all the more
so because you can't convert one appliance at a time.  The benefits don't
justify the pain.
-- 
"God willing... we shall return."       | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
       -Gene Cernan, the Moon, Dec 1972 |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry

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Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!torn!utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: 110/220 V AC why ?
Message-ID: <C01GMv.K1u@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 20:52:05 GMT
References: <1992Dec29.160117.12068@cbfsb.cb.att.com>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
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