I live in a 50 year old house. All the breakers are 16A, so 220V x 16A = 3.5kW
The electric sauna does three-phase @ 400V. My energy tracker usually peaks around 9.5kW when it’s heating.
Comment on Prototype of RTX 5090 Appears With Four 16-Pin Power Connectors, Capable of Delivering 2,400W
AnAmericanPotato@programming.dev 1 week agoOh! I knew European outlets operated at higher voltage, but I didn’t know the standard circuits supported such high current. Jealous!
I live in a 50 year old house. All the breakers are 16A, so 220V x 16A = 3.5kW
The electric sauna does three-phase @ 400V. My energy tracker usually peaks around 9.5kW when it’s heating.
Most are actually 230V which is even more at standard 16A, 3680W to be precise.
Countries that use 110V have so many weird limitations that we don’t even know in Europe. For them, 230V is the “special” outlet for special purposes.
Actually, in the US the outlets are often wired with 1 leg, while giving 2 legs gets you back to 240v.
110 is probably better in terms of general safety (which is good because our houses are death traps), but it means when you do need power you need a special circuit.
We should have both more common, but the plugs are terrible (basically they turn the left prong 90 deg).
when you do need power you need a special circuit.
We also have a standard socket and a high power socket.
Expect our normal outlets provide 230V 16A 3.5kW (3kW sustained) and the typical high power outlets outlets provide 400V 30A 11kW or 400V 60A 21kW.
Which is why typical electric stoves here use 11kW and typical instant water heaters use 21kW.
Though probably the most noticeable advantage is in electric car charging.
110 is probably better in terms of general safety
Eh, not really. There is no significant difference in safety between 110vac and 230vac. Voltage is not the (most) dangerous part, it’s the amps that kill if you’re electrocuted.
Nominally EU voltage is 230V, and may be 240V. In fact, it can be as high as 230V +10% = 253V.
If your sauna is 400V then it sounds like you’ll be 230V (400V / sqrt(3) = 230). But the voltage can also be 230V -6% = 216V, so 220V is within scope.
But yeah, standard voltages in the EU are either 230V/400V or 240V/415V. They’ve been harmogenised, but if you look at the numbers you’ll see the trick - 230V +10% is roughly the same as 240V +6%. So the range is 230V-6% and 240V+6%.
You’ve got a 3 phase connection though so you might find you’ve got different single phase breakers on different phases (eg lights on one phase, sockets on another), with slightly different voltages for each one.
Ulrich@feddit.org 1 week ago
It’s the same current but double the voltage
CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 1 week ago
And wiring is typically rated for current limits not voltage (within reason). Some 12 gauge wire doesn’t care if you’re pushing 12V, 120V, or 240V but is only rated for 20A.
kn33@lemmy.world 1 week ago
The easiest way to think about it is that the conductor is rated for the current, and the insulator is rated for the voltage. Now, once you get into the nitty gritty, they’re more intertwined than that, but it’s close enough for a surface level explanation.