220 Volt Living

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Canada began with 220 volts.

Or was it D.C. current?
When the Canadian govt. decided to change the power grid, they replaced everyones appliances with 110 volt ones, so I was told.
 
Are the circular round-pin outlets as shown in the first photo UL listed? Obviously they work just fine, just wonder if they run afoul of any US NEC or local wiring ordinances. I think I'd want to run NEMA outlets in my home just to stay standard.
 
Did a bit of Google'ing around over lunch. While I didn't find anything explicitly stating you can't legally use the Schuko sockets in the US, the consensus is you likely won't pass inspection if that ever needs to happen. There is nothing physically with the high quality European sockets of course, but who knows if it might ever cause a problem. It could possibly be a reason for an Insurance claim to be denied etc.

The prudent thing to do just to be safe would be to install NEMA 6-15 receptacles and use a cord to adapt (or change the plug on the appliances).

I can certainly see the merit in having some 240v outlets in the home. I'd like to have one of those high output Induction units also. I have an 1.5 kilowatt RF amplifier that would really perform better on a 240v circuit also but I've never got around to changing that over.
 
Technically

One could site 210.6 (A) in the NEC. But, an inspector would have no way of knowing what would get plugged in a random 6-15 outlet.  

 

I just install that 240 outlet and not think about it.

 

One warning: Do not every put a standard North American table lamp on 240- the bulb screw shell will be energized at 120 volts while unscrewing the bulb.  
 
In general it's nothing to do with the quality of the fittings, but there are standards and wiring codes that are very specific because they are a system. You shouldn't really go outside an electrical code in any country. They're designed for specific grounding systems, types of circuits and and so on and work safely when used as intended.

I had an issue here in Ireland with NEMA plugs at a university. There were a couple of pieces of quite obscure audio equipment which had been brought over by someone I was working with who was based both in the US and here.

He had installed a small transformer and some US NEMA 15 amp outlets. It was a BIG issue when the buildings services inspector spotted it.

The only way they could be used was by changing the plugs to a recognised standard here. So they had to be used with BS546 plugs, with sleeved pins. They're allowed for switched or dimmer controlled circuits, so were permitted for 110V. They wouldn't allow NEMA plugs due to the standard not being recognised but also because of the exposed pins.

You also get into issue with any non-standard equipment used in stage lighting rights e.g. a visiting band, as there is a requirement for EN 60309 "CEEform" (Commando) plugs and sockets.

It comes down to regulations, standards and insurance.

Light fittings:

European standard lamps are different design to an American E26 type.

E27 bulb sockets have a cuff that extends much further than a US one and are only powered when the bulb is firmly seated in the screw, so you don't get any finger contact possibilities.

The UK, Ireland and France also use bayonet cap bulbs, along side E27.

Do not use a Schuko socket with a US lamp. It would potentially expose live screw parts, but any exposed bulb socket does anyway.

The other point I would make is that European outlets are normally on an RCD (GFCI). I don't know if you have installed coverage on those. It wouldn't comply with modern European norms to have them just sitting on a circuit breaker.

Some bayonet fittings, the pendant shown actually retracts the pins when the bulb isn't inserted, completely shielding you from shock.

Light fittings, as of more recent regs, are required to be on RCDs (GFCIs) too.[this post was last edited: 7/30/2021-14:32]

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Freiheit Schoner Gotterfunken Tochter Aus Elysium

The beautiful thing about the US Constitution is that people can use whatever standard they want to use free of persecution. There is nothing more beautiful, and nothing more terrifying to despots than someone who is capable of thinking on their own.  
 
RCDs

RCDs in Europe are in large part driven by the fact its possible to mate various types of plugs to a schuko socket without having a ground.

 

Having an intact equipment grounding conductor with an earth fault loop impedance capable of opening a breaker in 0.8 seconds or less eliminates the possibility of an internal ground fault being fatal.  

 

Because the UK had earthing on all metal appliances and a socket systems that would not open its shutters unless an earth pin was inserted first allowed RCDs to be implemented much latter than in mainland Europe.    
 
RCDs

Reliable earthing is certainly important, and it's been mandatory here for as long as there's been sockets.

Schuko was used here from the early days of rollout to the late 1950s, but non-grounded outlets were never allowed. So, unlike the continent we never really had an issue with non-grounded sockets, as they were never installed.

There were a few continental countries mandated grounded outlets by the 1930s too, but France and Germany certainly weren't included in that list. It was common to have a mix of grounded and non-grounded depending on what the risks in the room were e.g. grounded in the kitchen, but not grounded in an upstairs bedroom. Never understood the logic of that, considering it was a tiny cost saving on fixed wiring. Seemed to be just adding more complexity for no reason.

(That resulted in the 'cooker control unit' to be banned as cooking appliances weren't required to be on RCDs until recently. A cooker control unit is an isolator switch on on side for a large, hardwired cooking appliance and a normal 13 amp switched socket on the other side. Originally they were probably handy for electric kettles near cookers.)

RCD (GFCI) coverage was then extended to all lighting / fan circuits feeding bathrooms (sockets and touchable switches are banned) and then in more recent regulations to all circuits.

The latest addition is arc fault protection, which just came in in the most recent regs and is being rolled out in any buildings that contains sleeping areas, or high risk of fires. They came into vogue in the US earlier, largely because you've totally different type of building construction, involving a lot more wood.

Most buildings here have masonry block construction, usually including the internal walls.

Here in Ireland we used the same fittings as the UK and very similar bonding requirements, but mandated RCDs in the late 1970s for socket circuits supplying anything under 32amps, water heaters, central heating equipment.

Earthing here is TN-C-S in almost all installations. TT (local ground rods only) is permitted only if TN-C-S is impossible due to unusual geology, which is extremely rare and if that's done you have a higher ratted RCD across the whole installation as well as every circuit on standard RCDs.

TN-C-S means that your grounding system in your house is connected to local ground rods, and to the supply neutral at the meter. The supply neutral is then connected to grounding electrodes at regular intervals all the way back to the transformer, which itself is heavily grounded. This picks up any stray neutrals etc.

All of the metal surfaces in the house, including plumbing fittings are then bonded to the grounding system of the house wiring. The logic of this is to create 'equipotential zones' so that there's never any potential difference between say a radiator or a sink and a metal appliance, on the off chance that there was ever a broken neutral in the network outside or some weird fault.

The idea of that system is to ensure a very low ground loop resistance and a very rapid tripping of breakers / burning of fuses if there's a fault. So, you should get near instantaneous tripping in fault to earth.

That system is very very safe, but it does not protect you against a shock if you manage to connect yourself between a live wire and ground or neutral. No grounding system can protect against that, so that's where RCDs (GFCIs) came in for personal protection.
 
Right- and with schuko scokets its possible to have have the live and neutral mate, but not the earth with plugs from other parts of the EU.

 

AFDDs came about in the US due to a lack of earth fault loop impedance requirements increasing breaker trip times on shorted cables. The IEC world doesn't need AFDDs, at all. I have PDFs I can upload on that subject if interested. Not sure if this forum supports PDFs.
 
AFDDs were adopted in the latest regulations here because of timber frame construction being popularised and because of more apartments and taller buildings being envisaged.

Also, I think the cost and practicality of adding AFDDs has just dropped to the point that they're no longer a major consideration anymore, so they're being added.

The current regs I.S. 10101:2020 adopted them.

The USA was always much, much more concerned about fire hazards, primarily due to the construction techniques used there - i.e. all-wooden buildings and also because of the prevalence of high rise.

A smouldering circuit in a wooden frame building can be catastrophic, where as a similar incident in a block and plaster wall can just burn out.

That's primarily why you have had requirements for metal conduit for all cables and so on in the US whereas in Europe that has been far less of a concern in most circumstances.

AFDD technologies have just also come of age too and become cost effective and practical to install. The cost vs the benefits didn't necessarily add up in the context of this part of the world, given the construction standard differences, other than in highly sensitive locations like high rise, until quite recently.

---

With regard to Schuko, as counterintuitive as it may sound, the original logic of it was that grounded / earthed appliances *should* be able to be plugged into non-grounded sockets, but that 'Class 0' appliances (i.e. old appliances that had no double insulation or earth protection - banned since the 1970s) should only be able to be connected to non grounded sockets.

The design of wiring in houses was such that grounded sockets were in areas with conductive floors, sources of water etc e.g. kitchens and bathrooms, perhaps hallways etc, but that in areas with wooden floors, non-grounded sockets were allowed.

So, you could plug a Schuko (or a French/Belgian) grounded plug into any socket in the house, but you could not plug an old Class-0 appliance plug into such a socket as it wouldn't physically fit, so you were limited to using those appliances in rooms that were naturally insulated.

It was a pre 1950s concept of optional grounding safety. Also, people simply wired Class-0 appliances to Schuko plugs, without connecting the ground, so ended up using them in very risky contexts like wet areas.

I don't think the ESB here ever accepted that mythology as all socket outlets, whether BS or Schuko were grounded.

AFAIK, the same concept applied with BS546 systems i.e. the old BS196 2 pin outlets were in theory only ever to be used in safe locations that didn't need grounding, and were a different pin gauge to the 3-pin variety, so you couldn't plug a 2 pin plug into a 3 pin socket in the old British system, but a kludge of adaptors made it very possible, and dangerously so.

Over complicated systems that worked counter intuitively. It made far more sense to just have all grounded sockets and ban Class 0 entirely.

The current UK system (introduced in the late 40s but only mandated in the 60s) was designed to basically render all the previous systems entirely incompatible with it and force upgrades, hence the rectangular pins and so on.[this post was last edited: 7/30/2021-15:08]
 
You're wiring already mitigates high current arcing, so timber frame construction would make no difference and neither would AFDDs. Regs can mandate whatever, the big 5 companies (Eaton, Schneider, ABB, Siemens, Legrand) control them and the IEC.
 
High current arcing isn't the only the cause of fire. You can get smouldering, fizzing arcs that aren't high enough to trip a protective fuse or breaker, but will be detected by an AFDD.

In general though the standards as they are aren't exactly prone to fire anyway.

The single biggest risk is obsolete installations or bad DIY work.

They went fairly strict on DIY work here too. You're now limited to basically like-for-like replacement of switches/sockets etc, and entirely banned from doing any work whatsoever in a bathroom.

Adding a circuit to the panel or working on a bathroom fitting etc here, without being a registered electrical contractor became a criminal offence, so basically for DIY work you're very limited in what you can do.
 
UL did lab testing showing that parellel arcing always passes more than a dozen amps, and even if high impedance arcs (<60 amps) were the case thats where RCDs come in.

 

Here is an example. The 16 amp fuse caught the arcing going on here, but when the owner changed it to a 32 amp fuse thats when it went undetected:

 

 



 

 
 
From the video's description:

 

<blockquote>
This is a fault in an electrical cable we found at a coolstore - this cable had been run illegally with no physical protection and the 16 Amp fuse had been replaced with a 32 Amp fuse when the fault blew the first fuse. Due to the cable size and length the fault current was not enough to blow the larger fuse - this would have eventually kept blowing until it reached flammable material and a major fire would have started. At ETS we offer electrical safety audits for all our customers. Call us now on 0800 236782 (within New Zealand) to arrange an electrical safety audit.

 

 

</blockquote>
 
They pick up series arcs quite nicely though, which aren't always high current.

For example, if you've a loose termination in a junction or behind a fitting, a loose contact in a connection device like a socket outlet or a bulb holder that's fizzling away gently, that'll get picked up and it won't be detected by a simple MCB (Circuit Breaker) or RCD (GFCI).

A parallel arc or an arc to earth is more likely to be picked up by conventional means.
 
Series arcing is the end stage of joule heating, in addition to the fact US AFCIs stop looking for series events under 5 amps. 

 

I know these devices are being sold as the latest and greatest, but everyone in the industry knows they are not the holy grail in fire protection the big players make them out to be.

 

 
 
Overhere in the Netherlands you can work on electrical installations yourself, but you will have to get an approvement from a certified electrician before you can connect the electricity again. Small jobs excluded from that rule like putting in a new socket.

Only grounded sockets allowed since 1996, whole house GFCI's mandatory since 1975.
 

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