why does england use 240 volts which can kill when the rest of europe use a safer 120 volts?

Answer 1

Its the USA that uses 110volts. In this country, power used on building sites have to be 110 volts for 'safety reasons'. With the advent of RCB and particularly RCD trip switches , the dangers of 240v x Amps are largely removed. As earlier replies stated, its the amps that kill and not the voltage. If you imagine that the voltage is 'speed' and the amps are 'weight' , would you prefer to be hit with something travelling at 240 mph weighing 1 gram or, something weighing 1,000 grammes ( 1kg)?.

Answer 2

240 Volts

Answer 3

Wrong...the USA uses 110 volts. Europe is over the range 220-240.

Answer 4

England is NOT the only country in Europe that uses 240 V. Trust me on that one. And it can kill just like 120V, it all depends how much you have plugged in your outlet of that 120 V.

Answer 5

It is not the volts that will kill you but the amps.

There is no standard mains voltage throughout the world and also the frequency, i.e. the number of times the current changes direction per second, is not everywhere the same. Moreover, plug shapes, plug holes, plug sizes and sockets are also different in many countries.

A 120-volt electrical appliance designed for use in North America or Japan will provide a nice fireworks display - complete with sparks and smoke - if plugged into a European socket.

It goes without saying that the lack of a single voltage, frequency and globally standardised plugs entail many extra costs for manufacturers and increase the burden on the environment.

Europe and most other countries in the world use a voltage which is twice that of the US. It is between 220 and 240 volts, whereas in Japan and in most of the Americas the voltage is between 100 and 127 volts.

The system of three-phase alternating current electrical generation and distribution was invented by a nineteenth century creative genius named Nicola Tesla. He made many careful calculations and measurements and found out that 60 Hz (Hertz, cycles per second) was the best frequency for alternating current (AC) power generating. He preferred 240 volts, which put him at odds with Thomas Edison, whose direct current (DC) systems were 110 volts. Perhaps Edison had a useful point in the safety factor of the lower voltage, but DC couldn't provide the power to a distance that AC could.

When the German company AEG built the first European generating facility, its engineers decided to fix the frequency at 50 Hz, because the number 60 didn't fit the metric standard unit sequence (1,2,5). At that time, AEG had a virtual monopoly and their standard spread to the rest of the continent. In Britain, differing frequencies proliferated, and only after World War II the 50-cycle standard was established. A mistake, however.

Not only is 50 Hz 20% less effective in generation, it is 10-15% less efficient in transmission, it requires up to 30% larger windings and magnetic core materials in transformer construction. Electric motors are much less efficient at the lower frequency, and must also be made more robust to handle the electrical losses and the extra heat generated. Today, only a handful of countries (Antigua, Guyana, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea and the Leeward Islands) follow Tesla’s advice and use the 60 Hz frequency together with a voltage of 220-240 V.

Originally Europe was 120 V too, just like Japan and the US today. It has been deemed necessary to increase voltage to get more power with less losses and voltage drop from the same copper wire diameter. At the time the US also wanted to change but because of the cost involved to replace all electric appliances, they decided not to. At the time (50s-60s) the average US household already had a fridge, a washing-machine, etc., but not in Europe.

The end result is that now, the US seems not to have evolved from the 50s and 60s, and still copes with problems as light bulbs that burn out rather quickly when they are close to the transformer (too high a voltage), or just the other way round: not enough voltage at the end of the line (105 to 127 volt spread !).

Note that currently all new American buildings get in fact 240 volts split in two 120 between neutral and hot wire. Major appliances, such as virtually all drying machines and ovens, are now connected to 240 volts. Mind, Americans who have European equipment shouldn't connect it to these outlets. Although it may work on some appliances, it will definitely not be the case for all of your equipment. The reason for this is that in the US 240 V is two-phase, whereas in Europe it is single phase.

Pure waste and unnecessary pollution, in that the lower the voltage, the higher the waste, caused by loss of power over the electricial supply lines. Although single-phase power is more prevalent today, three phase is still chosen as the power of choice for many different types of applications. Generators at power stations supply three-phase electricity. This is a way of supplying three times as much electricity along three wires as can be supplied through two, without having to increase the thickness of the wires. It is usually used in industry to drive motors and other devices.

Three-phase electricity is by its very nature a much smoother form of electricity than single-phase or two-phase power. It is this more consistent electrical power that allows machines to run more efficiently and last many years longer than their relative machines running on the other phases. Some applications are able to work with three-phase power in ways that would not work on single phase at all.

For Industrial and Construction sites, the mains electricity power supplier will provide a 415 volt 3 phase supply.

Answer 6

This is not correct.
The whole of Europe is now 230Volts +6%,-10%

With regard to safety, the European Low Voltage Directive applies to items supplied at 100V AC or more.

Answer 7

The higher the voltage the smaller diameter the conductors can be for a given power demand.
If you think that 240 V is dangerous think of the shock you can get from 440V three phase - which is what 240V is derived from. Phase to neutral 240V inter phase 440V.
It hurts I can tell you from experience. I can let go of 240 V but not 440!
RoyS

Answer 8

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Give it a try.

Answer 9

not a real answer just a rant. the same reason we drive on the left/we don't report crime unless major /we get shoddy goods and service/we vote criminals in to run our lives/we find England not so much great as grates we are just trying to make it to the next milestone in our lives with as little effort as possible

Answer 10

The rest of Europe uses 220V 50Hz, not 120V.