Which has a higher cost to produce 110 or 220 volt electricity?

Answer 1

The electricity is produced at higher voltage and sent through transformers to get an even higher voltage for transmission (saves on size of wire needed in transmission lines) and then stepped down for local distribution. In industrial or factory areas it goes along the streets as 600 or 440 volts. In residential areas it goes along the streets as 220 volts with a neutral that each 220 volt wire can be paired with to make 110 volts. In high draw areas like train yards or heavy industry the 14000 volt distribution lines go to a local transformer on the premises that steps it down to the lower voltages that the facility needs.

So there is really no different cost associated specifically with a different voltage like 110 vs 220.

Answer 2

Hard to answer. You have 220 volt in your U.S. home today. It is generally in the laundry area, operates your electric stove top and oven. Just not at the wall outlets. If we wired our wall outlets for 220 and used 220 volt lights and appliances, we could save a lot of construction copper. But, you said "produce" and actually the voltage produced and sent across country is more like 250,000 volts in the big transmission lines, so the "produce" question doesn't matter. Is that sufficiently confusing?

Answer 3

Actually, there's very little difference in production cost between the two because electricity is generated at a much higher voltage and transmitted at a higher voltage, still, being provided by step-down transformers at the point of use.

For local production it costs more to generate 110 V because you need twice the current that you need with 220 V, which gives you double the I^2R losses in the generator windings and the connecting wiring for the same size load.

Answer 4

220

Answer 5

I doubt there is any difference in production cost. Transmission cost of the higher voltage would probably be lower as there is less current and less voltage drop at the end of a line.