It's the US Electrical System!

Great video. One minor typo in the card about natural gas dryers. LOVE the addition of the guitar riff when you said AC/DC! And the rant at the end is comedy gold.

James Jepsen

Great video

The last 5 minutes of the video was golden.

Why are the ring mains stupid?

ooh i just remembered one of the weirdest things about split phase...you can have a power outage in your building or whole neighborhood on just one leg of the power, so like half your lights and outlets work even though none of your breakers are tripped. This is pretty freaky the first time it happens to you.

nobody

It's a lot like real estate, it's all about LOCATION.

Jack Stewart

I just watched it and wanted to say thanks and I wish I would have had this video a couple years ago while I was trying to wrap my head around how the electrical system in my house works.

David LeBlanc

Hey! Wondering if you might mention (in a future video) that each of those 120V phases is actually a sine wave with a magnitude of 170V? :D Also -- you're absolutely right about the dryer motor, all the ones I've seen use 120V motors -- I assume so they can use the same set of parts as their gas variants.

more snark plzzzz ;)

Adam Wishneusky

From growing up in the UK I can say that UK plugs are far less of a foot hazard than small pieces of Lego were.

Big Car

Oooh ooooh do hi-leg 240V delta next!

ANSI C84.1 makes for some good reading about US voltage specs.

The amount of current required to injure/kill a human is non-linear. 50-100ma is often out and out fatal. Below is annoying and painful, above is severe burns and damage, but also above, your heart is more likely to restart after the event. While you won't be happy, you may not be dead. In particular this implies that there may be conditions where 240V contact may be more survivable than 120V, although as a general rule less is better.

nobody

The real funny thing about the rant at the end is the fuses in UK plugs, contrary to belief, don't protect appliances against surges or overvoltage - instead, the only reason the fuse exists at all is ironically a safety measure to protect the cabling against catching fire in a potential fault condition that only exists in ring circuits!

If I ever owned my own place, I'd be tempted to put a 240v outlet in the kitchen so I can use a 240v kettle. Though I expect I'd have to buy a European kettle and change the plug.

Francis

Alec, There is quite the discussion on this video, I think you'll need to do a follow up to this one, addressing a lot of the points a majority of us have brought up.

Paul Fisher

Thanks for making these videos. Living in Europe, I always thought the 200-is voltage in the US is just 2 phase of 3. It is similar to your percolator video in that sense. I always thought that percolator is the same as the mocca pot here because it looks the same, and never understood why people are bashing it against drip machines.

András Bíró

Thanks for the vid--having done a lot of electrical work on my own home, it's been a learn-as-I-go experience. My sister's struggling with plug-in smoke detectors, what a hot mess those are! So glad mine are all battery-powered. Would love a TC vid about plug-in smoke detectors.

Sierra Mistystep

Re: the differences between split-phase in the US and three-phase in the EU, I find that the impact on how the grid itself is designed is a lot more interesting than how things look inside the home. This article is a good overview (tldr the US system is better for rural areas, EU system better for urban areas): https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/north-american-versus-european-distribution-systems

kalleboo

Aha! And wouldn't ya know it it even says so on the water heater. I'll add that correction up top

Technology Connections

A passive (resistive) heater will only produce 75.1% of the heat on 208V as it would on 240V, not 86.7%. Because P=V^2/R.

This was enlightening, did not expect the ending rant but it was a nice addition

Anicast

I went with "electrifyingly" because it always has to be an awkward word ending in "ly" but yes!

Technology Connections

Since I changed up the scope of this video so many times I didn't include this but I do want to say here for your benefit that this whole "the plugs fall right out of the socket" thing is not something I've encountered much at all. Except! In hotels. The little outlets that they add on lamps or charging stations wear out much MUCH faster than a real outlet that gets installed in the wall. The only loose outlets I've encountered in walls were very VERY old. As a case-in-point I have outlets installed on the bottom of my cabinets in the kitchen here at HQ (a baffling decision which I'm still not sure if I like or not) and gravity is losing the war very badly. They're quite secure.

Technology Connections

Where I live, we have 240V and US plugs as standard. And with no protective earth.

Loved the video, Love my UK sockets though, they are better, for one thing your plugs don't fall out of them like they always seem to be trying to fromma US socket. But yeah, don't stand on an upturned plug... One typo spotted, gas dryer bit 'Natrual' gas. Sorry if someone said it already, haven't read the whole thread.

Paul Sharp

To bastardise a phrase from the firearms world "less lethal" not "safer"

Andrew Gifford

Great video as always, I've been looking forward to this one since it was first mentioned and it didn't disappoint. I was amazed at the size of your domestic breaker box, it's about the size of an industrial one in the UK. Our domestic "fuse boxes" as us older Brits still call them (the modern term is "consumer unit"!!) have about 6 breakers, thanks to the ring mains and individual fuses in plugs! :-) All domestic installations are single phase, industrial are 3, with the breaker boxes similar to yours except it's 3 busbars interleaved rather than 2, so you get a triple-sized breaker for a 3-phase device.

Very much enjoyed that video, however I'm still going to enjoy showing off my electric kettle when I have Americans who staying over. One of life's little pleasures. Also I think the purpose of the switches on sockets is directly related to how painful it is to step on an upturned UK style plug when barefoot.

Brian Condron

It's a very good point. I'm glad that Canada recently mandated that almost all circuits require AFCI breakers (which is a different tech, mind you, but still important).

The Legacy

As an EE I’m so pleased to see the effort you go to to actually get this right, unlike most YouTubers! Thank you Alec for this and all your other great videos! ☺️ P.S. You may not have noticed but coming from the U.K., the first thing I noticed about your grounded sockets is they resemble a shocked face... which you’ll now think of every time you look at one. You’re welcome! 😉

They do? I’ve not seen that in the U.K. or Spain, though I have only seen old Spanish installations. You have to pay a fair bit extra to get a three phase service in the U.K., both the initial setup and rental. In fact most transformers are split phase just like the US, but half the houses are on one phase, and the other half are on the other phase.

I still don’t get why North America only has GFCIs in wet areas. Here in Australia it’s been a requirement since 1992 that all houses must be fully protected by a GFCI. As for having switches on our outlets, it’s very useful, it makes switching off multiple devices on splitters, devices out of reach or devices without switches like wall warts much easier. And yes while the arc from insertion isn’t dangerous it can leave annoying skid marks and craters on the plug blades whereas a switch has a fast spring loaded movement and proper contacts so arcs aren’t a problem. It also reduces the number of insertion cycles on the socket which explains why all North American sockets I see are stupidly loose (that and their terrible design). Interestingly in the US about 1,000 people die each year by electrocution, about 20% of which are children whereas in Australia about 27 people die each year, of which about 1% are children.

WizardTim

Thumbs up for the single handed probing technique on the service panel!

Thomas Daede

Switches on US sockets would solve the issue of the all metal exposed plugs you have. Though I guess adopting the plastic insulation around the pins would negate that as well. As an Australian I agree the switches are not required (if the insulation is there), though they can be quite handy! (Anyone saying the switches make them safer obviously doesn't realise small children can turn switches on, so it's best to cover the points anyway). Good video as always Alec. 😁

Scott Rowland

Are people really surprised about the existence of gas powered clothes dryers? I switched from an electric dryer to gas in my old house with 100 AMP electric service because when the dryer, A/C, oven and pool pumps ran at the same time, I would sometimes trip the main 100 AMP breaker. Gas clothes dryers are great, cheaper to run, dry clothes faster.

The AC/DC thing made me laugh. Also as I sit here listening to my gas dryer fire up, it never occured to me that people imagined gas dryers as having an engine like in a car! How funny.

Josh Bernstein

Out of curiosity, do you happen to know if Europe shares a single phase alignment throughout the country? My understanding is that in the US there's a problem with sharing power between parts of it because they're phased differently and getting them to all sync up would be incredibly difficult, and the power losses involved in rectifying the phases would be extremely not worth it.

fluffy

Interestingly (?), at 50 years old, I've never been shocked when inserting or removing a plug, even with all that metal exposed.

Wolf

Plugs in the US can be polarized or non-polarized. (On polarized plugs the neutral is on a wider blade and the live wire is connected to the narrower one.) Most outlets have all been polarized for the last seventy years (including all grounded outlets, which have been standard for about sixty years) but not all devices have polarized plugs. (For example, if a device is going to rectify the current to DC internally, it won't care about the orientation of the plug.)

tim1724

Thanks for the explanation, as I was wondering more and more. I'm still not sure I understand fully, but I know a lot more now :) Those circuit breakers are actually very similar to the ones used here, although the ones used these days do mostly use the leakage safety thing too ("aardlek" in dutch = leak to earth). But we use a DIN standard rail to mount them (because...ehm, europe?) And not everyone is quite so scared of electricity. I rewired entire houses before, with friends or my dad, and they all passed inspection. The one thing I like about the UK plugs is simple: they are one way oriented, so lead and neutral are always the same. I have been told this can be advantageous. Although I haven't had problems with other plugs either....the plugs here have no orientation and things work fine.

Buzzin

I love ending on a rant like this! And the puns... they’re more than meets the eye. One comment which I hope is constructive: toward the beginning you talk about conductor cross sections, rocket through a transformer description and basically explain ohms law without really... explaining it. I know explaining it is hard (I’ve tried and flailed!) and maybe you just want to get to the rant, but you explain some really tough stuff pretty well. Do that here and I can see every science class use this video in their electrical units. Or maybe refer to other people’s videos and not have to spend money on antacids. Either way. As usual, great job and I’m glad to support your channel!

Porkchop

That tweet is actually not related to this video!

Technology Connections

I expected the worst when I saw the tweet about the thumbnail being an epic meta pun, but that's actually a good one.

US voltage is 240V ± 6% so seeing 122V on a phase is totally within spec.

binaryfox

Contenders for the subtitles: - "I am here in front of this open panel and I know what I'm doing" [famous last words] - AC/DC [name of song/albums... I didn't catch it, too short of an extract] - in the outro: "electrifying jazz"

Raphaël

Most of Europe has ~230V, not 240V. Until a few decades ago every country had its own voltage usually between 220V and 240V. They all changed to 230V so power can bei shared across countries...

Robert

Love the rant at the end 😂. Love my socket switches though!

I can't really imagine a better way of explaining these issues that seem to confuse everyone and also somehow invite our fellow United Statesians to frantically try to confuse matters further when calm explanation is offered. This is the kind of educational material that needs to be made common in the education of those small, funny looking citizens we have. You know, they're often running around making noises and flapping their arms, they only require one digit to express the duration of their existence in our world, always asking questions, being ignored................... Oh, and have you seen that John Cleese bit about extremism?

Pretty sure it's very not legal! BUT - you could, with planning, feed two circuits to one box and put the UK receptacle across them. Then, when you move, just take it out and put a standard outlet in its place with the tabs removed so each is on its own circuit. Not saying you *should* do that, in fact I think I have to say you should NOT, but... it is theoretically possible.

Technology Connections

With the same reasoning, Europe has 400V, since most homes in Europe has three phase 230V.

I would guess it is 24v AC doorbell circuit. Tres 1970s! And a vampire circuit I imagine

Eric Korenman

US-I'm thinking of installing UK outlets around my house so that I can enjoy the faster Kettles and hobs I can buy on AmazonUK. Not sure if it is legal though.

Paul Malloy

This has to be one of my favorite Technology Connections videos ever

briandef

Fantastic video! Next.. POWER FACTOR please. Just can’t get my brain wrapped around it. I keep trying!

Eric Korenman

I'm really on the fence about getting it cut or if I want to just keep this going. I'll tell you when I've not done my hair I look like a menace

Technology Connections

So... what's with the transformer stuck to the side of your fusebox?

Paul Schuur

It's me having a bit of fun.

Technology Connections

Not sure if you care after the video is encoded, but *natural gas, not natural :)

ErdTirdMans

Well, as much as I enjoy Tom Scott, I disagree with him on the UK plugs. Yes, they have a fuse, but at what cost? Their plugs are ginormous! Schuko all the way. Or even (so-called) Europlug!

George Schizas

I’m glad to see someone try to respond to the “lAuGHeS iN 240V” comments I see in videos. First off, we had one of the first true “grids” in the world, and second, it’s not like staying with 120v is severely hampering our lives. We can do all the same stuff you guys in Europe can do, often with literally no issues and only occasionally a bit slower.

Richard Stifle

What's with the rambling starting at 21:23 about Brits and Australians? This was supposed to be about the US system, right? It's as if I started watching a different video...

Raphaël

Look up ElectroBooms explaination on what kills you in an electric shock.

Richard Stifle

Mostly regulations. Especially anything that can be used in a bathroom like an hair dryer will have a GFCI on it. Which is not a fuse. Alec made a video on it IIRC.

Raphaël

The whole "120V is safer" rambling ==> Why not ask all your non-US viewers to press the thumb down button upfront, while you're at it? Not to mention that the U=RI part is worthless, because what matters is the whole energy that kills you. More seriously, I have one question: Citation Needed [tm] on "a 240V electric shock is worse than a 120V shock". I don't remember seeing any study comparing both without any obvious bias. There's this one from the NIH and that's only for 110/120V systems: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763825/

Raphaël

My dad was an industrial electrician while I was growing up so I was exposed to electricity very early in life compared to most people. He taught me what's safe & what's not. Your example of the plugs half-in and still getting current made me laugh since I shocked myself that way when I was four years old plugging in a Fisher Price record player. I'm still here and alive, even though I'm not afraid to lick a 9V battery to see if it's got juice left in it :) The burning question I have from this video is - did you name your local transformer Optimus Prime or Megatron?

Jason Wellband

One word describes your *current* hair: Luxuriant.

Mark Hesse

Switches on the sockets are cool cos you can turn off the outlet then cut off the power cable from the appliance without unplugging it 😂 But we have switches on appliances too, though perhaps historically some things didn't. I have a switched power strip plugged into a switched outlet powering a light with a switch on it (I wanted to fit a Nintendo Switch in there, but that doesn't really have a switch on it). Anyway, you can never have too many switches.

Andyface

I'm in the US, and I have several devices that have a fuse in their plugs. I don't know if this is coincidence or because of regulations, but they are all fans.

Michael Dunn

Of course, the foot hazard is reduced when one can leave the plug in and switch off the power with that nifty socket switch!

I wish the thumbnail came with "filmed during a power outage** -- do not try this at home" warning. (** double sarcasm here)

Raphaël

Yes, you could make a whole video about the stupidity of the British ring lines ;-). Most of the rest of the world also does not have switches in the the power outlets... There are a few small differences (except the plugs) however: I grew up in the Netherlands, there the wiring and outlets (the German/French Schuko) are rated for 16A, in Switzerland, where I live now, only 10A is supported. But almost all European systems I know of supply three-phase power (400V) in each home, in Switzerland we use that for washing machines and dryers and other high-power stuff. By the way: split-phase power is also used for AC railway electrification, the 25 kV/50 Hz uses a bit different system (the same as the 60 Hz system in the US) for dividing the current over 2 phases, the 15 kV / 16.7 Hz system used in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Norway and Sweden is also supplied with 2-phase power, you can recognize that in the power lines here: a pair of 2 for railway power and a triple for normal power. Yes, enough interesting stuff for a couple of more videos ;-)

MrHammond

A couple of things, one you misspelled natural in your gas dryer excerpt. Two, industry standard does provide a "magical" voltage where danger occurs. 30V. I know at this voltage, a short can weld. (Not saying it can't at lower voltages) but it becomes relatively easy at this point. A good suggestion is mention, V=IR makes a difference, you may get 120 with 0 load but 110 during peak usage. Voltage drops as load increases on a given circuit. I don't get into why, I just know it to be true. Also voltage can vary across North America as there are 5 different "grids" that are not directly connected. I feel you know this but could be mentioned in a part 2. (Side note there is 3 phase 240 available but creates a "high leg" that has unusually high single pole voltage this rendering it mostly unusable.

Christopher Bassett

This is your usual fantastic, except for the lack of shout-out to Tom Scott for his UK plug video. https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q :-)

V.E. Griffith

@13:15 there's a typo in "natural"

It's only conceptual ;)

Technology Connections

Where I am we have buried electrical lines. My $.02 is that while they're great most of the time, when they fail it's a PAIN and I've lived through it vicariously via my parents

Technology Connections

The negative and positive 120 on the whiteboard got me.

You really outdid yourself with that thumbnail. A pun worthy of great physical pain.

Honestly, aside from the few very specific requirements of devices that need three phase, I just don't see there being a real benefit to having it. Nobody's home (as far as I know) does over here and yet we all have air conditioning and whatnot. The only applications of three phase HVAC equipment that I know if are in commercial buildings. Honestly to me, 48 kW is plenty no matter how it's delivered.

Technology Connections

The US has a 120v/240v system here in Australia, and parts of Europe we have 240v/415v systems so we in the land down under win again bonehead! The US system is a split phase system not a true 3 phase system, whereas in Australia I have access to either 240v Single Phase, or 415v 3 Phase. The reason I have 3 phase is that I occasionally run 3 phase workshop equipment at home, plus my parents also needed it for the A/C

Paul Fisher

North American System of 240V would then compare with Europe's 400V. AND PLEASE do not show the ancient system of wires in the air ! Put cables in the ground !

Staffan Ahlstrom

ElectroBOOM? That you?

Steets

In my experience, 240V makes my body jump away much quicker than 110V, so maybe safer ;)

Ian Cull