Often times, a tourist or traveller might be shocked one day when visiting a foreign country to find they’re unable to plug in their phone or mobile devices because of strange-looking electrical outlets, unlike what they’re used to at home.
This is because different countries might use different electricity voltages and the corresponding outlet plugs and sockets as the standard.
The two main electricity voltages used worldwide lie in the 110-volt range and the 230-volt range. Europe and Africa predominantly use the 220v to 240v range, whereas North America, parts of South America, and Japan use voltages in the 110v to 120v range. Japan actually uses 100 volts.
Most countries have electrical voltage supplied in one of two ways:
Single-phase or residential, which is mainly used in homes and businesses to safely power appliances commonly found and used in the home and in facilities without heavy power-hungry machinery or equipment.
Three-phase, which is higher than single-phase, is mainly used for electricity transmission and often to power heavy, power-hungry industrial equipment and machinery.
Around the world, different countries actually have different variations of single-phase and three-phase electricity voltages and outlet plugs used to connect and power appliances.
The two most common variations of voltage used are 110 volts and 230 volts, depending on the country. Why do countries use different electricity transmission and utilization voltages? And why isn’t there a standard voltage for all countries? It all has to do with the history of electrical power generation.
History
Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were the first two pioneers of electricity. Each pioneer invented, and thus favoured and used a different variation. While Edison preferred 110V DC current, Nikola Tesla preferred his 240V AC current, and this feud resulted in two standard electricity transmission voltages across the world. (For more information, see War of Currents: Tesla vs. Edison.)
While the Edison 110V DC voltage was eventually proved to be ineffective during long transmission due to heavy power loss, it was still adopted as the standard for US electricity transmission and use. Tesla’s 240-volt AC was thought to be dangerous and unsafe for homes due to a fervent and controversy-fuelled PR campaign against it by Thomas Edison himself.
Over time, however, due to its efficiency in long-distance transmission, Europe adopted Tesla’s 240V AC as the standard.
Then, during the age of colonialism, colonies of European countries tended to adopt the power standards of their colonizers, which explains why some countries up to now use the 240V standard and outlet plugs while others use the 110V standard and the corresponding outlet plugs.
Europe originally used 120 volts, but over time, the need for more power and less voltage over distance necessitated the switch to 240 volts for electricity transmission and eventually its adoption as the prevailing standard due to its relative efficiency.
In the 1950’s, the US had also considered switching to 240V, but by that time, electricity use had spread considerably. A lot of US households already had electrical appliances, unlike in Europe, and thus the cost of switching and replacing the already existing appliances and infrastructure proved to be a formidable deterrent.
The drawbacks of 110 volts in the US, particularly the voltage drop at the end of the transmission line, were solved by adopting a 240 volt transmission standard, which was split into 120 volts at the premises entry point. 240 volts can be and is still used for large power-hungry appliances like ovens, EV chargers, and dryers.
This is why European, African, or Asian visitors or Americans with European appliances are advised to be careful not to plug their appliances and devices unless they use a converter or are sure the appliance is rated for the output voltage on the socket. The same goes for American appliances in countries that use 240 volts.
*Of course, power transmission, even in countries using 240 volts, is usually done at higher voltages and then stepped down to 240 volts by transformers at the premises point of entry.
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