As I've lived in both the US and the UK, I had to learn to cope with the differences in the electrical systems. When we first moved to England, we purchased a transformer to allow some of our US appliances (like my sewing machine) to operate safely on UK electricity... which worked, albeit with a slightly lower hum since the US is on 60Hz while the UK is on 50Hz.
(Power lines in the US - Source)
Now back on the US side of the Pond, I thought I had a fairly decent understanding of the differences between the power systems - beyond the weird plugs in both countries... (The US one is better to step on in the dark!)
Apparently, I was wrong because although the US primarily uses 120V, the country is set up to use 240V when it's required, such as for appliances.
Here are two very interesting videos that explain this far better than I can.
And a lot more technical, but not out of reach for non-electricians. He explains how the US electrical system is actually not 120V - and why that's important. (He also adds a bit of humor here and there.)
As usual, I'm simply sharing a YouTube video - all rights remain with the original uploader.
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Lori Svensen
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Most clothes driers work on 240V here in the states. Also most newer bitcoin miners :P
That was actually the point of the second video - that most modern appliances work on 240V - and how the breaker for the appliance circuits covers two sections of the panel - and why that works to "convert" 120V to 240V. It's pretty cool.
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