Split phase power in North America (22 - Electricity Distribution) 

That is so different and interesting for someone who lived in Europe for his whole life. Here we don't use the split phase system at all. In most of the EU you get three phase 230/400V service. In old houses the service can be single phase 230V, or if you want to have very low power limit like 5kW to get cheaper service, you can also ask for just one phase. But even in that case they will give you 3-phase wiring up to your distribution board, so everything is 3-phase-ready if you ever wanted more power in the future. The transformers here are definitely more than meets the eye ☺ Most of them are huge and feed hundrets or thousands of houses, through a dedicated low voltage power lines. Thus no high voltage running along every street, those lines mostly run through fields in rural areas, and underground in cities. So when I watch videos with "transformer explosions" from the US I'm always with my jaws opened, as here you see arcing power lines very very very rare.

THIS HAS SOME MISTAKES, BUT I POSTED TO MY FB PAGE AS WE (PAHRUMP, NV) ARE HAVING TROUBLE (DIRTY POWER) IT DOES CONTAIN A LOT OF GOOD INFO.

great explanation! thanks

*UTILITY:* _"We're giving you single phase service."_ *CUSTOMER:* _"But I have 2 hot wires coming into my house."_ *UTILITY:* _"Yes. It's one single phase from the transformer, but's it's split."_ *CUSTOMER:* _"Oh, so it's just a Y-connection, and I have 2 of the same hot wires"_ *UTILITY:* _"No, each of your hot wires are 180 degrees out of phase with each other."_ *CUSTOMER:* _"Soooooo, in other words, I have TWO PHASES - which means I have TWO PHASE SERVICE."_ *UTILITY:* _"Well, I guess it's more like your single phase is not really split - it's more like two halves of a single phase."_ *CUSTOMER:* _"So, I have two half-phase single phase service??"_ *UTILITY:* _"Uhhhhh...... You're gonna have to call my supervisor."_

In France you can have 400V in your oven as the street grid is 230/400 and you can get a tree phase service !

Thanks for explaining the primary side winding of a split phase distribution transformer! Hard to find information on it.

4:45 This information is not true for Europa. In Austria and Germany you get three phases to your house or flat. Four wires: 3 hot called L1, L2, L3 and neutral called N or PEN. Voltage phase to phase is 400 V. So you can run a 3-phase motor without any problem. Very handy for a workshop or a waterpump.

8:29 I think it's a Fibre optic cable, not a static wire. It is used for communication between substations.

As you are a teacher, there is something I wish you would explain to your students. When you say that the split phase is 180 degrees out of phase, you must make sure that it is known “when viewed on an oscilloscope when neutral is connected to the common point on the scope” This condition does not truly exist. When you show the two sine waves for 120 volts, the resultant voltage would be zero volts. 120/240 volts is single phase. The connection points are not called phases until you are in multiple phases. They are Line1 and Line2. If you would like, I can link you to videos explaining why 180 degrees out of phase is very much incorrect in the real world. Respectfully, Kevin

@ 2:44 you call one of the primary bushings "a neutral" . Could you expound on this a bit. Is the term "neutral used for any return line, even if it's NOT a post-load line and it's at high voltage?

At 7:40 you say some customers get their service underground with a hot and neutral wire coming down the pole. Are these lines that come DOWN the pole going TO a transformer on the ground near the house, or are they emanating from the secondary winding of the pole transformer going directly into the house? Thanks.

Great explanation, we just wondering how many household that 1 transformer feed? How they connect? On your demotrated figure, it feeds 2 houses , we guessed:-) What about if it is a 100 House community? We need 50 transformers? Thanks for all inspirational videos👍👍👍👍

One minute into the video my observation is ( this is the European method). Build with hindsight after North America.

Why do we have 120 volts to ground systems in the US? Easy answer, politics and money. Thomas Edison the inventor of the light bulb, made his lights to work on 120 volts DC. And was installing 120 volt DC power systems to homes. Tesla was working with AC systems and decided it was better to power homes at 240 volts AC. As things always happen a Standards group had been formed and they were so inclined to decide that 120 volts to ground would be the standard. BTW, most of the Standards group were friends of Edison.

“Multi point grounding system” “Neutral to Earth Voltage”

It is not that it is 180 degree out of phase.

I don’t understand because u do realize u just showed a primary hot wire directly to a neutral that’s tied to ground on ur primary side and I think you should double check ur book

Probably less likely to get killed. Not withstanding the remarkable amount of flim-flam in that statement alone, 'probably', 'less likey', no except in edge cases. Universally accepted real world scenario tests have shown 120VAC systems to be just as fatal as 240VAC systems. The simple proof of this is in countries with similar levels of refinement of electrical standards, as a proportion of population the USA has a high rate of shocks and electrocutions compared to those countries using 220-250VAC. If 120VAC was safer it would be reasonable for the situation to be reversed or at least have similar rates per population. I really wish this myth would go away. It wasn't an accurate statement decades ago and it's even less accurate these days with many countries requiring RCD (GFCI) or at least have implemented regulations that push installations towards having them over time. If you want a marked step in intrinsic safety you need to go quite a bit below 120VAC. For example the UK has a 120VAC-ish standard for use in building sites where the 120VAC supply is centre tap earthed to ensure that should a person come into contact with one of the 'live' legs they will only be exposed to approx 60VAC. The real reason the USA has 120/240 is backward compatible historical supply arrangements.

Higher amps would be more dangerous than lower

I like the video. But your terminology is making it sound like you have two phases in the home. You have one phase. There are two legs of that single phase in the home.

Split phase is NOT 180 degrees out of phase. It's a single phase. The hot to neutral voltage is half of the phase.

To je ale debilní systém. 230V/400V je lepší...