A few weeks ago I posted a help topic about my amplifiers tripping my household circuit breakers as well as their own inbuilt circuit breakers. I recieved some very helpful advice on this forum so thank you to those who contributed. One thing that I have learnt quite a bit about over the past weeks because of this is UK voltage and its effect on electrical equipment. I thought I would share on here so please forgive me if this is old news to many of you.
UK voltage is not a fixed 240V. The allowable range for UK Voltage is actually 230V plus or minus 10%. This means that the voltage supply to your plug socket is legally allowed to be anywhere between 216V and 253V. However all new domestic mains powered electrical equipment supplied for sale in Europe is designed to optimally perform at 230V.
So what!? I hear you cry. Well, for every incidence of overvoltage and undervoltage we are reducing the active life of our electronics and wasting money through eccess energy use disipated as heat. This is why electrical equipment can get very, very hot even on idle. This is one reason why transformers buzz/vibrate. It can cause speakers to hum and parts to fail. Yes the equipment will work if not bang on 230V, but not optimally and it will be under strain.
The reduction in active life can be quite significant as can the amount of wasted energy that we are paying for. Ever got that why do I keep changing bulbs feeling? Well, a 230V rated lamp used at 240V will achieve only 55% of its rated life. 55%!!!!! A 230V linear appliance used at 240V will draw 4.3% more current and consume 9% more energy. These figure are taken from The UK Wiring Regulations Revision 16 - BS7671
My sockets are currently pumping out a manly 252V. Armed with the facts and figures above I have just invested in a voltage optimiser. A simple little box that sits between the consumer unit and the electricity meter and reduces incoming voltage by 10%. Having invested considerably more than my disposable income in to my system I think that this purchase may well prove to be the best £350 I have ever spent on a "system upgrade". Yes, my kettle might bil a little bit slower but I can live with that.
Hopefully this is helpful.
UK voltage is not a fixed 240V. The allowable range for UK Voltage is actually 230V plus or minus 10%. This means that the voltage supply to your plug socket is legally allowed to be anywhere between 216V and 253V. However all new domestic mains powered electrical equipment supplied for sale in Europe is designed to optimally perform at 230V.
So what!? I hear you cry. Well, for every incidence of overvoltage and undervoltage we are reducing the active life of our electronics and wasting money through eccess energy use disipated as heat. This is why electrical equipment can get very, very hot even on idle. This is one reason why transformers buzz/vibrate. It can cause speakers to hum and parts to fail. Yes the equipment will work if not bang on 230V, but not optimally and it will be under strain.
The reduction in active life can be quite significant as can the amount of wasted energy that we are paying for. Ever got that why do I keep changing bulbs feeling? Well, a 230V rated lamp used at 240V will achieve only 55% of its rated life. 55%!!!!! A 230V linear appliance used at 240V will draw 4.3% more current and consume 9% more energy. These figure are taken from The UK Wiring Regulations Revision 16 - BS7671
My sockets are currently pumping out a manly 252V. Armed with the facts and figures above I have just invested in a voltage optimiser. A simple little box that sits between the consumer unit and the electricity meter and reduces incoming voltage by 10%. Having invested considerably more than my disposable income in to my system I think that this purchase may well prove to be the best £350 I have ever spent on a "system upgrade". Yes, my kettle might bil a little bit slower but I can live with that.
Hopefully this is helpful.