[Gllug] OT: Merging UPS outputs

[Dylan]

On Thursday 18 Aug 2005 00:15, Richard Jones wrote:
> Why do we run 240 VAC through our houses anyway?  Surely all of these
> transformers and regulators must waste huge amounts of energy.

Well, the voltage in the Grid is much higher because it has to travel 
long distances will minmal loss. It gets progressively stepped down as 
it nears the local distribution loop. 240V (actually, it never was 240V 
and has now been standardized to match Europe anyway) was a fair 
voltage way back when it was running mainly motors and tungsten-argon 
or sodium discharge lamps. The prevalence of transformers is basically 
a result of the progression from valve based to transistor based 
electronics and their lower power demands. Yes, 110V is used in many 
countries, but they still need to use transformers and substations - 
the energy is simply wasted elsewhere in the system. Also, although 
110V is much less likely to kill, you *always* know you've had a belt 
at 240V, and it is conducted best by the soft tissues leading to 
surface conductance. 110V gets conducted more by the skeleton, leading 
to deep level burns and bone attrition. It is very possible to get a 
significant 110V belt and not think much of it (like a static shock) 
but have quite fairly reasonable sub-cutaneous burns.

Dylan

>
> Rich.
>
> --
> Richard Jones, CTO Merjis Ltd.
> Merjis - web marketing and technology - http://merjis.com
> Team Notepad - intranets and extranets for business -
> http://team-notepad.com

-- 
"The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out."
                                                (Chinese Proverb)
-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug