Why us has 110v

Historically someone, or some group, picked a number in each country, others followed suit, and it became "a standard". Now we are stuck with them. The V issue is simply that once Tesla and Westinghouse proved long distance AC transmission feasible, the 1 issue driving the proliferation of electrification was lighting in houses, replacing the gas and oil lighting that was a major fire hazard of the day.

Then as personal appliances began proliferating, they were designed to take advantage of the VAC lighting circuits already used in houses and the concept cemented itself into our culture to where there was no going back. Edison, despite having investing in AEG as Europe began electrifying, was reluctant to allow a system in which Europeans could enter our market by selling electrical products here.

So after also experimenting with different frequencies 40Hz was the first major industrial installation, at the Folsom Power House in California , Edison and Steinmetz settled on 60Hz, partly because of the flicker issue, then also because it would make European equipment incompatible. He wanted it all to himself He wanted DC because he owned the US patent rights to his DC dynamo even though he actually bought his first one, for proof of concept, from Werner von Siemens.

Siemens had not patented it in the US. Only the rich would be able to afford it, and they would all be paying Edison for the privilege. Tesla's egalitarianism ruined his vision. This was extensively covered in The Simpsons :.

Jokes aside, once you pick a value and produce a substantial amount of compatible devices, the price of switching to a different value becomes prohibitively high.

We learnt that it was about resources. Europe had abundant iron and was short of copper, hence 50Hz. Whereas mistakenly America and particularly Pennsylvania, had a surplus of copper, hence 60Hz. Also, lights flicker at twice the AC frequency, one flash on the positive half cycle and one flash on the negative half cycle, not at the supply frequency. In the UK wiring was available nationwide in the late 's.

The rest of europe followed shortly after the US. Because it took the UK a bit of time to catch up, they had time to learn an important thing about the previous experience with household electricity - wiring houses was expensive! They had to use a lot of wire and by doubling the voltage they reduced the current to half thus reducing the wire gauge needed. The AC freq. Up until there was no standard for the mains freq.

Westinghouse learned about this becoming a standard but they figured the lights still flicker a bit so they increased the freq. In the following years they started wiring the entire US and motors and other devices were designed for that freq. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? After the dust settled, the U. This was to quieten the idea that volts were far too dangerous in the public mind. Thus Edison had his way with the numbers , but not with the letters DC. And so, the War of Currents ended with a whimper, and not a bang. Different Volt Standards in Use Today. Thomas Edison and the Volt Light Bulb. Preview Image: Westinghouse Alternating System.

I tripped over a shrinking bank balance and fell into the writing gig unintentionally. This was after I escaped the corporate world and searched in vain for ways to become rich on the internet by doing nothing. Many countries around the world use different standards in feeding electricity to residents.

These differences may not seem like a big deal, but they are actually rooted in a feud between Tesla and Edison. Direct Current was Edison's "invention" or one of his workers , but it was not good over long distances. Tesla, on the other hand, created the alternating current which is great for long distance transmission.

At the time of the first widely available electric grid, it was mainly used to light houses, which used bulbs that worked best between and volts.