House plug sockets output.

[jace1969]

Does house socket output go up and down like normal are 240v but i read a lot that some are 180v or 200v etc and that's in the u.k as other country's places uses less.

 

[Jethro_Tull]

Nominally it's more likely to be nearer 220 in the UK.

[Tdci-Peter]

4 hours ago, jace1969 said:

Does house socket output go up and down like normal are 240v but i read a lot that some are 180v or 200v

I just measured mine at 238v to 239v. It usually only varies by a couple of volts, unless you are right out in the sticks at the end of a long power connection from the nearest main sub-station.

The specified range is 216v to 253v, you should be able to complain to your supplier and get something done if it is outside that range, except under unusual circumstances. 180v would be way out, and is likely to cause major problems, from overheating induction motors (eg fridges & pumps), to poor performance of lights & heaters.

Most modern electronic stuff is dual 110/230v rated, & works fine from about 80v to 260v.

The nominal remains 240v, even though it is called a "230v" supply by some.

[stef123]

The nominal supply voltage figures in the uk is 230v and 415v for 3 phase these figures are usually closer to 240v and 440v respectively. 

At 200v I would be contacting your supplier and querying that with them as that is very low. I know in the past we have had to up the output voltage to the max on the transformer at the substation to output around 253/254v per phase. This was due to circumstances at the time where heavy machinery was deemed to be causing voltage drop in the area.  

 

[Jonro2009]

Does house socket output go up and down like normal are 240v but i read a lot that some are 180v or 200v etc and that's in the u.k as other country's places uses less.
 

Do you mean you have read a lot of literature saying about different voltages or that you have read a lot of sockets with a multimeter?


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[jace1969]

Well ours is low being 200 when we had all our electric checked but I have read a lot on forums,I ask him and said all fine and everything is ok,so this is down to the power coming into the house from the supplier.

Is there a cheap meter i can buy where you plug it into your sockets and gives a read out.

[stef123]

Some of the plug in energy meters have a voltage readout function 

[jace1969]

4 hours ago, stef123 said:

Some of the plug in energy meters have a voltage readout function 

You bet me, i have 2 of them that i had ages ago to check what i was using and when you plug them in they give you the read out if nothing is plugged into

it so then you know your limit from the socked,tried all of the plugs and i mean like 15 and all do a output of 233 to 236 on both meters so i either heard him wrong

when he said to his mate''200 in stead of 240v''or his tester does a test in another way,one of mine is not a cheap one,its  £40+ and other is a cheap £10 one but still only very slight out like 2v max,the lowest socket is the most distance away from the meter like upstairs.

[jace1969]

2 pictures on one of the meters,first is a bit dark but its the one that behind the wall the meter is and the other is way on the other side of the house and upstairs.

 

[Tdci-Peter]

4 hours ago, jace1969 said:

i either heard him wrong when he said to his mate''200 in stead of 240v''or his tester does a test in another way

It is very unlikely to be a problem with the meter or measuring.

Most likely, your line was low at the time due to a problem somewhere in the power system (not in your house). Excess local demand or your area, or some bit of equipment had failed and was being by-passed, there will be times when the power is out of spec.

But these should usually only be minutes, or a couple of hours, unless there is some major national problem like bad weather or massive thunder storms. We are likely to be seeing more power low, or out, events. Demand is increasing and becoming more variable (like rapid electric car battery charging for example!), while supply is borderline and becoming less reliable (like solar & wind generation). It just does not add up. The entire UK grid is on a knife edge at times in winter (demand >95% of max supply).

Ah well, I am sure the politicians and big business bosses know what they are doing, and everything will be just fine!

 

[jace1969]

Yes you could be right,he just walked back into where the meter is in the kitchen and said to a older person that 200 from a 240v with his meter he put round his neck with a plug on,he said all fine after I signed,never tried my plug in checker for ages.

I see how it works I think as it's 238.8 now so it's time of day as well.