foyleman writes...

On a side note, most homes have a 220 power feed, which is supplied as 2)110 lines, and the kicker here is most power companies (atleast in Florida) charge based on the high leg, meaning if you use 1 kilowatts on one leg and 50 kilowatts on the second leg, you get billed for 50 kilowatts, which is to say you wasted 49 kilowatts on the low leg you paid for. Granted that's an extreme example, but if they were balanced, your bill would be half...

I wouldn't recommend for an average user, but if you have high power usage, it might be worth looking into the price of an electrician to run a 220 service, as PC's are already capable of using 220...

I'm not gonna explain how, because I don't want someone getting hurt... But balancing your power usage across both legs can be a great way to save money. Hence all the BIG appliances in your home are 220 (AC, Stove, Dryer) and it should be fairly inexpensive, since balancing the legs is all in the panel.

There is no high leg in a residential 220 system (2 x 120v feeds).
The only set up there will be a high leg is a commercial 480v and the high leg is used mostly for large motors, ac units or multi tap transformers. Power consumption is the total of both your 120v lines.

On a side note, only .12/kwh, damn, Texas is now almost .15

and you wouldn't save any money by running your PC at 220 volts, you would just make an electrician happy. The PC uses the same amount of energy no matter what voltage its connected to.

edited on May. 28, 2008 02:49 pm by Lee

I wasn't refering to anything commercial (such as 3-phase, but good call, I should have been more specific) I was referring to the leg with high "usage"... And yes the price is the same for 220 vs 110 based on kilowatthours IF the two legs are balanced...

Unbalanced
leg1=1000kilowatt
leg2=500kilowatt
billed=1000kilowatt

Balanced
leg1=750kilowatt
leg2=750kilowatt
billed=750kilowatt

250kilowatt savings...

edit:
it was $0.12 about 8 months ago, haven't checked if it's changed since then, I hope not... Both of the CNC machines + pumps we use are 3-phase...

edited on May. 28, 2008 03:31 pm by PleaseMYOB

Spare a thought for us UK'ers.....

Units Rate 1 (per kwh) .24p (.47c) (first 500 kwh)
Units Rate 2 (per kwh) .10p (.19c)

:(

yes Peri it is tough on us! Especially when you have 3 pcs in the house (two normally on) plus a large shed with bansaw other tools and a high power lathe, then you got the ordinary things like TVs and lights. I'm ok though, I can just charge my auntie more rent lol! thats right i'm the boss around here. (really :p)

All this talk about legs has gone right over my head. lol.