What is the difference between a 110 volt and 120 volt outlet?

Answer 1

The answer is just that: the voltage that the outlet has available. The issue is when you plug a 110 volt appliance into a 220 volt outlet (or vica verca) you are either under powering or over powering the device and can (and probably will) ruin it either way.

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You should not be able to plug a 110 volt device into a 220 volt outlet due to the different blade configurations. This is why different voltages have different plug ends and receptacles have different blade configurations.

Answer 2

for USA, Canada and other countries running a 60 Hz supply service.Apart from wire insulation colors, the only difference to wiring something for 120 volts vs 240 volts is the current draw/power factor of the appliance. The larger the power requirement the more beneficial a higher voltage rating becomes in as far as installation costs are concerned.

The higher the voltage, the less the current, which allows you to use smaller wire sizes, circuit breaker rating, etc. For example a 1500w/120v hair dryer may draw close to 13 amps, while at 240v the current is around 6.25 amps. The running/operating costs remain roughly the same.

Note

Nowadays the voltages supplied to homes are nominally 120 volts and 240 volts + or - 10%. The actual variation from nominal at any instant in time will depend partly on the distance you are from the power station and partly on the overall load being drawn by the population using the same power service.

However many people still call their home voltages "110" volts and "220" volts and it really doesn't matter because the actual voltage you get could vary from 132 V down to 108 V in the case of the nominal 120 V, and from 264 V down to 216 V in the case of the nominal 240 V.

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Answer 3

Different appliances run on different voltages.If you want to use 110v over here (most USA appliances run on 110) you will need a step down transformer or you will blow the appliance. Other countries (Japan) also use 110v it'salways best to check the appliance or its handbook.

Answer 4

Apart from wire insulation colors, the only difference to wiring something for 120 volts vs 240 volts is the current draw/power factor of the appliance. The larger the power requirement the more beneficial a higher voltage rating becomes in as far as installation costs are concerned.

The higher the voltage, the less the current, which allows you to use smaller wire sizes, circuit breaker rating, etc. For example a 1500w/120v hair dryer may draw close to 13 amps, while at 240v the current is around 6.25 amps. The running/operating costs remain roughly the same.

Please click on the links to the Related Questions shown below.

Answer 5

In North America the standard voltage ratings for conductors are 300 volts, 600 volts and 1000 volts. As you can see the 120 and 240 volts drop into the class of 300 volt wire. This is a great asset to electricians that wire homes, not having to worry about changing insulation ratings when wiring circuits for 120 volts and 240 volts. Most industrial and commercial wiring is done with 600 volt rated wire.

Answer 6

Voltage is nominally between 110 and 120 volts. There is no real difference in terms of the outlet specifications.

Answer 7

The level of insulation would need to be higher for a 240-V wire. It's cross-sectional area would depend on its current-carrying capacity.