| Electronics > Beginners |
| ABC News posted a story re: Jacked Mains Voltage is increasing power bills |
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| optoisolated:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-08/high-voltage-fuelling-increased-electricity-consumption/10460212 :-/O "I was getting up once every three or four months to change light globes," he told 7.30. "And this is what led me to look at voltage. "I'm being force-fed more electricity than I need," he said. After he realised the scale of the problem he started a company that specialises in filtering out extra voltage in homes and businesses. 7.30 visited his house in Melbourne on a day when the grid was delivering electricity at 254 volts — just above the allowable voltage limit. "Based on the 254 volts I'm getting here, I'm roughly paying about $1,200 more for my electricity each year than I need to. "We have a major issue with regulating voltage across Australia. And it's getting worse." Voltage is essentially electrical pressure. It is the force that sends electrical current from power stations, through transmission lines, to your home or business. The nominal voltage for Australian households is 230 volts, but because voltage fluctuates all the time, electricity should be delivered within an allowable range of between 216 and 253 volts. For households in much of Australia, electricity is supplied with voltage towards the top end of that range and even just above the 253-volt limit. Depending on the appliances in your home, that can mean greater electricity consumption and bigger power bills. "Most customers just are not aware of it, so nothing happens about it," electrician Dean Spicer told 7.30. "Once an appliance reaches saturation, that excess energy just burns off as heat, which is just money down the drain." But high-quality comprehensive data on the voltages supplied to households is not easy to come by. Voltage to households running high. 7.30 asked two companies to take a snapshot of electricity meters across most of Australia. Their findings give an indication of the scale of the issue. The metering company Metropolis sampled 12,012 electricity meters four times a day from October 19 to 30, in all states and territories except the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The readings taken at 1:00pm, when rooftop solar panels are boosting network voltage, averaged 245.8 volts — within allowable limits, but well above the 230 nominal level. But even at night, when extra voltage from solar power is not a factor, the network voltage is still running high. The average minimum reading recorded by Metropolis was 241.6 volts. |
| BradC:
I keep tabs on 2 of our 3 phases here (Perth) with a pair of APC UPS and a couple of modbus power meters. The UPS are about +/- 1.5V and the power meters are better than 1V accuracy (I check and calibrate them every 2 years). 4-5 years ago we were seeing peaks of up to 270V on a warm summers day. Halogens do *not* like that. The grid has got it under better control over the last couple of years, but we still see north of 250V regularly. My current 24 hour power graph shows an average of 240-242V, a minimum of 234, a maximum of 249.4 and we're currently 240-243 on the two phases. (edit after verifying specs) Of course in WA we are 240 +/-6V (now. When I were a lad it was a *real mans voltage* at 250V). I didn't realise the East coast is 230V -6/+10. |
| optoisolated:
Mine seems to fluctuate between 235 and 247 on average according to my solar inverters power meter. We only have a single phase. |
| BradC:
This is my current 24 hour and 7 day. It looks like the scale is somewhat expanded compared to yours. |
| optoisolated:
My main query with this article is how much impact does the voltage actually have on the cost of the energy supplied? The article simplifies it too much IMO. Does this come down to one of those Power Factor discussions? My understanding was that even if the voltage increased, resistance on especially passive appliances remains constant, therefore current would drop. |
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