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Fix the voltage campaign (Australia)

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vk3yedotcom:
Just found this: https://fixthevoltage.org/

They reckon our mains voltage is too high, and at most times is above the 230v standard.


james_s:
Is it? I thought the standard was 240V?

Either way I question their claims, quoted from their site:
Overvoltage increases the amount of energy used by consumers
Overvoltage increases carbon emissions
Overvoltage reduces the efficiency of rooftop solar
Overvoltage damages domestic appliances and shortens their life
Overvoltage increases the costs on everyone’s power bills


Some of those may be true for incandescent lamps, but what else? Overvoltage will make electric resistance heaters produce more heat, so they'll run less time, same amount of energy is consumed. Electronics will all be made to accommodate the global standards, so at least 240V nominal, the vast majority of electronics these days are rated something like 90-265V so not an issue. Anything with a switchmode power supply which is almost everything these days, including lights will draw less current as the voltage increases, so more energy is not consumed and the bills won't be higher.

IMHO this sounds like a bunch of nonsense by people who know just enough about electricity to think they know everything. 

Nusa:

--- Quote from: vk3yedotcom on December 28, 2020, 08:34:07 am ---Just found this: https://fixthevoltage.org/

They reckon our mains voltage is too high, and at most times is above the 230v standard.

--- End quote ---

My understanding is that while that's the nominal value, anything within +10% or -6% of that is within the standard as written.

Which in the case of the EU, was a way of writing a universal standard that allowed almost everyone to meet the spec without actually changing anything. 220, 230, 240, 250V all fall within that window.

magic:
In fact, computer PSUs tend to have higher efficiency close to the top of their rated input voltage range because of I²R losses in components which need to be selected for the highest voltage anyway.

Can I sign a change.org petition to ban DHMO too? ;)

Rerouter:
A large part of the high voltages in my area is from all the solar installs backfeeding, from about 10AM - 5PM the voltage remains pegged at the max spec for the inverters,

Technically that could be something deliberate from the power companies to reduce feed in tarriff rates, but I personally think its just too much supply and not enough load in certain areas.

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