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Whats your hot take on something that doesnt matter at all? (piefed.blahaj.zone)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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Personally I love oranges but cant stand orange juice.

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[–] 37 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (7 children)

People rip on US electricity standards all the time, from voltage, via frequency, to the NEMA plugs, and for good reasons. But the most disgusting thing about it all is this:

US breaker panels are fugly. Sure, they work just as well as those from the rest of the world, but they're aesthetically displeasing.

Two representative pictures I found of an average panel just now;

US:

EU:

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

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  • [–] 9 points 9 months ago

    Yep I've held electrical qualifications for over twenty years and have some of the most stringent qualifications in the world, and the US shit is a joke

    The worst thing is that people think it's safer because of the shitty low voltage.

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  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Is that EU picture supposed to look more aesthetically appealing than the US one? Because I flip a switch on the US panel and feel super serious, like Kurt Russell about to flip the switch on all power on Earth. I look at the EU picture and think of the electrical outlets behind the teacher’s desk in the 80 year old school building I attended.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    wait, how do you route cables in there? is there just a massive bundle right through the middle?

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  • [–] 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

    I'm Australian, but some of the older switchboards in industrial installations are similar in appearance to the top image.

    The middle would have a busbar (or three if it's a three phase panel) that connects the circuit breakers to the main switch. The cables are connected to the far left and far right sides of the breakers.

    It could be different in the US, though, if anyone with more relevant experience wants to chime in.

    Edit: looking back at the top image, I'm reminded that the US uses split phase in some places, so that top panel likely has two busbars down the middle.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago* (1 child)

    Varies with installation type, age, and scale, but one common approach is to daisy chain the breakers via rails that carry each phase. I couldn't find a good picture, but basically the rails and breakers are standardized so that a row of breakers will line up with the-rail terminals, so when you connect the rail to the mains you're good to go. On the output of the breaker it's common to use cable ducts to keep everything nice and tidy.

    EDIT: Found a picture:

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 child)

    american version would probably only have two phases at best, and possibly just one

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  • [–] 6 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Every building receives 240V and splits it into a pair of 120V phases. Three phase power is basically only installed at large industrial sites or very specialized shops.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago*

    here if you need anything over certain power (6kW; depends on country i guess) you need a three phase installation, and even if you get single phase, it's really handled as three phase split between single phase customers (a block gets three phase supply, then splits flats in three groups, each group gets connected to one phase). this gets supplied by a distribution transformer that might serve somewhere around 200 people per (in residential areas)

    i understand that sometimes americans also get distribution like this, with 208/120 three phase coming from substation, without 240v available

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    Why is everything sideways in the American one? From the numbers on the switches to the warning labels.

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago

    2 big reasons for that:

    1. Fits better between studs as the other commenter stated
    2. Easier and cleaner to route the 2 power phases. US plugs are famously ~120V but what many don't realize is that's a single phase of 120V, and there's two phases that go into the breaker box. By combining the +120VAC and -120VAC phases you get a full 240VAC for higher power appliances like stoves, dryers, heat pumps and electric vehicles.
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