240v vs 230v

[Squiffy]

For many years and even now I refer to 240volts for the mains voltage in the UK, however on the occasions that I've had to test the mains over the last 10 or 15 years I've noticed that the value has been less than 240v and closer to 230v. This I have always assumed was due to mis reading of my trusty volt meter and as it really made no difference to me I just excepted the reading. But since I've had solar panels on my house roof I've noticed that the grid voltage reading on the inverter also shows 230-237volts variable over a period, so when Trevor asked if the mainland voltage was different to Ireland I decided to look it up and found that the UK national grid voltage was reduced to 230volts in 1996 with an allowed variance of -5 to +10% to come into line with the continent who use 220v to 230v. It seems that this had gone un announced to the general public when it happened as unless you were involved in specialised electrical installations, it as I've always thought made little difference to the operation of so called 240v applications. .Phil

 

[wildebus]

The official voltage in the Harmonised European Electrical system (that includes the UK) is indeed 230V and been for a pretty long time.

I still call it 240V (despite Trev the Skoda complaining each time) as that is what it always was referred it traditionally plus I don't ever see 230V anyway. It is very rare that I ever see under 240V and the average is alway higher.

If you want an example of a common device that is impacted by the voltage difference, it is a Microwave (albeit only by a few percent).

 

[Squiffy]

Very odd Dave, as I mentioned, for a long time I personally have never seen 240v or above it's always shown as between 230 and 237volts maybe in different areas the voltage is slightly different depending on which type of generator is supplying the grid. As for the microwave I'm sure that other appliances are affected in principle but not noticeable or recordable to the general public. Phil

 

[wildebus]

I just had a look for the last 30 days .... The Red line is 240V. There are 3 times the voltage line has dipped below 240V (lowest being 238.7V) but usually averaging about 244V I would say.

EHU is plugged in, so Voltage out = Voltage in. (When the EHU is not in, the Inverter is set to output 230V which is the default.)

 

[Squiffy]

This is a screen shot of my solar inverter details from today and as you can see the grid voltage is 238v which is actually higher than usual. As I said maybe different areas have different voltages when supplied by generators I.e. Hydro as opposed to Nuclear or even fossil fueled stations. Phil.

 

[trevskoda]

240 is the max voltage on items and depending how close to a transformer you are, but 230v is in fact the standard middle of the rd voltage, items normally stat 220/240v to which they work safely within.