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B M E

Jul 29, 2005, 7:01 AM

Post #1 of 2 (3302 views)

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220 V vs 110 V

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I have several friends in Puerto Escondido, Oax. that have 220 V electric services that feed their homes. The services are somehow "Center Tapped" to provide the normal 110V feed. Two such 220V homes have similar consumption levels as my home with standard single phase 110V service drop. In both cases their electric bill averages about 30% less than mine. Can anyone explain why this is the case and the pros and cons of going the 220V route? The previous owner of my house installed a three phase service on the property. Still in place, but not connected is a three phase 30 kVA pole mounted transformer. Someone opined that I should investigate having this transformer reconnected and feed my house with it. He said that I would receive a price reduction from CFE for having my own transformer feeding the house. I would appreciate any comments as to how I might proceed.

B M E

johanson / Moderator

Jul 29, 2005, 2:37 PM

Post #2 of 2 (3273 views)

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Re: [B M E] 220 V vs 110 V

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A watt is a watt, be it delivered at a potential difference of 110 volts, 220 volts, or 440 volts.

You are billed by the number of watts per hour you use. If you want a certain amount of light or heat, you are going to use the same # of watts whether you use 110 or 220 voltage. It's just that at twice the voltage, the amperage will 50% of what it was at half the voltage (I am assuming that the 110 volt appliance or light bulb has the same efficiency as the 220 volt unit.)

Now CFE does have different billing rates for different types of connections, but I didn't remember that the rates got cheaper if you supplied some of their equipment, but I might be wrong. Why not got go to GOOGLE and enter "CFE Mexico" and check out what they say on their web page.

If you don't read Spanish, with a little guessing, you should still be able to figure out their web page.

Now just to confuse you, most homes in my neighborhood have three legs not two. We have three faze. Each leg has a voltage of about 122 to 127 volts. Because the electricity is 3 phase each leg is 120 not 180 degrees out of phase with the other. Total potential difference is not twice the 122 to 127 volts of each line but about 87% thereof.

(This post was edited by johanson on Jul 29, 2005, 9:51 PM)