Quote:
Originally Posted by ppppenguin
Since the US has a lower voltage supply than the UK the transformers need to be closer to people's houses to minimise voltage drop without spending a lot of money on thicker wires. So in urban and suburban areas in the UK is common practice to have a transformer in each street rather than one for every few houses.
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Good point, 120 volts does require more copper and aluminum on the LV lines. I used to think the USA, Japan and the other places with 120 volts, did not have to be as thrifty with raw materials.
I noticed that the pole lines in Europe do not normally follow secondary roads but run direct from substations to villages across field and wood. A large, square pole-mount trans in a nearby field drops to 240 -3 phase WYE and 4 wires run from there in and around the village. In a small village in Germany, it seemed to hop from house to house as if walls were utility ppoles
