Whats the voltage of the Uk

Hi
Does anybody know what the voltage is in the Uk?
As my laptop charger has a rated voltage of 250V
I think its around 220v?

[phillw48]

Officially its 240 volt AC, same as most of the rest of Europe. In practice it can and does vary a little due to factors such as load and distance. When I and a few others took a model railway layout to France a few years ago we found the capacitators working the points didn't always work due to the voltage being about 220 volts.

[andrew67]

Wasn't it reduced to 220 or 230V several years ago?

[metrailway]

Jun 2, 2012 18:02:02 GMT andrew67 said:

Wasn't it reduced to 220 or 230V several years ago?

Used to be 240V, now it is 230V. Although I'm not sure, I think the change to 230V was to do with the EU.

It says 230v but thats on paper
I am sure its 240v all my lightbulbs say so I will have to buy a voltage meter to find out

[phillw48]

With the charger for your lap top it should not matter, it will only take a short while longer to recharge.

Looking on the internet it looks like the 230V is just on paper just to keep the EU happy.
According to the national grid power has always been 240v it has not been changed.
I remember in a hotel in London it said hotel main voltage 240v.
I think smaller appliances are 230v like toasters, kettles
But mains like friges lighting systems are 240v.
I know the tube is 630v

[etr220]

IIRC there are (globally) two basic nominal voltages for domestic current - 100-120 used in North America (and elsewhere) and 220-250v in Europe (and elsewhere). There is a specific nominal standard everywhere (in one or other range), with a permitted variation (+/- 10 or 20v). AIUI all modern electrical equipment should work on anything permitted in one or other range.

Britain and Continental Europe were different (in nominal terms) (240 & 220v I think) - but they were harmonised on one intermediate figure (227 or 230?) within the standard range of each - nothing actually changed (except labels)

So electricity is still 240v really but is just labeled as 230v?

[Chris M]

Yes.
The EU standardised on 230v but with a tolerance of ±10% or 207-253 V, so the 240V supplied is well within the tolerance.

I see
I think 240v is a better voltage rather than 220v in Europe.
When I took my laptop to Spain it took ages to charge up where in England it charges much quicker

[metman]

The thing about alternating current is that it is just that. The current can actually vary. This is why we use a 3 phase system to maximise the actual current that we need. In theory it is about 230v.

[Fahad]

Jun 2, 2012 19:55:30 GMT @jardine01 said:

I see
I think 240v is a better voltage rather than 220v in Europe.
When I took my laptop to Spain it took ages to charge up where in England it charges much quicker

I think such an effect is likely to be mostly psychological, as a laptop charger should contain a solid state voltage regulator and a current-limiting resistor, as well as smoothing capacitors, to ensure that voltage and current output are the same, despite variations in supply

[xercesfobe]

Jun 2, 2012 20:24:29 GMT metman said:

The thing about alternating current is that it is just that. The current can actually vary. This is why we use a 3 phase system to maximize the actual current that we need. In theory it is about 230v.

Umm! AC refers to the sinusoidal way the power is transmitted and has nothing to do with variations to voltage in this context.

3 Phase systems are used for Power Distribution and in every street homes are connected to one of the 3 phase to balance the load . 3 Phase power is transmitted at @ 415 volts between phases which is 240V phase to Ground. The 240v volts is derived for 415/ √3. this is due to the phase angle of the phase - phase power in a balanced load system. Where loads become unbalanced the voltage go our of phase with the current which results in lees efficient power transmission. The ideal system is where the load has the same impedance(AC resistance) as the supply.

Where voltage and current are out of phase this will cause the voltage to vary known as the Power Factor. Power Factor correction is where typically in line UPS's (Uninterpretable Power Supplies) vary the supply impedance to match the load. Many companies have this technology as the Power Supply Companies bill on consumption and the highest PF recorded.

XF

[maurits]

As mentioned a couple of times already, the UK’s nominal voltage used to be 240V but has been 230V since 1995, 17 years ago. The voltage supplied within various European countries was a hotchpotch with some countries nominally supplying about 40volts less than others. A mess like that is a nightmare for manufacturers as their products had to be tested for 255V that they might occasionally encounter in one country and for 200V that they might occasionally encounter in another.

That’s why the member states decided to harmonise on a nominal 230V (+/-10%) and electricity suppliers could gradually adapt to supplying that. It is now 230V across the EU and many other countries that typically align with the EU. That 10% tolerance is needed because it is notoriously hard to stabilise voltage across complex infrastructure that spans entire regions. You don’t want a device to break if it ever received 235V (which is not unthinkable) so devices are required to accept 10% more or less than nominal voltage.

I was living in a country with a nominal 220V when the decision to harmonise was taken and the power suppliers slowly upped the voltage over a period of ten years. After ten years with a 1v increase per year the voltage supplied was around 230V.

In the UK, if you look on an old toaster for instance it might still say 240V, if you buy a new toaster it will say 230V. Sometimes you’ll see “220V – 240V”. Manufacturers will always aim to stay as close to the 230V as possible as the sweetspot gives the least issues and allows them to develop one product that will work in over 170 countries.

17 years on you’ll still run in to people saying that nominal voltage is 220V, 240V or something else. It takes time I suppose…