A few electrical thoughts written as my trusty air conditioner hums away, sucking down that expensive MERALCO power, for which I am very grateful.
It’s the height of the summer here on Luzon … summer peaks much earlier here than it does in more temperate latitudes, and this summer has been the hottest of the three I have been in so far.
A lot of people have questions about the power, and about bringing appliances here to the Philippines. I started to write a separate post and then realized I had already written a lot of them, so here’s most of what you need to know. feel free to write with any specific questions which I have failed to cover … and stay warm, or stay cool, wherever you may be.
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Remember when choosing appliances, our power is about the most expensive on earth, 7 to 20 times per kilowatt hour what many of you in the US are paying, so think things through carefully. It’s easy enough to get 110 volt power here, by either wiring modifications or auxiliary transformers, but 110 volt appliances use twice the power to do the equal work of a 220 device, and any transformer will use up at least another 10% that is totally wasted.
I always wonder as I sit here in the ‘rest of the world’ which is almost universally 220 volt, and listen to the supposed ‘experts’ in the US rant on about ‘green power’ and ‘reducing dependence on foreign oil’ and all the other politically-motivated claptrap, why they can’t see the simple physics in every circuit breaker panel.
Virtually every house is wired for 220 as well as 110 volts, and 220 volt appliances will cut consumption by about 50% … so why aren’t we smart enough to use them? I don’t know of another developed and/or allegedly educated nation that uses 110 the way the US does … it’s a bit mind boggling.
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Hi Dave,
You said “I don’t know of another developed and/or allegedly educated nation that uses 110 the way the US does” – try Canada. We bring in 220 V to the breaker panel and then split it into 2 X 110 volt lines. All “portable” appliances run on 110, but the 220 V line can be used for motors, Aircon, etc. I agree, straight 220V is better as we have over here in Europe. Our electric water kettle is 220V 3000W – boy does that heat water fast!
Yes John I cvommited an unpardonable sin there … I negele4cted the very real political and sometimes real cultural border between our cuntries and instead wrote as if the border less power grid was all that matters. Especially around Lake Erie … ie in the heart of Canadian population centers, you can’t separate Canadian and US power. I’m sure my Canadian readers are kind enough to grant me such editorial license … or maybe not. I’ll stay south of the border for a few years just to be sure
As I pondered my living here, I was living in a rental that was split 110/220, my young girls hade tapeplayers and such, that I’d given to the that were 110, as they fried them by plugging 110 into 220, and I had to keep replaceing fuses in each unit I brokedown and made a total switch to 220. I purchased all my power tools in Sindapore (1/2 the price of P.I.) and while building my house I made sure it was wired 220 only .I learned the hard way about transformers and their cost (both to purchase and use). I had to install a transformer in my Maytag Cloths Dryer as it came needing both 110 and 220 (I purchased it here in Olongapo and could not use it until I figured that out). My power bill runs between 6,000 to 8,000.00 pesos a month, as I will not give up on my toys. And a 1100KW Honda Generator for the many many brownouts that happen every week, here in Bataan. So… That above was good advise, I wish I read it 10 years ago.
The mixed voltage idea always sounds better thna it works out to be. I have a freind who lives in a community in Angeles City which was buikt as rental housing for Clark AB. The houses there were all wired with 110 and 200 plugs side by side by design .. but as you found out, everyone from kids to the ‘old man of the house’ like me, get confuced and plug things in the wrong socket … in the long run it is uch better to go 200 only and have less hassle.
Your story about the dryer is interesting .. I brought a US washer and dryer (electric) with me. It’s also a practical thought to bring a gas dryer. If you ask for the proper orifice in the gas inlet you can run it on LPG stove gas, but US made gas dryers reqy=uire 110 to rub n the timer and turn the drum so you would still be fighting the dual-volt issue.
The washer we make good use of by using a heavy transformer I boughthere … this certainly waste spower … the transforemr gets plenty warm after sveral loads of clothes … but since the washer was already bought and paid for, I’ll just keep using it that way until something burns up or changes.
The dryer I never made a provison to plug in, it just sits in the laundry/dirty kitchen serving as a cupboard for plastic bags we re-use for trash. I could have had aplug installed for it, but the electrician convinced me the house needed about $400 USD in re-wiring work to make such a plug safe, and since it isn’t my house ,”Sparky” thus talked himself right out of a job.
We plan to buid soon in Zambales and the house there will be 220 only as well ,,, life is definitely simpler that way.
Does your electricion test wires with his tongue vice a volt meter? All that’s needed is to hard wire from your control box, which would not affect the house at all, useing the proper size breaker switch. Maybe he was building his house and needed money, I get that alot. I had one electricion (while I was at sea) just cut of the big plug and install a small 2 prong and fried the control box to the dryer. And then asked for P300.00 for his trouble. My wife paid him! Up here on my mountain power is sent by a two wire system vice 3 wire, that is why a transformer is required as explained to me by a retired Navy (e-7) EM (that’s a sparky).
Ha ha paul, actually the guy I am using right now uses ameter that I provide … otherwise he has atiny neon test lamp. The reason I don’t wire up the dryer is that the wiring from my meter to the servic epanel (circuit breaker panel) from the front of the house to the reear, is substandard and undersized. I could easily have it repaced, but at my expesne, and I have already invested more of my own money than I wish to in someone else’s house.
Many houses here have just a twi-wire service. Actually rhere is 110 on each wire and between the two, where your circuit breakers and laods are wired is 220. It’s essentially the same setup us in the US, except that in the US there is a third wire, called a neutral, which is 0 volts (but not ground), and thus in a US house, most of your loads are wired from one or the other 110 legs to neutral, yielding 110 volts, and circuits for electric range, dryer and such are wired from one 110 leg to the other 110 leg, yielding 220.
In my neighborhood a number of houses have been modified to insulate the steel cable that holds up the wires from the pole to the house, and connect that ‘messenger wire” as a neutral in the house and at the pole transformer.
I was in a newly constructed restaraunt building in Castellejos, Zambales just the other day and noticed that the building service was wired exactly that way, two wires from the pole trnaformer and the messenger cable insulated from the building and tied in as neutral. How close to US code this would be I don’t know, but it works fine here in the Phils.
The $400 quote was to make my service “quasi three wire”, replace the 220 only circuit breaker panel with a 110 and 220 capable panel and rewire every outlet in every room with new, ample gauge wire. very reasonable charge for that much work and materials, I think. If this were my house it would have been done a year ago, but as far as my landlord is concerned, pwede na. He lives in Chicago, where the streets are paved with gold from what I hear … I find it funny that a Filipino moves to the US to find a ‘better life’ and rents his house to a ‘kano’ who moves to the Philippines to find a “better life”. I guess it all boils down to personal preference, eh?
Hey what do I know about wireing? I was the Guy in the Navy who ran the Commersary, Navy Exchange’ Special Services and Clubs. But I do understand what you’re saying. My wife does use the drier (rainy season) and the American Washer to rince and spin only, all washing is done by hand. I saw no need to try to change a lifetimes way of doing things. No Ugly American Here!
What we really need is a plancha machine. Actually, we have a good one now, her name is Charley and she comes by every Sunday, but she’s smart and a hard worker and I’m afraid she’s going to move on to somehting better than ironing soon.