Why does the USA uses 110V 60 HZ AC

Ever since the entire world collectively decided that AC is superior to DC in terms of power distribution, it has seen widespread acceptance. Given that, many countries around the world still opt to adopt different standards in feeding electricity to residents. The USA for example, uses 110V 60Hz AC current, whereas Pakistan uses 220V 50Hz AC current. These differences may not seem like a big deal, but they are actually rooted in a feud between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

Before anyone knew whether AC or DC was better, Tesla and Edison fought out their discrepancies through intense experiments. Eventually, AC current won, and Westinghouse Electric in the US adopted the 110V AC 60Hz standard. As this became the standard for American power, European power companies arbitrarily decided to operate at 50Hz and push the voltage up to somewhere between 220-240V in order to improve distribution efficiency. So, most European counties adopted 240V AC 50Hz as standard, which eventually spread to parts of Asia, particularly Pakistan and India.

The earliest large-scale electricity distribution system developed in the US used DC at 110 V. Initially, this was used mainly for household lighting, but gradually newer methods of utilizing electricity were developed and appliances were made for this system. This proved to bring an imminent change in peoples’ lives and brought a lot of ease to daily life.

Even though the 230V power distribution is more globally commonplace, there are some advantages to the 110V; it could be considered safer and less prone to high voltage disasters. But this brings along its own disadvantages; that low voltage requires larger cables to ensure delivery of an adequate percentage of power, which would result in increased cable cost and maintenance.

At 110V, the insulation requirements are much less, which allows for the vast range of small, inexpensive connectors to be widely available throughout the US. However, observing the mains cable on a big appliance in the US, clarify exactly how much thicker, and wider in cross-section area, the cables are to accommodate the higher current necessitated by the lower, 110V, voltage.

All in all, the US still decides to keep using 110V as its standard supply level for power distribution because of the already overlaid system of networks and appliances that exists there and seems to work harmoniously. They have also made progress in terms of stability, accessibility, and load adequacy, among other factors. This is a system that works for them and one they have properly adapted to.

Liked it? Take a second to support on Patreon!