That is simply not the case, unless you want to burn your house down.
I’m well aware of Ohm’s law, and how voltage, amperage and power relate to each other. What is often ignored is how current and power dissipation relate to each other:
P=(I^2)*R. That is why you cant just switch out breakers and receptacles, because the 14 ga wire rated for 10 amps has a higher resistance than the 12 ga wire rated for 20. If you want 240 V 20 amp power out of a regular outlet, you’ll need to re-wire the circuit, changing 14 ga to 12 ga. Note that the power dissipation only relies on amperage and resistance, so even running 20A 120V on 14 ga wire is not a good idea.
Again, without major re-wiring of a circuit, you cannot run a big heater, a small welder or a good electric kettle from a standard outlet in North America, even if you replace the breaker and receptacle, unless you want to risk a fire.
If you have a 120 volt 20 amp circuit, the wires are 12 gauge. Or your electrician shorted you on wire and your wiring is not up to code. Meaning you live where there is no code enforcement, such as a rural location. Or you live in a location with a very corrupt building inspector.
If you are using 14 gauge wire legally, your circuit is 15 amps. OK for the bedrooms and living room, but not the kitchen. If that was converted over to 240 volts, you would use the proper circuit breaker for 14 gauge wires, not one for 12 gauge wires, which is what you are trying to do, based on how you worded it. You would need a 15 amp circuit breaker at 240 volts, not a 20 amp breaker.
15 amps at 240 volts is 3600 watts. Still double the watts at 120 volts, which is only 1800 watts. Same 14 gauge wires, regardless of voltage. There is such a thing as a 15 amp 240 volt circuit breaker.
I am led to believe you are a bit confused by articles warning people who do their own home wiring circuit upgrades and get into all kinds of trouble because they replaced a 15 amp circuit breaker with a 20 amp, but kept the same 14 gauge wires, and had an electrical fire. Voltage doesn’t determine wire size required. Amperage determines wire size. 20 amp = 12 gauge. 15 amp = 14 gauge. 30 amp = 10 gauge.
Who sells an industrial heater, welder or whatever else requiring 240 volts with a 120 volt NEMA plug? This would be mixing apples and oranges. There are 240 volt NEMA plugs for these industrial applications. Like I said earlier, you would have to get one from overseas, and then the plug would still need to be changed, solving nothing.
You can buy small inverter welders that run on 120v. You can’t plug them into standard 15A circuits. In much of the rest of the world, you can run a big heater or a small welder from ANY outlet in your home. That simply is not the case in North America, and that is an inconvenience for many people. We have the Suzy Homemaker of electrical service compared to Europe.
But you are correct by implying the average person should not be messing with the wiring. I keep forgetting that I grew up on a farm, had assorted high school shop classes all four years, went to trade school at night for a few more years, and worked inside tool and die shops for almost 25 years. Most people don’t get that level of training.
What would you weld with a small welder? Every welder that I ever used required 60 amps, 240 volts, single phase.
I have a guy I use for all my household electrical and plumbing because I won’t touch it LOL. He is a master electrician and a journeyman plumber whatever that means.
But he will not even shop online for anything so I guess we all have our areas of expertise.
So, basically anything 3/16" or smaller. Very handy thing to have around.
In Europe, you can rent pretty much any apartment, and say “I’m gonna use this room as a shop”, and have all your equipment work. In North America, you would have to get permission from a landlord before spending lots of money, or, if you own the home, you’d still have to spend lots of money.
OK. I was acclimated to welding big stuff found on the farm and in tool and die shops. Anything close to a heavy sheet metal gauge wouldn’t even be considered a candidate for welding. Then it would be time to break out the acetylene gas welder.
Europe has quite a few codes that I don’t believe are safe, such as what you describe. A good example is how Europe builds high speed passenger trains that would be considered 100% unsafe because they lack any crash protection safeguards relative to the old Budd and Pullman Standard equipment for passengers.
I also believe Europe can do what it wants to do. Just don’t impose it on me.
As for getting permission from your landlord, a wise landlord would put that into the lease. My brother rents out a three bedroom ranch, and he has any modification made by the renter being a violation of the lease.
I see things the other way around.
I feel that the crappy infrastructure here imposes on me, and makes it almost impossible to use certain tools where I live, whereas if we had real advanced electrical service, like Germany, people would still be free to only use little low-current Suzy Homemaker appliances at home if that made them feel safer.
Europe uses 240 volt service. North America uses 240 residential service. I already told you how it is 240 service at the panel and certain circuits. Converting back and forth between 120 volt split phase and 240 volt single phase is not difficult.
Now as for your landlord, that is between you and your landlord. Just like with buying a home with a mortgage, buying a vehicle, or leasing a vehicle, read the fine print on the legal documents.
To me, it sounds more like your landlord won’t let you make modifications per the lease. This is more of a legal problem than one of electrical standards.
120 volts is adequate. On a single 120 volt 20 amp circuit in my kitchen I have my refrigerator, my 1000 watt microwave oven, and the 1500 watt toaster oven. The circuit breaker never trips. On the other 20 amp circuit, I run whatever else.
120v may be adequate for you, it isn’t for me.
Here, converting a circuit to 240 entails hiring an electrician, getting the work inspected and passed, all at considerable cost, money I would lose if and when I move, not to mention the old building in which I live uses fuses, not breakers, so, chances are any work would entail a whole new panel.
Not having access to real power is a real pain in the ass.
Having only 120v may be no big deal for you, but for me, its a real drag, as it prevents me from doing things I wish to do.
How much of an asshole is your landlord? If I wanted 240 and had access to the panel I would have it. Even fuses run 240v. I know I have a panel that used to use it for for a water heater in my basement. Im in the trades and I cant even remember the last time I saw a house that didnt have 240.
OK, now you added a new aspect that I was not aware of. Yes, an electrician is required to take out that old 120 volt fusebox and replace it with a circuit breaker panel. While at it, I suspect the wiring is still “knob and tube” inside the walls and needs to be replaced. At minimum, the insulation is still cloth doped with rubber that is most likely cracking and brittle. Those wires need to go.
Seeing as you are leasing the place, all of this is the responsibility of your landlord. Now, if it was my own home that I owned, I would have replaced it as soon as I signed off on the mortgage with the bank. It sounds like your landlord is gambling, playing the odds that there won’t be any electrical fires.
But why put yourself at risk in a building that has such old wiring with an old fuse panel that is most likely suffering from its own issues?
I find it surprising that fuses are still available in your location. Around here, I have not seen a box of fuses at a hardware store in 40 years. They must be special ordered. The only fuses are of the tiny glass pencil type and the automotive type.
My landlord is a slumlord, but I still pay pre-covid rent rates here in the People’s Constitutional Monarchy of Canada. I have put up with rats, bad power, bad drains, etc, but my landlord, slumlord that she is, is operating this joint on razor-thin margins as it is, and for me, economic realities trump any sense of entitlement I may like aspire to. I pay very little for my little one-bedroom in a rural area, and I have a real yard, a little garden, kids to teach how to shoot pellet guns (Canada, eh?) and so on.
I’m sure I could do what I want with the panel, and the landlord wouldn’t care too much, but the other tenants are safety Karens, and then do I want to invest money in tearing out some walls to run 12 ga wire?
If this place was like, say, Germany, I’d already have enough power in every freakin outlet, and none of this would be an issue.
That does explain alot, and I do feel bad for you Canadians and your housing prices. Where I live housing can still be affordable. I rent a house to a friend for $775 a month and its a real good deal for him but I know he takes care of it. If he wanted 220 somewhere Id put it in for him.
I’ve seen basement rooms for rent for more than 775 Snow Pesos up here.
For a dirt-poor Canadian, I have it pretty good, rats and all.
Mind you, I wouldn’t take it too much amiss to become a protectorate, but man, those US federales scare me. Her in Canuckistan, we have an army of burocrats, and very few actual cops, Americans seem to have actual heavily armed armies of…well everything from Dept. of Educations and so on. That being said, in the USA you can still go into business and make actual money without going through the bureaucratic fist-f**k that us lemmings up here have to deal with.
They keep tryin’ though…
Anarchy WORKS.
I have been to 48 states, plus Canada. The only time I had a problem with the federal government was at the border crossing in Port Huron, Michigan. The Gestapo agents spent 8 hours falsely accusing me of all kinds of illegal activities related to moving freight by truck. Let’s see, wrong commercial driver’s license, wrong license plate on the tractor, wrong license plate on the trailer, incorrect permit papers, and being a Canadian trying to sneak in.
After 8 hours, shift change. New Gestapo. I am free to go. Here are all the papers, vehicle registrations, and my CDL. Why? “Well, you have to understand that it is the end of the month, we need to meet our quota, and we came up short this month. Your company is an easy mark.”
My response was telling them that the next time they pull that stunt with me, I am shutting down for a break. When trying to force me to leave, I am calling Michigan Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement, explaining to them that I need sleep because you clowns have kept me wide away for the past X hours, and now I am unsafe to drive. That officer will put me out of service for another 10 hours at minimum and give me his direct phone number. That way, every time you come out here and harass me, I can call him so he can show up with his reinforcements. The result will be to arrest you and occupy his jail for violating federal law, which says that it is illegal to bother a driver on his break unless it is a real emergency, such as the trailer is on fire or a tornado is heading this way. Occupying your parking lot does not constitute a real emergency. Then I walked out. That was the last time I was in Canada.
If I ever go back to Canada, it will be for that road trip to Alaska and back. I will cross the border out west, somewhere in rural North Dakota or Montana, where common sense still prevails.
Oddly, I never had any issues with the county sheriff’s deputies. If I ever had a breakdown on the side of the road, they were always most understanding and even helpful.
Edit:
You should have seen the sideways looks on their faces with slack jaws when I called them out. Definitely not expecting that from me.
In the 1990s, I ran a small business in Vancouver, BC. No permit, no licence, just me, some tools, an invoice booklet and a motorcycle, so pretty much no overhead. When business was slow, I would work a bit for this temp agency (whose owner I met doing some work for him). When I had jobs that needed a helper or even a crew, I would just give the customer the temp agency business card, and give him a list of people who I knew to be competent, and tell the customer to drop my name, thus I was able to run crews with no payroll or overhead.
I did business with the RCMP, big Canadian banks, and the like as a totally “black market” business. That sort of freedom is now totally eradicated in this country.
Towards the end of the 90s, the BC gov’t stated cracking down on my sector, making it much much harder to get contracts.
Oh, the business was installation of office furniture, building cubicles, and the like.
Awesome.
On a similar slack-jawed deer-in-the-headlings-look, I was once in the Quebec equivalent of the DMV, paying to be allowed to drive a vehicle around, and there were posters on the wall talking about how “violence and intimidation will not be tolerated.”
I mentioned the irony of this to the agent who finally dealt with me, and she said “What do you mean?”, so I told her that if it were not for the threat of violence and intimidation, no-one would even be in this office. Cue the slack-jawed look.