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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BillM" data-source="post: 3666225" data-attributes="member: 45785">Not actually true about the efficiency, at least for resistance heaters. They are actually 100% efficient. An electrical device that is 80% efficient only turns 20% of the power applied to it into heat. If all the electricity going into the device comes out as heat, and that is it's intended purpose, it is 100% efficient, regardless of applied voltage. What a 220V heater can do is put out way more heat than a 110V heater in a given amount of time, because it can handle more input power. Most household wiring is 110VAC, 15amp circuits. Some circuits, like the one(s) in the kitchen and laundry room may be 110VAC, 20amp circuits. Power(in Watts) is Voltage time Current. 120V time 15A is 1800 Watts. 120Vx20A=2400 Watts. That is the maximum current draw at maximum voltage. Most houses, you don't really get 120V. Mine runs about 110-115, which will change the maximum current I can draw. For 220V circuits, common wiring can be from 20 to 50 amps of current. 220Vx20A=4400 Watts. 220Ax30A=6600W, and 220Vx50A=11000W. As you can see, more power can give you more heat. You're also going to get heating in the wires in your house, so you really don't want to run maximum current through your wiring all the time.  Most equipment will not draw as much power as the circuit is supposed to be able to provide. If you try to run the coffee maker, the microwave, and the dishwasher all at once, and they're on the same circuit, you'll find out what that does. None of them draws the maximum power the circuit can provide, which for a kitchen circuit should be 110V 20A, but the more equipment you run, the closer you get. When you exceed that current, the circuit breaker is supposed to trip, and drop power to the circuit. If it doesn't work, or work fast enough, the wiring in the walls gets hotter, and hotter, and eventually the insulation on the wires melts, and then you'll probably get a short circuit that throws sparks and molten metal inside your wall. A fire is the usual result of that. Watch the news this winter, and you'll see several stories about houses burning, and folks dying because of an electrical fire. Try not to be one of them. Bill</blockquote>

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