It depends on the appliance. Some pure resistance heating units will work okay but with a lower thermal output. Other appliances will work if there are internal jumpers that can be reset for 208V operation or terminal blocks that can be rewired for 208V. This is especially true for appliances that have an internal transformer. Other appliances just wont work at all.
Peter T. Parrish, California Solar Engineering Ph. (323) 839-6108, Fax. (323) 258-8827 From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Marco Mangelsdorf Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 12:27 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] 208 V 240 in residential applications So is this 3-phase system up and running and providing power to single-phase (120 to ground) circuits AND split-phase-requiring circuits (240 phase to phase)? I would think that there would be no problem with the single-phase circuits (if there are any). But what about those split-phase circuits getting that lower voltage 208 volts not @ 180 degrees out of phase but 120 degrees? Sounds like kind of a scary experiment . marco Friends: I feel sort of stupid asking this, but it has never come up for me before: I have inherited an off-grid install gone-wrong. The system is 208 three phase with Sunny Boys and Sunny Islands on a mini grid. It was designed as three phase. I presume this was to increase capability with stacked SMA inverters. Will the household appliances (small cooktop, booster pump, well pump) run as well on 208 as 240? I always do my research before wasting all of your time. The web delivered a lot of forums wherein opinions were expressed, but little hard data from bona fide professionals. I also did some calculations, see below. I downloaded a manual from a random electric range and saw it was specified as 240 or 208. Watts 4000 Volts 240 208 Amps 16.67 19.23 % Difference in amps 13.33% I am fairly comfortable that this is not an issue, but would like some confirmation. Thanks in advance. William _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org