In fact, if you don’t know that there are two types of outlets, these will be the ones that you think of as ubiquitous. You will recognize these outlets anywhere in your home. Microwaves, refrigerators, and dishwashers are examples of examples that will function perfectly fine on 120 volt outlets. Most everyday appliances only need enough electricity for a 120 volt outlet. But as it turns out, both the 120 volt and 240 volt alternatives can be beneficial, depending on your needs (and appliances). You may think that the safe route, then, is to simply go with 120 volt outlets throughout your home.

A 240 volt outlet, on the other hand, is larger, with room for three individual plugs or four plugs of varying size. The first image that comes to mind will tend to be 120 volt it’s the one you use to plug in anything from your vacuum cleaner to your phone charging cable. You can distinguish between a 120 volt outlet and a 240 volt alternatively relatively easily. Ignore that fact, and your conductors can overheat, leading to significant fire hazards. Not every electrical wire (and outlet) can handle higher voltage, such as 240 volts. Of course, that means you have to be very careful. The more quickly and harder the individual electrons are pushed through your electrical wiring, the more power they will provide to the outlet. Think of electrical currents in your home as pressure. You will find them both in your home but how are they actually different, and why do you need to know the difference to begin with? That’s what this post will examine. Any time you do electric work in a home, or even need or want to move your appliances around, you need to understand the difference between 120 and 240 volt outlets.

220 volts plug