/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>2685533
Want some toast, fren?

>>1243888
Nope. The US was one of the first countries to really roll out electricity on a wide scale and it's a bit of a mess because of it. Remember, at first it was only used for lighting. If you wanted to run your toaster you had to screw it into a light socket. It is better than it was 100 years ago, though. Back then we used AC, DC, 60 Hz, 50 Hz, and voltages anywhere from 25 volts to 250 volts. Almost every local power utility was running its own 'standard' back then. So, while we were electrified before almost every else (yay capitalism) we also had a ton of different standard competing with each other for decades before the current 'standard' won out (boo capitalism).

110 and 220 are available in every building in the USA. Even residential homes. The difference is a home will only have a few things that need 220 (HVAC, stove, etc) while, for example, a light industrial building will typically have all of their machinery set to use 220. If a motor is a low horsepower type (2 HP or less) there is no point in making it 220 only, as it can run just fine on 110. The change needed to switch is trivial. You literally just swap a few wires. So, just about everyone makes smaller motors dual voltage here.