Cost Effective
Cost Effective
(OP)
I am wondering what benefit would you get from running a 1hp motor at 208vac vs 115vac. A customer has been told it would be cheaper to run the motor off of 208vac. The customer is having no problem running the motor off of 115.
two questions
Will the motor run cooler?
Would it ultimately be cost effective to swap to 208vac?
two questions
Will the motor run cooler?
Would it ultimately be cost effective to swap to 208vac?





RE: Cost Effective
RE: Cost Effective
In fact, 1 phase motors are designed for 230V 1 phase because technically there is no such thing as 208V single phase distribution so they don't design for it. What you have is 2 phases off of a 3 phase distriution panel (the phase angles are 120 degrees instead of 180). So at 208V, although still within tolerance for the motor, you will be pulling MORE current than if operating at design voltage, so the motor would run warmer than at 115V.
JRaef.com
Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read FAQ731-376
RE: Cost Effective
I also agree with JRaef, single phase motors are typically designed for 115V/230V, so they're not built for 208V. There's also no 208V single phase. If they have 208V then they have 3-phase power in the building so put in a 3-phase motor which should be more efficient and require less maintenance.
RE: Cost Effective
Single-phase motors nameplated for 200 V may be hard to find, but 208 V single-phase is often used for other types of loads.
As far as the OP question, though, I agree that there is little to no benefit of changing from 120 V to 208 V, even if you could find a suitable motor.
RE: Cost Effective
RE: Cost Effective
The higher voltage means you can buy a smaller wire size and related controls.
RE: Cost Effective
You're right, assuming the two motors are roughly the same cost - but the 200V motor may cost more than the 110 V motor.