00crashtest
Senior Member
- Location
- California
- Occupation
- electrician trainee
Gas-powered clothes dryers, ovens, cooktops, and ranges use 120 volts for their control panel. As a result, manufacturers have opted to save money on their high-powered all-electric heating appliances, which require 240 V for the heating elements, by keeping the same 120 V control components. This means they use both 120 V and 240 V simultaneously, and is why electrical clothes dryers, baking ovens, cooktops, and ranges need the 3rd leg (pre-1996) or the 4th leg (for circuits installed since the 1996 NEC), which is the neutral. I could not find any information online regarding 240 V kitchen and laundry appliances in the United States and Canada that do not also use 120 V. Of course, internationally, such as in the Philippines and South Korea, which use only 240 V but at 60 Hz, I have seen people on online forums saying that the government has mandated that new appliances be 240 V-only (either by integrating a small transformer inside or using 240-volt individual parts) because having the user install an external step-down transformer is too much of a hassle.
In my case, I want to install 240 V receptacles in the garage to enable supplying high-powered portable equipment such as power tools and portable Level 2 EVSEs. Since I have to go through the hassle of installing the brand-new circuits anyway, I want to make them as flexible as possible. Power tools such as compressors and welders only use 240 V, so they do not need a neutral. Same with Level 2 EVSEs. I want to be able to take my EVSE whenever I travel beyond the metropolitan area, especially when I visit an RV park, so I will not consider installing a fixed wall charger. Like in most houses built since the late 1970s, the laundry appliances are currently located within the laundry room in the air-conditioned part of the house. However, it is most likely that I will not need to use all 3 bays of my garage for parking, even in the long run, so I might want to move the laundry equipment to the unused garage bay to make more open space for the habitable part of the house. Washers use only 120 V at under 15 A, so they are not a problem at all. However, all-electric washers require 240 V for the heating elements. Additionally, I may want to place another cooking range in the garage for the one time per month I cook pungent foods to avoid stinking up the habitable part of the house.
I do not want to install the neutral conductor because it is a waste of money and material when they are not needed. So, are there any all-electric full-size clothes dryers, baking ovens, cooktops, and ranges available on the market in the United States (specifically California) that use 240 volts only when I want to use them in the garage perhaps 5 years later? I generally do not mind the warranty, so I would be open to using used (which are out of warranty anyway) commercial electric appliances too. Of course, I can always import one from the Philippines or South Korea, but the shipping costs would be astronomical and there would be no warranty from using the product out of their intended territory, and it would be cheaper to just install the neutral conductor.
In my case, I want to install 240 V receptacles in the garage to enable supplying high-powered portable equipment such as power tools and portable Level 2 EVSEs. Since I have to go through the hassle of installing the brand-new circuits anyway, I want to make them as flexible as possible. Power tools such as compressors and welders only use 240 V, so they do not need a neutral. Same with Level 2 EVSEs. I want to be able to take my EVSE whenever I travel beyond the metropolitan area, especially when I visit an RV park, so I will not consider installing a fixed wall charger. Like in most houses built since the late 1970s, the laundry appliances are currently located within the laundry room in the air-conditioned part of the house. However, it is most likely that I will not need to use all 3 bays of my garage for parking, even in the long run, so I might want to move the laundry equipment to the unused garage bay to make more open space for the habitable part of the house. Washers use only 120 V at under 15 A, so they are not a problem at all. However, all-electric washers require 240 V for the heating elements. Additionally, I may want to place another cooking range in the garage for the one time per month I cook pungent foods to avoid stinking up the habitable part of the house.
I do not want to install the neutral conductor because it is a waste of money and material when they are not needed. So, are there any all-electric full-size clothes dryers, baking ovens, cooktops, and ranges available on the market in the United States (specifically California) that use 240 volts only when I want to use them in the garage perhaps 5 years later? I generally do not mind the warranty, so I would be open to using used (which are out of warranty anyway) commercial electric appliances too. Of course, I can always import one from the Philippines or South Korea, but the shipping costs would be astronomical and there would be no warranty from using the product out of their intended territory, and it would be cheaper to just install the neutral conductor.
