dbd33

The yuts on my team buy records, of course. The fact that I have the turntable with which I emigrated makes me marginally less uncool. I don't listen to it, I stick the Sennheisers on my head and Spotify with my phone, even if I have the record, but I don't tell them that.

ribblerider

As an electrical engineer that's possibly moving to Canada with my better half, I have already been looking at various devices around the house. I am relieved my Bower's Zeppelin is 110V - 240V and 50/60Hz so no dramas with that. Most electronic devices that plug into the mains will have a converter inside that has a wide voltage operating range and can operate in both 50 and 60Hz areas. In theory my TV should be fine also (not read the label yet).

Items such as kettles, irons etc that use a direct AC supply should also be designed to work in both 50/60Hz areas but may have a limited operating voltage of 220 - 240V. My own kettle does so chuffed with that as it's a decent one! So if we have a place with 220V sockets, no dramas there.

I do often wonder why Canada never followed the UK back in the day in terms of voltages and Hz within the home, but I guess due to the proximity of the US and transmission network inter-connectivity, it probably did make more sense to follow the US system. HVDC converter technology did not really exist back then either as in today's modern world, that's how networks of other Countries are connected if their systems are not in 'sync' even though they could be the same frequency.

Pulaski

I doubt you will have a 220V socket convenient for a kettle (the only 220V sockets you usually find in a domestic setting are for the cooker* and the clothes dryer, and both are on, or near to the floor), and 220V plugs are massive compared to any ordinary plug. You might be able to rig up a 220V socket for your kettle, but that might mean a lot of faffing around, including cutting holes in the walls to route the cable, if the breaker box isn't near to the kitchen.

* If you need a new electric cooker, consider getting an induction cooker/ stove, and then an "old fashioned" stove top kettle - an induction cooker can dump more than 2Kw, or even 3Kw into a kettle and be way quicker than any plug-in kettle, and you can boil as little as a cup of water, so it can be super-quick using a kettle on an induction stove.
Same as for cars and the side of the road they drive on - Canada is by far the largest former British colony that drives on the right - all the rest - Oz, NZ, all the countries in southern and east Africa, plus India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and several others in Asia, and numerous islands around the world all drive on the left, and being Uncle Sam's neighbour is the only reason that Canada is the odd one out.

ribblerider

Yeah if thats the case... cheaper just to get another kettle!

Pizzawheel

I recall looking at a 220v stove plug to put on a nice soldering iron I'd brought over. Idea being I'd use the relatively accessible drier socket. The plug was like $40 alone so a new soldering iron was purchased...

Not quite! Nigeria switched to driving on the wrong side of the road to align with the surrounding coubtires, all formerly French west africa. Now they drive on any side of the road... check all directions for incoming, lol

CanadaJimmy

Just lop one off a broken dryer at the dump, haha

Pulaski

Anyone who has any sense removes the "pigtail" from their old dryer to attach to their new dryer. .... Both cookers and dryers in North America are supplied without the combined plug-powercord.

OrangeMango

It was probably more economical, as the US would have been the bigger trading partner, what technology was concerned. It's probably also a similar question on why Canada never drove on the left side. Or why wasn't soccer football made popular in Canada, same as Cricket, at least in summertime. It seems only the immigrants from India brought Cricket to Canada?

Even back in the day there was more business between the US and Canada than between the UK and Canada.

Pulaski

Probably something to do with 3,000 miles of ocean to the UK v 3,000 miles of land border with the US, which 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of, but that's just a wild guess on my part.

OrangeMango

An excellent explanation. It's also about industrial norms and standards and ease of production and export markets towards the bigger neighbour. Just more a question of practicality than anything else.

Australia and NZ even though far away from the UK don't have that kind of big neighbour as Canada has with the US.