Which country has the safest domestic electrical system?
The difference in the two systems is the Hz cycle or period of the sine wave in the alternating current. Alternating current is delivered in a sine wave alternating from a positive voltage to a negative voltage. The standard in different countries vary by the way their distribution system was originally designed and installed. In the beginning there was different systems that used varying hz. The idea Edison used the light bulb to base the 60 hz cycle on is not correct because a filament in a bulb is a resistor that heats up and emits light. It has no preference on the cycle. A florescent bulb however does because of the balast but that is another discussion. Finally, the idea the US distributed 110 volts on the bottom wire of a light pole is also false. These wires are 480 volts + and then reduced by a transformer to two 110 volt leads that go into a residential house. In a commercial building, the power is sent in at 480 volts (a lot of times) and distributed then transformed down. m
I don’t think there is a clear answer here. There are 3 main dangers from electricity. Shock, Arc Flash and fire. There is no doubt that the higher voltages used outside North America would be a higher risk from shock but there is better protection so the higher risk is mitigated. The lower voltages in North America mean higher currents for the same power and so more risk of fire and arc flash. This, in my opinion, would make for a less safe system especially with no good standards for terminations and “opt outs” in the code book for good grounding/neutrals.
