[LonelyPlanet]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

So either I am right in suspecting that quality somewhere has gone for a toss post covid or energy star rating’s test for the measurement of annual units of electricity consumed has changed since 2017.

The reason is that all appliances are now based on inverter technology which uses less power.
My 366 pts whirlpool 4 star used 410 units while an 466 pts 2 star lg uses only 294

Yes I agree it’s difficult to find a 3 or 4 star refrigerator in market today. But the cost shoots up for these models

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by LonelyPlanet

The reason is that all appliances are now based on inverter technology which uses less power.
My 366 pts whirlpool 4 star used 410 units while an 466 pts 2 star lg uses only 294

The current refrigerator used at home is a 495lts LG smart inverter one which shows 243 units of power consumption annually on its 4 star energy sticker. This was bought in 2017 and I was hoping to get the same one if not the modern equivalent but somehow they all seem to be consuming more power these days so either something has changed post covid that effects the efficiency on these things, or the method to measure units of power consumed annually, has changed. I am trying to figure out what am I missing here.

[jomyboy]

Originally Posted by Sebring

The motor caught fire.
There was no residual oil since unit is brand new.

We have an internal WYZE cam. So it is quite interesting to watch.

My Kaff chimney had also caught fire last year around August time after 13 years. Even though we service it every month with deep cleaning every six months, the motor caught fire and it was scary to see smoke billowing from the chimney. The kitchen was unattened to at that time with something on the boil. Luckily, I was there at that moment to see it live in front of my eyes as I had come to the kitchen to have a glass of water. In all these years, never once had the chimney posed a problem, so I went ahead and ordered a replacement from kaff for the same.

[1.2GT3GT]

Originally Posted by R2D2

It's not just lower capacity wiring home owners need to worry about. Over time wire insulation deteriorates.

I had to have my home wiring completely redone in 2013 after a minor electrical fire caused by a short circuit which in turn was caused by compromised insulation and joints in the wiring.

Originally Posted by Aroy

The diameter of the wire coupled with its length determines how much it will heat up under rated load. Long wire runs will heat up more. As most of wiring is concealed, the heat has no where to escape, and in extreme cases of high load and hot ambient temperatures, the insulation will melt resulting in short circuits and in many cases fire.

Originally Posted by R2D2

We are constrained by the conduits installed during construction.

Putting in larger gauge wire was impossible due to lack of space in the conduit.

The last thing one needs is an electrical fire as it starts off within the walls and remains unseen till it's too late.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

One more thing to add to your list is that conduits should not be packed tight with cable. This increases heat and risk of fire.

Originally Posted by Aroy

In India the conduits are 1/2 inch and normally run on a hub-and-spoke fashion, so that each circuit has to be sized, but due to narrow conduits there is a limit to the number of wires you can run, as most of the space is taken up by insulation and not the conductor.

Ultimately if you are replacing the electrical wiring, it would be a good idea to also replace the conduits with larger diameter ones - 20mm instead of 12mm.

Great points from all the quoted posts (only content relevant to wiring conduits has been quoted from each of the posts to keep it short and easier to read).

I’m thinking of redoing the wiring in a 30+ year old house and I’m thinking whether I need to continue to be constrained by the space and heat evacuation limitations of the old wiring conduits.

I’m thinking why not just find a way to route the new wiring through some sort of interior wall cladding channels.

It may be an aesthetic nightmare to get this done all over the house, but I’m thinking it might be possible to make it look good through using some colours, patterns and/or designs on the cladding to match the interior paint and decor colours etc.

If this is indeed possible, it may make the installation and future troubleshooting/maintenance/upgrades much faster and safer.

Any thoughts from anyone on this proposed direction?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by 1.2GT3GT

.................

I’m thinking of redoing the wiring in a 30+ year old house and I’m thinking whether I need to continue to be constrained by the space and heat evacuation limitations of the old wiring conduits.

I’m thinking why not just find a way to route the new wiring through some sort of interior wall cladding channels.

...........................

In my opinion there is no need for new conduits. Modern wires have thinner (but better) insulation, so new wires can be accommodated with ease. Furter modern wires are multistranded, that is they are a bundle of thin (20 to 80 strands of 0.2mm to 0.3mm) where as the older wires had 3, 7 or 10 strands of 1mm to 2mm diameter. So modern ones are more flexible.

Further modern wires come in various heat retardant ratings. If you so desire get one with the best heat retardant rating.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

So either I am right in suspecting that quality somewhere has gone for a toss post covid or energy star rating’s test for the measurement of annual units of electricity consumed has changed since 2017.

Photo from around October 2022: Two identical IKEA lightbulbs, but different rating validity period = different star rating.



I assume the test criteria change every few years.

Besides that, the test conditions and rating criteria for different styles of the same broad appliance can be different. I am fairly sure I remember reading that window ACs have more lax criteria than split ACs. Could be similar for different styles of refrigerators (but don't quote me).

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by ron178

Photo from around October 2022: Two identical IKEA lightbulbs, but different rating validity period = star rating

I assume the test criteria change every few years.

Thanks yes I am hoping the measurement of annual units of electricity consumed is different, however I am not able to get any information to confirm this. I have never paid any head to star ratings even when it comes to the safety of cars, but I always make it a point to read the detailed reports and in this case the only details divulged are units of electricity consumed annually and my problem is that there is a huge difference in that number itself so if I could get some confirmation regarding whether or not they measure those units differently now compared to how they did so back in 2017, then that would put my mind to rest. Currently I am finding that there is an atleast 20-30% jump in the annual units of electricity consumed numbers that are published.

[itwasntme]

Folks, looking for a heavy duty stepdown transformer for a US appliance in India. It's an electric composter pulling around 500 watts and needs 4-10 hours to complete a normal cycle.

Hence a good quality heavy duty transformer is required. Any thoughts?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Folks, looking for a heavy duty stepdown transformer for a US appliance in India. It's an electric composter pulling around 500 watts and needs 4-10 hours to complete a normal cycle.

Hence a good quality heavy duty transformer is required. Any thoughts?

I used to source Shaw transformers for US made microwave ovens a long time ago. They made good quality transformers and their stabilizers were reliable.

A quick check showed that they are still around. Here is the link:https://www.maxineshah.com/step-down...-used-in-india

It might seem expensive at 5k for a 1 kVA product. But it is quite heavy - at least in those days.

[rajesh1868]

Any recommendation for a good BLDC ceiling fan? Had seen some earlier posts on issues with Atomberg. Is it still good? anything to watch out for?

[ads11]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Folks, looking for a heavy duty stepdown transformer for a US appliance in India. It's an electric composter pulling around 500 watts and needs 4-10 hours to complete a normal cycle.

Hence a good quality heavy duty transformer is required. Any thoughts?

Holy hell, that's a powerful composter! I didn't even realise you had electric ones. Had to look them up. https://www.theguardian.com/environm...droidApp_Other
Turns out it's a bit of a mixed bag..

Still, well done you for even thinking of composting. If that is what you're doing, composting food waste?

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Folks, looking for a heavy duty stepdown transformer for a US appliance in India. It's an electric composter pulling around 500 watts and needs 4-10 hours to complete a normal cycle.

Hence a good quality heavy duty transformer is required. Any thoughts?

You should be able to source one easily in Bangalore. They are not high-tech devices. Just make sure of good materials (good copper windings etc.), -- buy from a reliable source. 5.5k for a 1 kVA unit does sound expensive though.

I have had a whole bunch of them for decades (starting from 50 VA, all the way up to 3 kVA), and all are still working. Except for a couple of them brought with me from the US (including a big name 750 VA one), all others were sourced in India. One 300 VA unit (branded 'PONY') was bought in Bangalore.

I've even had two 2.5 - 3 kVA ones custom-made from local shops (for my two houses with 110V wiring). I have been running 110V devices and appliances off them for years (including 2 MWOs, food processors etc.). Some of those appliances quit after years, but the transformers themselves are still working just fine.
.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Folks, looking for a heavy duty stepdown transformer for a US appliance in India. It's an electric composter pulling around 500 watts and needs 4-10 hours to complete a normal cycle.

Hence a good quality heavy duty transformer is required. Any thoughts?

There are two types of transformers available

1. Autotransformer. Here the primary winding is for 240V and a tap at 110 volts is made. So one end of the coil is common.

2. Regular transformer with two coils, one primary for 240V and a second one for 110V wound on top of the primary coil.

The difference is that the first type is very inexpensive, but can suffer from feed back of higher voltage into the lower voltage end.

The second one is more expensive as there are two coils. You can also get one with a "screen" coil between two windings. This effectively not only isolates the two coils but also reduces the noise transmitted from one coil to other, notably high frequency noise.

I suggest that you get the second type. Just be sure that there are two coils and not the run of the mill auto transformer type.

[srini1785]

In addition to what has already been mentioned by many BHPans, i Just want to add that US generally uses a 110V , 60HZ system while we use a 230V , 50HZ system. While a transformer can step down volts, it can not change the Frequency. So there will be some kind of humming noise when you use it with a transformer.

[1.2GT3GT]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Further modern wires come in various heat retardant ratings. If you so desire get one with the best heat retardant rating.

Thank you, I will start by checking the heat retardant ratings.