Do all electric stoves have a 220 volt plug?
Question:I have an old stove (early 80's?) that is going to be replaced with a 90's model Leviton. The newer one has the 220 volt plug. Can I assume I have the outlet I need? I am not there to look at it now.
Answers:
Probably not, most older stoves have a 3 wire outlet, where newer ones have a 4 wire. It is really easy to change one out from 3 to 4 wire or vice versa. You have two choices when you see for sure if you have the correct outlet..you can either change out the outlet to the appropriate one, or you can change the pigtail on the back of your stove itself. If you choose the last option, and you are going from a 4 wire pigtail to a 3 wire outlet, you can just hook the neutral to the ground. If you have to go from 3 to 4 wire, then you will have to buy a new pigtail so you can have that extra wire.
You can get one!
Yes they all have a 220V receptacle, but as mentioned above there are different configurations to the cord set. How your stove is wired internally will determine what type of plug it has so don't change it. You can only change the receptacle in the wall and rewire the house as necessary. Newer models require there to be a neutral conductor and older models allowed the ground to be used instead. The ground is used to equalize electrical potential to keep you from getting shocked, where as, the neutral is used to carry electrical current back to the source. Also in some older construction electricians would use the neutral conductor as a phase (hot) conductor with a little black tape on it to identify it as hot. It saved alot of money and was allowed so they did it. My point is that there are several different scenarios that are possible, and safety of you and the appliance in this case should be dealt with by an electrician.
Mathew is correct, but if you are not sure what he is talking about, get somebody that does so you dont fry yourself. They are all 220V - the difference is the fourth wire that is required on newer units for a little more safety. There are millions of stoves and dryers still in use with 3 wire hook up and I never even heard of an actual problem, but I guess anything is possible. This is only a states side thing that I know of. Everybody else in the world still uses a 3 wire cord.
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