Balanced load at home means no current on the neutral?

[infomike]

I've never read this explicitly, but here is what I've concluded:

If you could somehow have a perfectly balanced load on the circuits in your home to each of the 2 hot lines coming into your residence from the pole mounted transformer, this would mean:

The neutral wire connected from your house to the transformer would carry 0 current because the 180 degree phase separation from the 2 hot lines cancel each other out.

Am I correct?

 

[Averagesupernova]

Correct. BUT remeber that equal current does not necessarily mean those currents are in phase. So the neutral can carry some current when the current in the two hot legs are equal but out of phase due to inductive loads.

 

[yungman]

Yep, only if the two are absolutely in phase...or opposite phase...you know what I mean! The return current has to be absolute equal and opposite in phase to totally cancel each other so there is no net current on the neutral wire.

 

[sophiecentaur]

You get a similar thing with three-phase distribution circuits. The overhead cables consist of three 'beefy looking insulated wires (often there will be two circuits side-by-side) and a tiny uninsulated cable strung between the tops of the towers which may take any unbalanced current but, essentially, the three cables carry the three phases and the instantaneous current in anyone of the three is balanced (vector-wise) by the currents in the other two.

 

[alphysicist]

Yes, your understanding is correct. A balanced load in a home means that the current flowing through the neutral wire is equal to zero. This is because the currents from the two hot lines cancel each other out, resulting in a net zero current on the neutral wire. This is an ideal situation and is typically achieved through proper electrical wiring and distribution within the home. A balanced load is important for maintaining the stability and safety of the electrical system in a home.