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Hank
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Since you say 150-180V is low, I assume you live in a country where the standard voltage is 220V230V? The first thing I would do is contact the electric company to see what they can do. It's possible there is a defect in the connection to your house from the main utility lines that's causing the abnormally-low voltage. 

There are probably all sorts of things that are not running well in your house: anything with a motor (a refrigerator, washing machine, etc); anything with a heating element (hot water heater, kettle); probably the only thing that could handle such a low voltage without a problem is modern DC electronics: most laptops, battery chargers, etc. work with 110V and 220V without requiring any adapters.

Anyway, to answer some of your questions:

  • Yes, running an incandescent that is designed for 220V at a lower voltage will cause it to be dim.
  • A fluorescent bulb is probably not so forgiving of low voltage. I would expect it to not start. You could buy one and see if it works.
  • A "voltage stabilizer" probably won't help you, since they usually are designed to smooth out momentary changes in voltage, not actually step it up. What you really would need is a transformer. I don't know if you'll be able to find something suitable.

Another thing to consider is getting an LED bulb that is capable of accepting a range of voltages. Since LEDs internally adjust the voltage to something much lower than household levels, some models will accept wide ranges of voltages (e.g. 100V - 250V), so that they can be sold around the world.

Since you say 150-180V is low, I assume you live in a country where the standard voltage is 220V? The first thing I would do is contact the electric company to see what they can do. It's possible there is a defect in the connection to your house from the main utility lines. There are probably all sorts of things that are not running well in your house

Anyway, to answer some of your questions:

  • Yes, running an incandescent that is designed for 220V at a lower voltage will cause it to be dim.
  • A fluorescent bulb is probably not so forgiving of low voltage. I would expect it to not start. You could buy one and see if it works.
  • A "voltage stabilizer" probably won't help you, since they usually are designed to smooth out momentary changes in voltage, not actually step it up. What you really would need is a transformer. I don't know if you'll be able to find something suitable.

Another thing to consider is getting an LED bulb that is capable of accepting a range of voltages. Since LEDs internally adjust the voltage to something much lower than household levels, some models will accept wide ranges of voltages (e.g. 100V - 250V), so that they can be sold around the world.

Since you say 150-180V is low, I assume you live in a country where the standard voltage is 230V? The first thing I would do is contact the electric company to see what they can do. It's possible there is a defect in the connection to your house from the main utility lines that's causing the abnormally-low voltage. 

There are probably all sorts of things that are not running well in your house: anything with a motor (a refrigerator, washing machine, etc); anything with a heating element (hot water heater, kettle); probably the only thing that could handle such a low voltage without a problem is modern DC electronics: most laptops, battery chargers, etc. work with 110V and 220V without requiring any adapters.

Anyway, to answer some of your questions:

  • Yes, running an incandescent that is designed for 220V at a lower voltage will cause it to be dim.
  • A fluorescent bulb is probably not so forgiving of low voltage. I would expect it to not start. You could buy one and see if it works.
  • A "voltage stabilizer" probably won't help you, since they usually are designed to smooth out momentary changes in voltage, not actually step it up. What you really would need is a transformer. I don't know if you'll be able to find something suitable.

Another thing to consider is getting an LED bulb that is capable of accepting a range of voltages. Since LEDs internally adjust the voltage to something much lower than household levels, some models will accept wide ranges of voltages (e.g. 100V - 250V), so that they can be sold around the world.

Source Link
Hank
  • 14.2k
  • 10
  • 44
  • 47

Since you say 150-180V is low, I assume you live in a country where the standard voltage is 220V? The first thing I would do is contact the electric company to see what they can do. It's possible there is a defect in the connection to your house from the main utility lines. There are probably all sorts of things that are not running well in your house

Anyway, to answer some of your questions:

  • Yes, running an incandescent that is designed for 220V at a lower voltage will cause it to be dim.
  • A fluorescent bulb is probably not so forgiving of low voltage. I would expect it to not start. You could buy one and see if it works.
  • A "voltage stabilizer" probably won't help you, since they usually are designed to smooth out momentary changes in voltage, not actually step it up. What you really would need is a transformer. I don't know if you'll be able to find something suitable.

Another thing to consider is getting an LED bulb that is capable of accepting a range of voltages. Since LEDs internally adjust the voltage to something much lower than household levels, some models will accept wide ranges of voltages (e.g. 100V - 250V), so that they can be sold around the world.