How many phases in my house

by cimm on Tue, 22/05/2012 - 12:34

This might be a stupid question but how do I find out how many phases I have in my house?

I live in Belgium and I suppose it's the same for all residential houses here but the question can be more generic: how does one find out how many phases are used?

Thanks!

icarus75 | Tue, 22/05/2012 - 14:04

Just count the number of wires connected to the input of your differential switch. If you count two, then you've got a single-phase supply, if you count three or four, then it's three-phase (230V without N and 400V with N respectively).

Cheers,
-Bart.

cimm | Wed, 23/05/2012 - 21:41

Bart,

Looks like I have a single-phase supply, found a blue and brown wire going in the differential switch. Thanks for the help, seems I can order my Flukso now!

icarus75 | Wed, 23/05/2012 - 22:44

Blue should be neutral, brown your phase. But you can connect the clamp to either one of them, whichever is more convenient/practical.

peter73 | Thu, 10/01/2013 - 18:10

I've got the same question, and want to verify if I understand it correctly (I'm not an electrician).
Based on the photo I took from my differential switch, I have a 3-phase 400V setup?
So I guess I have to add clamps to wires 1, 2 and 3?
http://i50.tinypic.com/f0u89s.jpg

I initially wanted to measure the main power consumption + 2 sub circuits. Isn't that possible by having a clamp on wire A, and the remaining on the 2 sub circuits?