For the crews of the International Space Station (ISS), it's a reality. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proposed a permanently inhabited, government-and industry-supported space station be built by the United States in cooperation with several other countries.
Low voltage at an outlet, or excessive voltage drop, can cause a number of fault conditions in the home wiring system. An appliance or piece of equipment can suffer erratic operation, non-operation or permanent interior damage to the circuit of the appliance with low voltage. Low voltage can cause an efficiency drop, leading to wasted energy. Low voltage can be the sign of high resistance in the circuit, branch wiring, or at the switch or outlet location. High amperage and resistance and defective or poor insulation can cause fires. Any home owner can repair low voltage at an outlet by using precaution and some basic tools and steps.
Household Wiring. The standard U.S. household wiring design has two 120 volt hot wires and a neutral which is at ground potential. The two 120 volt wires are obtained by grounding the centertap of the transformer supplying the house so that when one hot wire is swinging positive with respect to ground, the other is swinging negative. This versatile design allows the use of either hot wire to supply the standard 120 volt household circuits.