Ask a neighbour if their stove or oven works.

So, a partial outage is different then a localized outage? 230v is supplied by 2 hot legs? and i had one?

i thought partial meant some people had power and some did not? not that some only had a little power?

Well if _all_ of your 120volt outlets were working that would be strange. I suspect that only some of them were working and you didn't notice the ones that were not,

Yeah it does happen. I've seen it once maybe 6 years ago in the middle of an ac install. The things that can go wrong.

It was cleared up in a 10 min when I pulled the panel off and showed the problem was from the pole. Sometimes when power goes out and I am there working they suspect I did it. LOL.

I tell them it's impossible for me to perform that kind of magic trick... you know make 120v disappear.

Also seen it on 3 phase residential... rarer still but they are out there. So you lose a leg on 3 phase and you could start cooking things. This job has it all sometimes...

Xcel has an automated menu you have to go thru. one of the questions asks if you have flickering lights or partial outage. i finally got a person and they said yes, only 120v is what they mean. power went poof at 3pm or so. i had no issues with lack of 120v power in any room in house. i went to bed at 11pm and truck showed up at midnight. then all power went off for 1 hr and when it came back, my ac was now working.

I don't understand electricity well and I'm sure the detail of what I'm about to say is different from how I say it, which is likely wrong. The effect is the same. -

As I understand it, electricity in the US leaves the power plant in three phases, they're described by compass points of a circle - call it 120 degrees, 240, and 360 degrees. That's why when you see long distance (or even often local) distribution lines, they're in sets of three.

Residences typically are provided with two phase sources. Each "phase" (I'm sure it's the wrong word or wrong description) provides the standard 110/120 volts. Put two together, you get 220/240 volts. Circuits and sockets around the house are alternated between one and the other to spread the load. Sockets and circuits in high load areas, like a kitchen, typically have both available in different locations. When 220/240 is needed, as for an AC compressor, electric cooktop or oven, electric clothes dryer, electric water heater, etc., there's a way both supplies are combined to provide the higher level 220/240 voltage.

It's happened to us a few times that one of the two supplies has gone out when the other has continued to operate, so some sockets and light circuits work and some don't. Once it was because of ONE downed wire out of a set of three on the poles in the neighborhood.

Anyone who knows anything about it knows more than I do and can clarify how it works.

Elmer - your description is pretty good but I don't think it is 100% accurate.

In any case - the question is now could all the 120volt circuits work but the 240volt ones stop working? The only thing that I can think of is that the power company was working on things and mess up. If anybody has any different ideas I'd be interested!

Elmer's description was indeed pretty good, but not 100% accurate. The transformer on the pole has a center tap on the secondary winding that is tied to ground to keep it at 0 volts. Between the center tap and either end of its secondary winding, you have 120 volts, and across the full winding, you have 240 volts.

Inside your panel, each buss bar is tied to one pole (sometimes incorrectly called "phases"). The neutral wire is also tied to ground inside the panel. A 240V load (central air, water heater, stove, dryer, etc) is connected between two poles, and 120V loads are connected between one of the poles and neutral.

Slots where the breakers go alternate between poles so every other breaker slot is on a different pole. While not ideal, your 120V loads could in fact all be on the same pole. If it's the case, and only the other pole failed, you would still have all 120V loads fully functional, but your 240V loads would not work.

Is this an older house originally built with only 120 V service? If that is the case then it is possible all the circuits in the house were kept on one leg of the 240 V service, and only the AC is connected to the second leg. It is either that or all the 120 V circuits are connected to one leg at the breaker box.

As a side note, my house house lost service on one leg of service last year, and I believe 10 years prior to that. It is rare but it does occasionally happen.

Residential power is called single phase 3-wire. As Olley states, the pole transformer supplies two 120v hot legs that are 180 degrees out of phase. The benefit to the power company is that they can feed the transformer from a single high voltage phase so they don't have to run three high voltage conductors everywhere.

Not ancient. 1975. always had 120/230. has typical breaker panel, 200amp service. we have buried service and transformer box is at corner of our lot. they said only one house could have issue. vs my neighbors also. been ok all week

i did ask neighbor that day at 8pm if his ac was working. he said yes.

i did mention my 230v well was off and oven burners were off. but oven clock was working.

An oven clock and controls are likely 110 It's the heating elements that are 220/240.

If the power distribution company has checked the service onsite, at your box, and found it to be normal, your next call should be to a licensed electrical contractor. Not something to fool around with unless you're experienced and knowledgeable.