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A house that I am considering buying has 2 unused NEMA 6-30 receptacles individually fed by a 30 A branch circuit in the garage with adjacent standard NEMA 5-15 receptacles, cold and hot water hookups, and drain hookup. I am considering to place the electric clothes dryer and washing machine there in order to turn the laundry room into additional open space within the air-conditioned zone. I also want to add an electric cooking range there because I plan to occasionally cook smelly foods and don't want to stink up the habitable rooms of the house. The clothes washer is fine because it is powered by a standard NEMA 5-15R. However, I see online that most electric clothes dryers, electric ranges, and electric ovens sold in the US and Canada use 120 V for the controls in addition to the 240 V required for the heating element, so they need the neutral in addition to the 2 hots. However, no information online is available regarding the availability of dryers, ovens, and ranges than use only 240 V. Home Depot appliance staff was of no help because they just said such electric appliances use only 240 V because they only have 1 plug, even after I told them the controls use 120 V. I left immediately because of their huge ignorance of the neutral slot on the standard NEMA 14-30R or 14-50R installed since the adoption of the 1996 NEC (NEMA 10-30R or 10-50R pre-1996 typical).

So, what is the price and availability in the US (specifically California) of such appliances that run on 240 V only, implying not using the neutral, even if only sold online? If available, assuming a run of 50 feet for the neutral of each receptacle, will it be cheaper to 1) add 2 neutrals and replace 2 receptacles, or 2) buy a 240 V-only range and a 240 V-only dryer?

MoneySmart
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    Most dryers use a 120v motor to turn the drum. Just because there is a 6-30, do not assume there is no neutral wire in the cable. Check first. Big box stores you need to find the old guy for decent information, or go to proper stores, electrical/plumbing/appliance. 50 feet of cable/wire(in conduit) is usually much cheaper than a range/dryer. Quite sure you cannot add/place neutral to a cable, only ground, with conduit you are laughing. – crip659 Jun 01 '23 at 17:08
  • @crip659 According to the original plans, it is placed in conduit rather than Romex, so it greatly helps. – MoneySmart Jun 01 '23 at 17:26
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    Hello again CoastCity. Sockpuppet accounts are a violation of TOS here. If you *accidentally* created a new account, then [follow this procedure to have them merged](https://diy.stackexchange.com/help/merging-accounts#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20two%20accounts,that%20you%20own%20both%20accounts.) – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jun 01 '23 at 17:28
  • Does this answer your question? [240 V-only Dryers, Ovens, Ranges, and Cooktops in North America?](https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/273403/240-v-only-dryers-ovens-ranges-and-cooktops-in-north-america) – DoxyLover Jun 01 '23 at 17:30
  • Who is CoastCity? – MoneySmart Jun 01 '23 at 17:30
  • @crip659 What do you mean by laughing? – MoneySmart Jun 01 '23 at 17:35
  • With conduit you just need to pull the neutral wire though, if no neutral in cable, you need to replace the whole cable. – crip659 Jun 01 '23 at 17:37
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    CoastCity is your former username. Perhaps you forgot. Recall your post here. https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/273403/240-v-only-dryers-ovens-ranges-and-cooktops-in-north-america It's obvious they are the same person because of the writing style, brevity, tendency to state opinion more than ask question, the particular opinions held, the way answers are reacted to, etc. etc. Occam's razor: you created a new account out of an earnest attempt to "turn over a new leaf", and fit in better here, as so far you seem to be making an effort. But that is unnecessary. We forgive easily here. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jun 01 '23 at 17:50
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    @MoneySmart "you are laughing" is British slang for "you don't need to worry" or something similar. – brhans Jun 01 '23 at 17:59
  • Since you **have conduit**, you could have spent a very small sum of money on white or gray THHN and had the neutral installed in the time it took to create the sockpuppet account and post a "pretty clearly duplicate" question, allowing you to use a locally available dryer that won't void your insurance. – Ecnerwal Jun 02 '23 at 13:10

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There are still used appliances sold that use the old Nema 6-30. If you have a 30 amp branch circuit in the garage it is not suitable for most ranges that require 40 or 50 amp service. If you should find one that uses 30amps the appliance usually has and option to have a 3 or 4 blade cord. The 240 or 120 volt application is done internally in the appliance. The remainder of your question about shopping is unallowed here.

RMDman
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  • Are you sure you are not thinking of nema 10(hot, hot, neutral)? Nema 10 has been banned for new circuits. Nema 6 is hot, hot, ground and used for heater, welders, pure 240v stuff. – crip659 Jun 01 '23 at 17:10
  • Defintiely not NEMA 10-30. The 3rd slot is round, which is the ground. An appliance from the Philippines or South Korea, both of which have only 240 V (but only 1 hot, so no 120 V) 60 Hz standard to the service panel, will work just fine from a NEMA 6-30. – MoneySmart Jun 01 '23 at 17:28
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    @MoneySmart I agree, RMDman confused modern 6-30 with old 10-30. Dryers are a hard one because yes, that is a case where all the onboard equipment is common to the gas dryer, so it's not just a small transformer. But then, since I bet you don't have a dryer vent in the garage, "heat pump dryer for the win" – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jun 01 '23 at 17:54
  • RMDman is confusing NEMA 10 and NEMA 6 - they are NOT the same. – Ecnerwal Jun 01 '23 at 18:00
  • @Ecnerwal, Yes, I admit I confused the NEMA 6 and 10. I need to stop hurrying an answer before I go to do something else. I was just thinking of where my location is there are used appliance places that will install a pigtail to fit either the 3 or 4 blade outlet you have. The new Range purchased for a rental had directions to wire the pigtail for either 3 or 4 wires. I did confuse things. – RMDman Jun 01 '23 at 23:02