I moved into a new apartment just over a week ago, and I have a dryer with the normal US 220V 3 prong plug that dryers use. My new place has a 4 prong thing to plug into. I googled and came up with this from http://www.soundhome.com/consult/391to400.shtml :
Well I'm not hiring "a licensed electrical contractor", so does anyone know what is needed to be done?
Are the 4 prong for different amperages than the 3? I imagine so, but this 4 prong one is specifically for a dryer.

I'm renting through a realtor that handles a lot of rental places and they have washer and dryers you can rent from them for $35 a month, so I'm thinking they made this a 4 prong one so people won't buy a cheap used 3 prong one and will instead rent one from them.

You have a grounded power system in your house. Just leave the ground part of the 4 prong thing unconnected. I would imagine there are adapters for this kind of setup too..

No problem with amperage. The four wire setup is just one extra wire for safety that runs to the ground.

An illustrated thing here: http://www.selfhelpandmore.com/switc...ershowallp.htm

Eh, if the 4th wire is earth, what the hell is the third?

This makes me remember why I love BS-1343. All our plugs for every rask are -exactly the same-... three prong, earthed, large removal force, large plug, large area to the sides of the to avoid potential water ingress, etc. By law, all sockets have to be individually switched but thats not enforced....

Oh, and sockets have to be attached to an Residual Current Device - instant blowing circuit breaker...

It is a second live. They need to use 2-phase to get real power.

Sockets don't have to be switched, at least over the sea on the island. They mostly are for convenience. The one behind the washing machine may not be as it is unreachable if it is under the worktop.

Ah right, I forgot the US has castrated power.

The IS- thats almost totally equivalent to the BS-1343 specs says sockets have to be switched, and also bans pull cord light switches in bathrooms - so new houses have the lightswitch outside. Other than that, its identical to the UK - and older houses do have identical setups.

No pull cords!!!
This amazes me. Great fun for the kids though. There you are on a winters evening relaxing in the bath with PC Pro and a pint...total darkness.