The Shocking Truth About Electricity

We all use electricity 24 hours a day, but most children have no idea what it really is. We must teach them never to play with electricity without proper supervision.  WE SUGGEST FOR ALL REPAIRS YOU CONTACT A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL.  Electricity can cause death!  Have you ever wondered how much we depend on electricity? Where does electricity come from? What are those volts, amps and watts anyway? If you have ever thought about any of these questions, then you've come to the right place. This page will tell you the amazing story of electricity. You'll be shocked by how hot it is. If you want to go to any page, look down or glance over to the side bar. We hope that this site helps you learn more about electricity.

How many things on this list do you have in case of a power failure?
What is Electricity?
How is a Transformer Used?
How is Electricity Generated?
How are Turbines Used to Generate Electricity?
How is Electricity Measured?
Vocabulary
Electrical Tips

How many things on this list do you have in case of a power failure?
Flashlight
Portable Coleman lantern or battery operated lantern
Camp stove with fuel
Portable kerosene heater
Good wood for your fireplace
Candles, candlesticks and matches
A laptop will pass time during a power outage(land line connection needed)
Fresh water

WHAT IS ELECTRICITY?

Electricity is a form of energy. Electricity is the flow of electrical power. All matter is made up of atoms, and an atom has a center, called a nucleus. The nucleus contains positively charged particles called protons and uncharged particles called neutrons. The nucleus of an atom is surrounded by negatively charged particles called electrons. The negative charge of an electron is equal to the positive charge of a proton, and the number of electrons in an atom is usually equal to the number of protons. When the balancing force between protons and electrons is upset by an outside force, an atom may gain or lose an electrical charge. When charges are "lost" from an atom, the free movement of these electrical charges constitutes an electric current. 

Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy.  We get electricity, which is a secondary energy source, from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources, which are called primary sources. Many cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls (a primary source of mechanical energy) that turned water wheels to perform work. Before electricity generation began slightly over 100 years ago, houses were lit with kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood. Thomas Edison helped change everyone's life -- he perfected his invention -- the electric light bulb. Prior to 1879, direct current (DC) electricity had been used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. In the late-1800s, Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity, which can be transmitted over much greater distances than direct current. Tesla's inventions used electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes and to power industrial machines.

HOW IS A TRANSFORMER USED? 

To solve the problem of sending electricity over long distances, George Westinghouse developed a device called a transformer. The transformer allowed electricity to be efficiently transmitted over long distances. This made it possible to supply electricity to homes and businesses located far from the electric generating plant. 

Despite its great importance in our daily lives, most of us rarely stop to think what life would be like without electricity. Yet like air and water, we tend to take electricity for granted. Everyday, we use electricity to do many functions for us -- from lighting and heating/cooling our homes, to being the power source for televisions and computers.  Electricity is a controllable and convenient form of energy used in the applications of heat, light and power. 

Today, the United States (U.S.) electric power industry is organized to ensure that an adequate supply of electricity is available to meet all demand requirements at any given instant.

HOW IS ELECTRICITY GENERATED?

An electric generator is a device for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy.  The process is based on the relationship between magnetism and electricity. When a wire or any other electrically conductive material moves across a magnetic field, an electric current occurs in the wire. The large generators used by the electric utility industry have a stationary conductor. A magnet attached to the end of a rotating shaft is positioned inside a stationary conducting ring that is wrapped with a long, continuous piece of wire. When the magnet rotates, it induces a small electric current in each section of wire as it passes. Each section of wire constitutes a small, separate electric conductor. All the small currents of individual sections add up to one current of considerable size. This current is what is used for electric power.

HOW ARE TURBINES USED TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY?

An electric utility power station uses either a turbine, engine, water wheel, or other similar machine to drive an electric generator or a device that converts mechanical or chemical energy to electricity. Steam turbines, internal-combustion engines, gas combustion turbines, water turbines, and wind turbines are the most common methods to generate electricity. 

Most of the electricity in the United States is produced in steam turbines . A turbine converts the kinetic energy of a moving fluid (liquid or gas) to mechanical energy. Steam turbines have a series of blades mounted on a shaft against which steam is forced, thus rotating the shaft connected to the generator. In a fossil-fueled steam turbine, the fuel is burned in a furnace to heat water in a boiler to produce steam.

Coal, petroleum (oil), and natural gas are burned in large furnaces to heat water to make steam that in turn pushes on the blades of a turbine. Did you know that coal is the largest single primary source of energy used to generate electricity in the United States? In 2001, more than half ( 51% ) of the country's 3.7 trillion kilowatthours of electricity used coal as its source of energy.

Natural gas , in addition to being burned to heat water for steam, can also be burned to produce hot combustion gases that pass directly through a turbine, spinning the blades of the turbine to generate electricity. Gas turbines are commonly used when electricity utility usage is in high demand. In 2001, 17% of the nation's electricity was fueled by natural gas.

Petroleum can also be used to make steam to turn a turbine. Residual fuel oil, a product refined from crude oil, is often the petroleum product used in electric plants that use petroleum to make steam. Petroleum was used to generate less than three percent (3%) of all electricity generated in U.S. electricity plants in 2001.

Nuclear power is a method in which steam is produced by heating water through a process called nuclear fission. In a nuclear power plant, a reactor contains a core of nuclear fuel, primarily enriched uranium. When atoms of uranium fuel are hit by neutrons they fission (split), releasing heat and more neutrons. Under controlled conditions, these other neutrons can strike more uranium atoms, splitting more atoms, and so on. Thereby, continuous fission can take place, forming a chain reaction releasing heat. The heat is used to turn water into steam, that, in turn, spins a turbine that generates electricity. Nuclear power was used to generate 21% of all the country's electricity in 2001.

Hydropower , the source for 6% of U.S. electricity generation in 2001, is a process in which flowing water is used to spin a turbine connected to a generator. There are two basic types of hydroelectric systems that produce electricity. In the first system, flowing water accumulates in reservoirs created by the use of dams. The water falls through a pipe called a penstock and applies pressure against the turbine blades to drive the generator to produce electricity. In the second system, called run-of-river, the force of the river current (rather than falling water) applies pressure to the turbine blades to produce electricity.


OTHER GENERATING SOURCES

Geothermal power comes from heat energy buried beneath the surface of the earth. In some areas of the country, enough heat rises close to the surface of the earth to heat underground water into steam, which can be tapped for use at steam-turbine plants. This energy source generated less than 1% of the electricity in the country in 2001.

Solar power is derived from the energy of the sun.  However, the sun's energy is not available full-time and it is widely scattered. The processes used to produce electricity using the sun's energy have historically been more expensive than using conventional fossil fuels. Photovoltaic conversion generates electric power directly from the light of the sun in a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Solar-thermal electric generators use the radiant energy from the sun to produce steam to drive turbines. In 2001, less than 1% of the nation's electricity was based on solar power.

Wind power is derived from the conversion of the energy contained in wind into electricity. Wind power, less than 1% of the nation's electricity in 2001, is rapidly growing source of electricity . A wind turbine is similar to a typical wind mill.

Biomass includes wood, municipal solid waste (garbage), and agricultural waste, such as corn cobs and wheat straw. These are some other energy sources for producing electricity. These sources replace fossil fuels in the boiler. The combustion of wood and waste creates steam that is typically used in conventional steam-electric plants. Biomass accounts for less than 1% of the electricity generated in the United States.

The electricity produced by a generator travels along cables to a transformer, which changes electricity from low voltage to high voltage. Electricity can be moved long distances more efficiently using high voltage. Transmission lines are used to carry the electricity to a substation. Substations have transformers that change the high voltage electricity into lower voltage electricity. From the substation, distribution lines carry the electricity to homes, offices and factories, which require low voltage electricity.

HOW IS ELECTRICITY MEASURED?

Electricity is measured in units of power called watts. It was named to honor James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. One watt is a very small amount of power. It would require nearly 750 watts to equal one horsepower. A kilowatt represents 1,000 watts. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is equal to the energy of 1,000 watts working for one hour. The amount of electricity a power plant generates or a customer uses over a period of time is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). Kilowatt hours are determined by multiplying the number of kW's required by the number of hours of use. For example, if you use a 40-watt light bulb 5 hours a day, you have used 200 watts of power, or .2 kilowatt hours of electrical energy.

Vocabulary

Alternating current. Electric current that changes direction continually.
Amber. Gum or resin from trees that has fossilized and turned solid. The word "electricity" comes from the Greek word for amber, elektron .
Capacitor. A device that stores electricity for future use.
Circuit. A path electricity follows, from a source through a connection to an output device.
Conductor. A substance that allows electricity to pass through it. Conduction occurs when electrical current passes between two points by means of a physical connection.
Coulomb. The unit of measure of electrical charge.
Direct current. Electric current that flows only in one direction, such as that supplied by a battery: it flows from the negative battery terminal, flows through the circuit, and returns to the positive terminal.
Electrical charge. The amount of electrical energy stored in a battery, capacitor, or any insulated object that can hold energy for a time.
Electricity. A form of energy associated with the presence and movements of electrical charges. Atoms contain positively charged protons in their nucleus and negatively charged electrons outside the nucleus.
Incandescent light bulb. A lamp that burns a filament in a vacuum in a glass bulb.
Induction. When an electrical current is produced without any physical connection between the two parts of the circuit.
Insulator. A material that does not conduct electricity, or in other words, doesn't allow electricity to pass through it.
Law of electric charges. Unlike charges attract each other and like charges repel each other.
Lodestone. A type of iron ore with a silvery finish, sometimes called magnetite. A lodestone has permanent poles. One end always points north and the other always points south. If lodestone is hit hard enough it loses its magnetism.
Magnetism. The push or pull of magnets, which are electrically charged with poles attracted to the North Pole or South Pole.
Ohm's Law. The relationship, in a circuit using direct current, among voltage, current and resistance: One volt of electricity (E) is needed to force one ampere of current (I) through one ohm of resistance (R). Mathematically, Ohm's Law says: E = I x R.
Static electricity. Electricity that is "at rest" or static until it is discharged. Material that is rubbed picks up negative charges from the negative electrons surrounding the positive nucleus of an atom. A sudden, tiny discharge balances the atoms again.
Volt. The unit of measure of electrical force, named after Alessandro Volta , the inventor of the battery.

Electrical Tips

Lights and Light Switches
Saving Energy
Breakers/GFCI's
Hints

Lights and Light Switches

Defective Light Switches
BE CAREFUL---but you can do this job yourself! Concentrate fully on what you’re doing. Begin by shutting down the main power switch. Loosen the screws off the plate. The switch will be loosened and you can gently pull it loose from its setting. Then loosen the bolts holding the switch and remove it. Put on the new switch and return it to the wall. Tighten it and replace the switch cover.

Light Switches
Add a special touch to your walls or match a room’s paneling with custom-made light switch plates! Use up some of your wood scraps, paneling or wallpaper scraps. Construction time should take under an hour to complete!

Halogen Lights
Halogen lights are useful in that they emit a whiter, brighter and more easily focused beam of light than conventional incandescent bulbs. These lights help reduce eyestrain for reading and other close work. The bulbs tend to last much longer, therefore they are great for using outside in hard to get to light fixtures. They are also 10 to 20% more energy efficient and tend to burn brighter longer.

Maximum Light
To achieve maximum illumination from the bare light bulbs hanging in your basement and /or attic install reflectors above the lights. Just cut a square piece of scrap plywood, leaving a hole in the center for the light. Then paint plywood piece white, nail up piece to the joists, and you’re all set!

Light bulb Sizes
We’ve all read the warning on lights or ceiling fixtures to stay with a certain size bulb, (e.g. 60-watt). This warning is in place because if a hotter, oversized bulb is used, heat can buildup and fire can occur! This is especially true for recessed lighting since there is no way for the air to circulate around the fixture! If you need more light in a room, add another fixture or replace the existing one that is too small.

Saving Energy

Saving Energy Tips
Try to limit the amount of heat entering your house during the summer. Try not to use lights and appliances during the hottest part of the day- as they generate more heat! Covering your windows with drapes or awnings will help keep the house cool. Every little bit will help and minimize the use of your air conditioner! That means you save money!!!

Vacation/Energy Savings
If you are soon off on vacation, take a few minutes to unplug small and large appliances not needed. Also, turn water heater and air conditioner to their lowest settings. Backing up your computer is probably a good idea, in case a power outage occurs while you are gone.

Swimming Pool Heaters/Pumps/Bills
Have high summer energy bills? If you are running a pool pump and heater, you can try reducing the thermostat setting on the pool heater by 1 degree, this should reduce your energy usage by 10 %. Also, try using a transparent pool cover to capture the sun’s heat naturally.

Beat High Fuel Bills
Installing programmable thermostats to automatically coordinate your home’s temperatures with your day-to-day patterns can help in the lowering of your yearly fuel bill.

Breakers/GFCI's

Circuit Breakers
A circuit breaker is an overload switch that prevents current from exceeding the capacity of the line. Fuses used to do the same in older models. Therefore, when you plug in too many appliances to a circuit, the breaker will trip or switch off the circuit. This prevents damage to the wiring, chance of getting too hot and causing a fire, or possible damage to one of your appliances.

GFCI Receptacles
GFCI units need regular monthly testing to check on daily “ wear and tear.” There is a higher percentage of failure where lightning is more prevalent. So, remember to press the red TEST button and the power to the outlet should shut off. If it doesn’t, then the unit needs to be replaced.

GFCI's
Now that the warmer weather is here, check into your backyard swimming pool, and outside lights to make sure they are protected by ground fault circuit interrupters. Most electrical codes require GFCI’s for any outdoor outlets. Take a few minutes and be safe all summer!

Electrical Shocks
The human body is 70% water which makes it an excellent conductor of electricity. Touching anything with a live current, such as a bare wire or faulty connection, helps the electricity pass through you to the ground. If the current is strong enough, it could seriously injure or fatally shock you! So take EXTRA care working around electricity ! BE SAFE!

Hints

Cordless Phones
Remember when purchasing telephones for the home to buy at least one phone that plugs directly into a jack and requires no electricity. Many people buy only cordless phones, which are great for mobility around the house, but don’t work at all when the power goes out!!! The cordless phone base stations need electricity to work. So be prepared for the next storm!

Extension Chord Knots
To prevent chords from separating as you work in the shop, simply tie a knot with the 2 chords being used and then plug the 2 chords together. Since the strain is on the knot, the two chords will not come apart.

Digging Underground
Call your local utility company asking about the location of any underground wires and pipes in your yard BEFORE you commence digging. They provide this service for FREE, usually. You can save yourself dangerous and costly surprises.

 Also check out our Manufacture's Products page

---