Electricity is an extremely important part of our lives. We have become so used to it that an electrical black-out for even a short amount of time can leave everyone in a frenzy. Offices, malls, shops, and banks will completely stop working. Especially in countries like the US where complete blackouts are so rare that no one even has a backup generator for electrical supply.
But considering how essential electric supply is to us, we take it for granted a lot. Most of us barely know anything about how electricity works. A lot of people are scared of ever having to work with electrical components and rightfully so! Electricity can easily give you fatal shocks in the blink of an eye! But that does now mean you should avoid having to work with.
In my opinion, everyone should know how to safely work with electricity. There can be so many situations in which you may need these skills. This way, you will not have to depend on anyone else to help you out. If you face a circuit breaker issue, you will need an electrician to do some pretty simple repair work for you.
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Buying Your Supplies
Firstly, make a list of all the appliances in your homes that need a supply of electricity. These include air conditioners, water geysers, ovens, heaters, televisions, and anything else that you may buy in the future. Check the electrical requirements of these appliances. These are given in Watts or Kilowatts. Calculate the kilowatt-hours you need wiring for in total.
Polyvinyl chloride pipes are highly recommended to encase your wiring. They prevent electrocution and can be hidden from sights quite easily. In your wall, mark the points where you want to add switches, sockets, and distribution boards. Now place the PVC pipes in the spots you have marked. You need to learn the color-coding of wires and mark them down for future reference. Now you can pass your color-coded wires through the PVC pipes you installed.
Earthing Your Appliances
Earthing or grounding basically means leaving a wire connection from your appliance to the Earth’s surface. This is very beneficial from a safety point of view. If your appliance is damaged and an electrical wire is left exposed, the outer surface of the appliance can become charged if the appliance is not earthed. This may inflict very dangerous electrical shocks on anyone who touches the appliance depending on its electrical power. If the appliance is earthed, the free electrons will flow to the Earth and be absorbed in its surface.
Now, simply add switchboards, sockets, and fan buttons. Congratulations, the first half of setting up your electrical supply is done!
Connecting Your House to the Main Grid
Now, you need to connect your home to the main power supply in your area. The distribution grid has a huge voltage of electricity passing through it. Working with it can be extremely dangerous. Either, you can arrange for the grid authority to lower the voltage to workable levels. Or you can use something like Beny isolators.
These isolators separate components with the same electrical supply. They are useful when you have to work with large voltages. An isolator will block the main electrical grid supply and allow you to attach it to your home’s supply safely. Install a circuit breaker where you plan to connect your home to the main grid. This is a safety switch as well as a control panel. If the voltage in one section fluctuates, the circuit will ‘break’ automatically, as the name suggests. This stops the voltage fluctuations from causing further harm until the problem is fixed.
Installing a Service Drop
A service drop is basically a line that goes from the main utility pole to the homes or offices. A utility pole is a huge shaft supporting the electrical lines coming from the main electrical grid. Service drops usually have a neutral line and a hotline. The neutral line does not contain an electrical charge. Hotlines carry a lot of voltage so they are hazardous to touch. A service drop can either be installed as a mast, clevis, or service lateral.
Mast drops are installed on the roof. This way, there is less mechanical pressure on the main lines and water cannot travel down the conduits. A clevis service drop is usually installed at the side of the building, below the roofline. A service lateral is an underground service drop. A transformer is required in this setup. A transformer can transform high voltage to low voltage and low voltage to high voltage. It is used as a passive component between two circuits that work at different voltages. In a service lateral, the primary wires are the input of the transformer while the secondary wires are the output.
Conclusion
Having such basic knowledge of electricity is helpful to anyone. It may help you from getting scammed by an electrician. If you are building your own home, you need this information. What if no electrician service is available in your area? What if they can not help you out in time? Or maybe you just want to save some cash. All of these situations warrant you educating yourself about some basic electrical setups. So of course, you can learn how to set up your electrical supply yourself!
