Rebecca Barnfield
4th March 2014, 22:42
Think a summer heat wave is difficult? Your electrical power company is also feeling the burn, due to increased interest in power to run air conditioners, followers and refrigerators/freezers, not to mention the additional television hour’s people log while escaping the heat. The result of this is that power corporations frequently throttle power allowances to be able to continue service - a common event that can endanger the lives of some appliances. Protecting your investment in your home appliances becomes very significant as the mercury rises.
Blame Nikola Tesla for lowering voltage
One good thing about alternating current is that it can travel much more efficiently than other options. That is one of the reasons why Nikola Tesla, a guru and scientists, wanted the alternating current. The other reason was to be able to produce power on the little, local scale and to serve larger areas more effortlessly if utilities wanted to, according to Gizmodo. Though Thomas Edison really wanted a power infrastructure based on a direct current, Tesla and other scientists won.
Watts are the total amount of power traveling through wires when power tries to get through. The power goes through wires with voltage and amps. With more wattage, the more strains there on fixtures. Power companies lower voltage to keep amps the same at that point, and everybody gets 5 percent less electricity to their homes because of the reduced wattage. It is a big issue, especially considering Tesla’s model became the norm.
Most people will not see anything
Michael Clendenin of New York's Consolidated Edison told Gizmodo that such a reduction will go unnoticed by "most people.” However, if they need to cut back increased, a "brownout" can occur, at about the 8 percent reduction level. Then things get tougher for your appliances.
"You might start to notice dimming lights and air conditioners not working right... You don't have an outage, but your equipment isn't running as well,” said Clendenin.
With overloaded lines on the United States electrical infrastructure, which is really old, you have to be guarding your appliances more now than ever. A blackout is more likely to occur during summer because of the sunlight basically baking the wires in the ground. The wires are already overloaded with electricity, which presents in the form of heat, and the hot sun just makes it worse. Most power companies will try to keep away from outages in the summer by dropping the voltage.
Most can handle brownout
You can save both time and money by guarding your appliances during a brownout, though an 8 percent drop during a brownout does not affect most appliances much since they can work between 110 and 120 volts usually. The problem is that when the drop gets to 105 volts, engines and compressors and air conditioners get damaged, according to Brian Markwalter of the Consumer Electronics Association. You will have to avoid expensive mechanical damage by turning off appliances and unplugging them during a blackout scenario.
Sources
Consumer Electronics Association
Gizmodo
Tri-County Electric
Blame Nikola Tesla for lowering voltage
One good thing about alternating current is that it can travel much more efficiently than other options. That is one of the reasons why Nikola Tesla, a guru and scientists, wanted the alternating current. The other reason was to be able to produce power on the little, local scale and to serve larger areas more effortlessly if utilities wanted to, according to Gizmodo. Though Thomas Edison really wanted a power infrastructure based on a direct current, Tesla and other scientists won.
Watts are the total amount of power traveling through wires when power tries to get through. The power goes through wires with voltage and amps. With more wattage, the more strains there on fixtures. Power companies lower voltage to keep amps the same at that point, and everybody gets 5 percent less electricity to their homes because of the reduced wattage. It is a big issue, especially considering Tesla’s model became the norm.
Most people will not see anything
Michael Clendenin of New York's Consolidated Edison told Gizmodo that such a reduction will go unnoticed by "most people.” However, if they need to cut back increased, a "brownout" can occur, at about the 8 percent reduction level. Then things get tougher for your appliances.
"You might start to notice dimming lights and air conditioners not working right... You don't have an outage, but your equipment isn't running as well,” said Clendenin.
With overloaded lines on the United States electrical infrastructure, which is really old, you have to be guarding your appliances more now than ever. A blackout is more likely to occur during summer because of the sunlight basically baking the wires in the ground. The wires are already overloaded with electricity, which presents in the form of heat, and the hot sun just makes it worse. Most power companies will try to keep away from outages in the summer by dropping the voltage.
Most can handle brownout
You can save both time and money by guarding your appliances during a brownout, though an 8 percent drop during a brownout does not affect most appliances much since they can work between 110 and 120 volts usually. The problem is that when the drop gets to 105 volts, engines and compressors and air conditioners get damaged, according to Brian Markwalter of the Consumer Electronics Association. You will have to avoid expensive mechanical damage by turning off appliances and unplugging them during a blackout scenario.
Sources
Consumer Electronics Association
Gizmodo
Tri-County Electric