Safety Guide: Home Electrical Circuits PDF

# SAFETY Higher-voltage circuits, larger cords and cables, and grounding help make home circuits safe. Most things in a house run on 120 Volts of energy. However, some larger appliances require 240 V: 1. Clothes dryer (if electric) 2. Stove (if electric) 3. Air conditioner If 240 V is supplied, le...

# SAFETY Higher-voltage circuits, larger cords and cables, and grounding help make home circuits safe. Most things in a house run on 120 Volts of energy. However, some larger appliances require 240 V: 1. Clothes dryer (if electric) 2. Stove (if electric) 3. Air conditioner If 240 V is supplied, less current is required because of the higher voltage... for safety. Typically, larger cables and plugs are used for these appliances. Larger cables also have a lesser tendency to get hot because they can handle the electrical energy. ## SAFETY WITH GROUNDING There is a grounding pin on many sockets and plugs. This third pin is connected to the ground. If any excess charge is present, or touches the surface of the appliance, the grounding wire will take this excess charge to the ground for safety, and you can't be shocked by this. ## SAFETY WITH OUTLETS Other than the third (round) pin in an outlet (the ground), there is a special outlet called a GFI. This means "GROUND FAULT INTERRUPTER". They are installed where there is water (kitchens, bathrooms). The GFI measures the current leaving one end of the circuit and the current entering the other. If these currents are not the same (perhaps some current is escaping through you), the GFI immediately opens the circuit and all current stops flowing. The small buttons on the GFI can reset the circuit. # SHORT CIRCUITS Many safety devices protect against SHORT CIRCUITS. A short circuit is a circuit without an electrical load. For example, if you connect a positive side of a battery with a negative side of the battery with just a wire. Without a load, there is very little resistance and thus very high current. Very high current can cause wires to get hot and potentially melt and/or catch on fire.