How does electricity cycle through a home?

Answer 1

When you turn something electrical on, a switch, of some sort, completes a wired loop through the appliance you turned on and the secondary windings of the electric company's transformer that's connected to the house, this is called a circuit. Electrons move from atom to atom in everything that comprises the circuit, the electricalcomponents of the appliance, a switch, the wires, the circuit breaker(s) and/or fuse(s) and the secondary windings of the transformer outside of the house. The reason the electrons move when the circuit is completed is because a voltage is applied across the secondary windings of the electric company's transformer. Because the electric company supplies us with alternating current (AC), where the voltage smoothly cycles from zero to its highest, back to zero, reverses polarity, back to its highest, then back to zero and reverses polarity again 50 to 60 times a second, the electrons move back and forth in the circuit. The number of electrons that move depends on the appliance's wattage rating; a 1500 watt toaster will move 25 times more electrons than a 60 watt light bulb. The more electrons that move through the circuits of your home the higher your electric bill will be.

Answer 2

Electricity is the flow of tiny particles called electrons that move through conductors (wires). But before the electrons can flow, they need a force to get them to start moving. That force is called an EMF (electro-motive force) or voltage. The EMF can be produced by magnetism, friction, pressure, heat, light, or chemical action. The most popular sources are magnetism (generators) and chemical action (batteries).

Regarding national electric power services, after it is generated as ac (alternating current ) at power stations, it goes to a distribution/switching stations where the voltage is stepped-up very high to travel long distances. The voltage is then bumped down at local area sub- stations, where it is distributed to businesses and residences at household service voltages.

For example, in North America, that is 120V for your home's lights and small appliances and 240V to operate larger machines, water heaters, ovens and ranges. In European countries and many others around the world, lights and all home appliances (both small and large) run at 230V.

More detailed answer for USA, Canada and other countries running a 60 hertz supply service.For the purpose of our discussion, we will start at the service transformer for the home. This transformer takes the 7.2kV or so the power company uses for distribution and steps it down to the voltages used in the home. This transformer's output is a 240V center tapped winding. The wiring coming into the home is 3 wire, but single phase. The feed wiring consists of two hot wires and a neutral. The two hots are the legs of the transformer winding and the neutral is the center tap. This is done so there is 240V between the hots, and 120V between either hot and neutral.

This feed runs through the meter, which measures power on the hots, and the main breaker which disconnects the two hots. From there it goes to the main distribution panel.

The main distribution panel has 4 bus bars: two hots, neutral, and ground. Neutral is usually bonded to ground in the main panel (and should only be connected to ground in the main panel). The hot busses are designed so that breakers will lock onto them. They are also designed so that two contiguous breakers draw on opposite hots.

In the panel there are two basic types of breakers, 120V and 240V. The breakers limit the amount of power to a circuit so that if something fails, the breaker pops instead of something burning up. Without circuit breakers wiring devices would fail in the home causing fire. 120V breakers are single pole, and draw from one of the hots. They power lights, outlets, etc.. 240V breakers are double pole, and draw off both hots. They are twice as wide as 120V breakers, and this is why the box is designed so that two contiguous breakers draw on two hots. 240V breakers power large loads such as water heaters, dryers, ovens, air-conditioners, etc...

From the breaker, electricity flows through wiring in the walls to fixtures. A fixture is a outlet, switch, light, etc.. 120V wiring consists of three wires: a hot, which can be either hot in the main panel, neutral, and ground. Electricity used by the fixture travels from the hot to the load and back through neutral. Ground is there in case of shorts, and is designed to be connected to conductive surfaces the user contacts. In the event of failure, the electricity may try to flow from hot, through the user, to earth. The ground is there so the elecricity will flow through the ground wire instead of the user.

An outlet is nothing but a connector. It safely transfers electricity from the wiring to the appliance. With nothing plugged into it it draws no power.

A switch connects or disconnects a wire. In residential wiring, it (dis)connects the hot wire going to a switch or an outlet. With the hot disconnected, there is not electricity flowing to the outlet and the fixture is off. When it is connected, the fixture has electricity and operates. The neutral should not be switched, as in that case the fixture always has electricity flowing to it, and the electricity has no way back. The fixture will not work, but is live. The electricity will try and flow back to the transformer through any path it can, such as a homeowner changing a broken bulb who neglected to turn off the breaker.

A light fixture is a connector for a light bulb, usually with a decorative covering. Like outlets, incandescent fixtures will draw no power with no lightbulb. Flourescent light sockets and dead CFLs may draw power with no bulb, as they have a ballast to drive the special bulb.

Answer 3

The electric circuits in your home have many jobs. They let electricity run through your electrical cords to all of your electrical appliances. If you have a Wii, TV, computer, or any other electrical oject, it wouldn't be able to run without the electric circuits in our home.

Answer 4

Electricity in home has many uses. It provides electric light, power up electronic devices such as TV, heater, washing machines, computers, and others. It makes your life easier and enjoyable.

Answer 5

There is a lot of usage of electricity now a days, we can't Imagen our life without the electricity so we all can count the devices in out house need electricity and we can see there is more then 60% devices regularly in a house which need electricity.

Answer 6

Electricity enters a home from the power grid through a meter. It then flows through the main panel, where it is distributed to the various circuits in the house. From there, it travels through wires to power outlets, lights, appliances, and other electrical devices before returning to the grid.