As you go about your daily life in your home, it is unlikely that you stop to consider the electrical functions that make your appliances and home security systems work. Taking the time to understand them, however, is extremely useful when it comes to comprehending how and why they might break, how to fix them and how to replace them.
While the majority of electrical appliances should be dealt with by experts, it will help anybody you contact about such matters if you can properly explain the issue using technical terms and a base level of knowledge.
Time delay relays
Each morning as you leave your home and set your burglar alarm, you could well be using a specific piece of electrical equipment known as a time delay relay. The way time delay relays work is that once they are activated, or triggered, the time delay commences. At the end of the time delay, output is energized and your alarm rings.
These pieces of equipment can often be used in industrial settings too, such as for flashing light control, engine autostart controls or furnace safety purge control, and are available to purchase online.
Induction
Electromagnetic induction is used in the house to heat coils under your hob, if you are the owner of an induction model. Alternating electric currents are passed through the coil, inducing an electrical current in the bottom of your pots and pans to heat up their bases.
Induction hobs are a relatively modern invention but are growing in popularity for a number of reasons. Not only do they offer up to 70% reduction in energy consumption, but they are also incredibly easy to clean and there is no risk of leaving them burning, as heat is only present when the pan is in the correct position.
Surge protectors
Teaching children about electricity safety from an early age should prevent accidents in the house, but electrical devices are keeping you safe by their own accord, too, as surge and fuse protection equipment is present in your house in a couple of different places.
The first is your fuse box, which will trip whenever there is a fault with one of your electrical appliances; the other is with any shop or internet bought surge protectors, which are often in-built into multiplugs.
Electroluminescence
This is a long and complex appearing word, but when broken down it makes perfect sense. Electroluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is emitted when exposed to the passage of an electrical current. In simple terms, it is how LED lightbulbs work.
LED lightbulbs are increasing in number in the modern age as, in comparison to old, filament lightbulbs, they are eco-friendly and cost less in energy bills.
Electrical resistors
As a child, it sometimes seems like kettles work completely by magic. The true genius, however, is in an item known as an electrical resistor.
Electrical resistors are materials that resist the flow of electricity – generating heat. The element at the base of your kettle is one of these resistors and is triggered to turn off automatically when steam flows down a tube, heating a thermostat until it disconnects the power.
