What is Electricity?

What is "electricity?" It is much easier to describe what it does than what it is. For
example, electricity operates our Lights, runs our Refrigerators and powers our
Electric Motors.

Electricity is actually defined as: " the movement (or flow) of Electrons through a
material."

The word "electric" comes from the Greek word "amber" and has been used to
describe a wide range of related phenomena. We cannot see electricity, but we
can see its effects (i.e. light).

Electricity can exist in a number of forms; however, there are two types of
commonly used electricity:

1. Direct Current: which is commonly provided by Batteries; and

2. Alternating Current: provided by Electric Utilities or other Power
Generators in the form of Electrons (called "current") flowing through a Wire
called a "Conductor."

House Wiring
Wiring, or what we call building wiring, is the process of providing power to buildings and structures.
Conductors carry electricity, and wiring makes this power available for public use. National and local
regulations in a locality have a check on installation of wiring procedures. In some countries a single
national body is in charge of electrical installations and safety codes, while in some countries a national
technical standard body produces a model electrical code, which is then adopted by the state, city or
provincial regulations with slight changes as per their requirements.

House Wiring Methods

The function of wiring safety codes is to give technical, performance and material standards that would
allow proper use of the electrical energy. Other preventions that are regulated are electric shock, fire or
explosion. Materials required for wiring a building depend on factors like rating of the circuit, type of
occupancy of the building, type of electrical system, national and local regulations and conditions in
which the wiring must operate. Earlier methods of wiring were single cloth- insulated copper conductors
running in interior walls. Another method was re-using of existing gas pipes for electric lighting. Then
came Modern nonmetallic-sheathed cables (NMC), consisting of two to four thermoplastic insulated
wires and a bare wire for grounding surrounded by a flexible plastic jacket.

In industries, conductor bars are assembled with insulators in grounded enclosures. For heavy currents, bus bars are
used. A live conductor of this type is a rigid piece of copper or aluminum usually in flat bars. Open bus bars are also
used in manufacturing plants and power company switchyards. Such a bus set up can provide up to 50,000 amperes
and up to hundreds of kilovolts. Much advancement is being made in wiring methods. The use of this scheme is the
ability to remove/add a branch circuit without removing voltage from the whole segment. A fault in any phase jumps to
the ground. Some common wiring tools are Lineman's pliers, Needle-nose pliers, wire strippers cable cutters rotosplit
multimeter screwdrivers, crimpers, hammers, reciprocating saws, drywall saws, metal punches, flashlights, chisels and
adjustable pliers.

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its
sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this
article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2010)

In electricity supply systems, an earthing system defines the electrical potential

of the conductors relative to that of the Earth's conductive surface. The choice of
earthing system has implications for the safety and electromagnetic compatibility
of the power supply. Note that regulations for earthing (grounding) systems vary
considerably among different countries.

A protective earth (PE) connection ensures that all exposed conductive surfaces
are at the same electrical potential as the surface of the Earth, to avoid the risk of
electrical shock if a person touches a device in which an insulation fault has
occurred. It ensures that in the case of an insulation fault (a "short circuit"), a very
high current flows, which will trigger an overcurrent protection device (fuse, circuit
breaker) that disconnects the power supply.

A functional earth connection serves a purpose other than providing protection

against electrical shock. In contrast to a protective earth connection, a functional
earth connection may carry a current during the normal operation of a device.
Functional earth connections may be required by devices such as surge
suppression and electromagnetic interference filters, some types of antennas and
various measurement instruments. Generally the protective earth is also used as a
functional earth, though this requires care in some situations.

List of Other Electrical Appliances and Materials 338 items (Category B)

Appendix 2 (related to Article 1)

 Cables, cords and heating cables as noted below:

1) Non-sheathed rigid cables as noted below (limited to those having

conductors of nominal cross-sectional area of 100 mm2 or less):

(1) Fluorescent lamp cables

(2) Neon tube cables

1
2) Rigid cables (limited to those with a rated voltage of not less than 100 V
but not more than 600V, having conductors of nominal cross-sectional area
of exceeding 22 mm2 but not more than 100 mm2 or less, having cores
composed of seven strands or less, and having sheaths of rubber [including
synthetic rubber], or of synthetic resin)

3) Floor heating cables

Wireways, fittings, and cable wiring switch boxes as noted below (excluding
those constructed of copper or bronze, or explosion-proof types):

1) Conduits (limited to those with inner diameter of 120 mm or less

including flexible conduits)

2) Underfloor ducts (limid to those with a width of 100 mm or less)

2 3) Raceways (limited to those with a width of 50 mm or less)

4) Fittings of conduits (limited to those connected to the conduits noted in

1) above, the underfloor ducts noted in 2) above, and the raceways noted
in 3) above, or those connected to the ends of said conduits, underfloor
ducts, or raceways, but excluding reducers)

5) Cable wiring switch boxes

Fuses as noted below (limited to those having a rated voltage of not less
than 100 V but not more than 300 V and those having a rated current of
not less than 1 A but not more than 200 A [in the case of fuses for
electrical motors, limited to those used with motors rated 12 kW or less],
3 for use in alternating current circuits)

1) Cartridge fuses

2) End contact plug fuses

Wiring devices as noted below (limited to those having a rated voltage of

not less than 100 V but not more than 300 V for use in alternating current
circuits, but excluding explosion proof and oil-filled types):

1) Remote control relays (limited to those having a rated current of 30 A or

less, and excluding those specially designed to be incorporated in
appliances)

2) Switching devices as noted below (limited to those having a rated

current of 100 A or less [in the case of switches for electrical motors,
limited to those used with motors rated 12 kW], but excluding those
specially designed to be incorporated in appliances):

4 (1) Cutout switches