Presented by YOUR NAME
Name of Your Local Electric Cooperative
Home Power
How does your home use electricity?
Electricity plays an integral role
in how our homes operate.
By understanding the basics of how
Electricity is distributed around your home,
you can help manage the demands
placed on your electrical system and keep it in
SAFE working condition.
Home Power
How does your home use electricity?
8%
8%
Refrigeration
9%
Heating
Cooling
9%
31%
Water Heating
Lighting
Electronics
11%
Appliances
Other
12%
12%
The Basics
How does your electrical system work?
The electric meter, mounted outside, is where electricity enters your home.
It’s used to measure the amount of electricity your home uses.
CAUTION: Feel free to take your own readings, but tampering with an
electric meter is extremely dangerous – and illegal!
The service panel is the central distribution point for delivering electricity
to switches and outlets throughout the house.
Breakers shut off power to specific circuits or the entire system.
The entire electrical system is grounded to the earth with a wire and
underground rod. This adds critical protection for anyone working on
the system, plugged-in appliances, and the system itself.
The Basics
What’s inside your service panel?
Service panels are equipped with either FUSES (older systems) or
CIRCUIT BREAKERS (modern systems) that protect the wires in each circuit
from overheating and causing a fire.
Tripped Breaker?
It’s probably a result of too many appliances running on one circuit.
1. Unplug the appliances in the room
2. Find the tripped breaker in the service panel:
it will have switched to OFF or be somewhere
between ON and OFF
3. Switch it fully OFF, then ON. Power will be
restored to the room.
Blown Fuse?
Unscrew the blown fuse and replace it with one of the same amperage rating.
Never use a replacement with a higher amperage rating!
The Basics
A little inside information…
Each circuit breaker contains a permanent metal strip that heats
up and bends when electricity moves through it.
If a circuit is overloaded, the strip bends enough to
flip the switch and shut off power!
Types of circuits:
120-volt circuits use one phase of
electrical service to power standard appliances
240-volt circuits use both phases of electrical
service to power larger appliances. These outlets are
rare, but check for one behind your clothes dryer.
The Basics
Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs)
“Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter” may be a mouthful, but the new devices
replace standard circuit breakers and provide enhanced protection against
fire hazards known as arc faults – caused by damaged, overheated, or
stressed electrical wiring or devices.
Without AFCIs, these hazards may be hidden until it’s too late.
Each year, home electrical fires take the lives of 480 people, injure more
than 2,000, and destroy more than $868 million in property.
The absence of AFCIs in service panels is among
the primary residential hazard associated with
burns and fire-related injuries.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Home Wiring
What kind of wiring system is in my home?
of American homes are at
least 50 years old with
potentially hazardous wiring.
Identify how your home is wired to address
hazardous situations before it’s too late…
Home Wiring
What kind of wiring system is in my home?
Knob and Tubing Wiring: 1800s – 1930s
This was designed as an open air system that used ceramic knobs to
prevent wires from contacting a home’s wood framing and sparking a fire.
CAUTION: This system is considered
unsafe by today’s standards.
The system is not grounded, and is
susceptible to damage from aging and
botched renovations.
Home Wiring
What kind of wiring system is in my home?
Aluminum Wiring: 1960s – 1970s
As the price of copper soared in the 1960s, many homes were wired with
aluminum instead.
CAUTION: Aluminum is highly responsive
to temperature fluctuations, and is more
likely to become loose over time as a
result (a fire hazard).
Consider updating your system or other
options if yours is one of the two million
homes wired with aluminum between
1962 and 1972.
Home Wiring
What kind of wiring system is in my home?
Grounded Electrical System: 1940s – present
In a complete circuit, electricity always seeks to return to its source. This is
why there are at least two prongs to a plug: one sends electricity into the
appliance, the other sends it back out to complete the circuit.
Grounded systems give electricity a third
option (a third prong, for appliances). If an
appliance short circuits, the current will travel
through the ground wire—literally a wire near
your service panel that leads to the ground—
and not through an unsuspecting person who
comes in contact with that shorted appliance .
If your home is not grounded, contact an electrician to upgrade your system.
Electrical Outlets
Does your home have grounded outlets?
Electrical outlets are where you most often interact with your home’s electrical
system. Modern outlets have a round hole for the grounding conductor.
(Remember grounding?) The circle slot is connected to the ground wire.
Do your outlets look like this?
They’re grounded – and safe!
Do your outlets look like this?
They’re not grounded, and pose a potential hazard.
Consult an electrician about updating your home.
Electrical Outlets
Tamper-Resistant Outlets
Every year, 2,400 children are injured from inserting household objects into
electrical outlets. Tamper-resistant outlets look like standard outlets, but
have an internal, spring-loaded shutter mechanism that only opens when
equal pressure is applied simultaneously to both shutters.
Household objects most commonly placed in outlets:
HAIRPIN
32 percent
FINGER
12 percent
KEYS
17 percent
PAPER CLIP
5 percent
Other common items: jewelry, tools, plugs, pins
Electrical Outlets
Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters
Since the 1970s, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) have saved
thousands of lives and have helped cut the number of electrocutions in half.
• Prevent deadly shock by quickly shutting off power
to a circuit if the electricity flowing into the circuit
differs by even a slight amount from that returning.
• Should be used for any outlets near water
(kitchens, bathrooms, garages, outdoors).
• Test once a month to be sure
they’re working properly!
Electrical Outlets
How to test your GFCIs
Testing your GFCIs is easy!
All you need is a nightlight or outlet tester:
Demonstrations
Contact [INSERT YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION]