Part 26

3. Learn how the electricity gets to where it's used.

4. Make a chart of the electrical circuits in your home.

5. Make sure that each circuit is protected with the right fuse or circuit breaker.

Count Your Electrical Blessings

Many people in much of the rest of the world wish that they could trade places with us, because we have so many electrical appliances in our homes.

Of course, we have not always had as many appliances as there are today. When electricity first came along, people used it only for lights. Then, they began to add flatirons, washing machines, refrigerators, coffee percolators, and radios.

Then more and more electrical things were made for people to use and enjoy. Now we have dozens and dozens of uses for electricity in our homes.

How many different uses for electricity are there in your home today? Ask your parents how many there were when your home was built or first wired. How many were common when your parents began to keep house?

Some Homes Are Behind Times

Many older homes were built before electricity was available, and were wired later. And like them, some older homes that were wired as they were built had only enough wiring for lights and a few other appliances, because those were the only uses that were known at that time.

But people kept on living in these homes, and kept adding to the uses they made of electricity without adding to their wiring.

What has this meant? Well, if electricity were like cars and trucks, you could say that some people are trying to put turnpike traffic through a back-country dirt road!

Watch for Signs of Starvation

Of course, as your state has done with its highways, some people have expanded and modernized their wiring. But many others have not yet seen this need, or if they have, they may have to do it again.

Here's why:

Your power supplier delivers current to you at the right voltage or electrical pressure. If the wires in your house are large enough, they will pass this full voltage on to the appliances.

But if your wiring is too small, the electricity arrives at the appliances so weak that they can't work properly, and much of what you pay for is wasted.

Here are some things you can watch for in your own home. They will tell you whether your appliances are getting enough electrical "food" or not.

1. A shrinking TV picture--If it draws in from the sides of the screen, fades, loses contrast, or if the sound becomes distorted, you may have low voltage.

2. Too much fuse blowing or circuit breaker tripping.

3. Heating appliances are slow to do their jobs.

4. Lights dimming, when motors or other appliances are turned on.

There Should Be Enough Ways to Get "Appliance-Food" Around

If appliances in your home show these starvation signs, then you may not have enough ways for the electricity to get to where it's used.

There are three kinds of these electrical highways or circuits, and your home should have enough of each:

1. General purpose circuits--These serve lights all over the house, and convenience outlets everywhere except in the kitchen, laundry, and dining areas.

A rule-of-thumb is: There should be at least one general purpose circuit for each 500 sq. ft. of floor space.

2. Small appliance circuits--These are not used for lights, but instead they supply convenience outlets in the kitchen, laundry, and dining areas where portable appliances are most used.