Electrical
Electrical Abbrevations
Looking at an electrical plan, or reading an electrical specification, and wondering what all the abbreviations are? Well here are some of the more common ones you may encounter, many with links to other posts: 3ph – Three Phase Power…
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Ingress Protection (IP) Ratings
If you have bought an outside electrical switch, light, power point, or child proof power point, you may have seen it described with an IP rating. . . . but what does the IP numbers mean? Understanding The Numbers Well the…
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Additional Electrical Fittings
Most builders standard electrical fit out is fairly pathetic. A single batten light fitting and a couple of double power points in each room! I have even seen single power points! Typical Builders Prices For Electrical Upgrades Downlights – $130-160…
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Light ‘Colour’
When you are buying a light bulb you may have noticed the box says things like “Warm White” or “Daylight White” but what does it mean? . . . . . . and which should you buy? Colour Temperature Light…
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Electricity Meter Box Location
Have you thought about where your meter box will go? As you can see from this photo it is often one of the earliest things to be installed . . . . . Don’t like it in the location and…
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Electrical Circuits – How Many Should You Have?
Have too few circuits and you will get the circuit breakers in the Power Box tripping out all the time! Minimum The minimum number of electrical circuits for a new home would be 4/5, as follows; Lights General Power outlets (GPOs)…
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Safety Switches & Circuit Breakers
Did you know there are two safety devices in your electricity cabinet to keep you safe? Safety Switches Safety switches were originally known as Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers (ELCB) but are now more commonly Residual Current Devices (RCD) These super fast…
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Light Bulb Comparison
In a previous post on Lighting Levels I talked about using lumens to plan lighting. . . . . but which type of bulb should you use? There are now 3 types of bulbs in common use Halogen (A more…
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Instantaneous Electric Water Heater
No Gas Supply? . . . . .No room to put a heat pump Well an Instantaneous Electric Water Heater may be an option. This is a unit in apartment we used to rent As you can see its very…
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Solar is Winning
Electricity demand has dropped so much that Australia currently has at least 3 major coal fired power stations more than it needs! (This year the surplus capacity at peak demand is estimated to be around 8,000 megawatts) In early July this year…
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