Bridgeton pioneer., 1916-12-07
TERMS IN
ELECTRICITY
Simple Terms To Be Fa.
miliariZed.
INFORMATION.
Every Householder Using Elec-
trlcity Should Read This
Carefully.

Electric current is like a stream of
water. The size of the stream may
vary, as do water pipes, and the word
used to designate the size of an elec-
trio stream is ampere. Thus, an cleo
trio iron requires large stream, five
amperes; vacuum cleaner a small
stream, one ampere; while a large
range with all the switches on will
require a still larger stream and may
take from fifteen to twenty amperes
Thus, only the devices requiring five
amperes and under are safe to use on,
the lighting circuit, which carries
| only that comparatively small-sized
stream
Another common term is the volt.
And this word means the pressure OF
the stream of electricity. With the
water supply we speak of the pres
sure at the faucets as thirty pounds
or sixty pounds, etc. With electricity
we speak of the pressure as ITO volts,
Or 120 volts, etc. Thus the voltage or
pressure is determined by your local
electric company, while the manufac-
turer decides the size of the stream
or amperage required for his device.
The watt is the actual amount of
electricity used. 1t is measured by
gallons Or cubic feet in the case of
water. Thus we would say the faucet
runs fifty gallons an hour, while with
electricity we would say the iron con-
sumes five hundred watts an hour.
Because the watt is so small a guam
tity, all electric lighting companies
use one thousand watts or the kila-
watt as their basis of measurement.
and the cost of electricity is, there
fore, SO many cents for a kilowatt
used one hour.
Once these terms are understood it
will be simple matter for any
housekeeper to determine the exact
cost of using any one of her electri-
cal appliances. This method is cor
rect for the less common direct cur
rent Cd. CO. and approximately cor
rect for the oftener used alternating
current GA. CO.. Multiply the pres
sure, or voltage, by the size of the
sream, or the amperage, and you
have the amount of electricity used,
or the watts consumed.
Most household users of electricity
have an unreasoning fear of
blown fuse" when really they should
consider the fuse in an electric sys-
tenn like the safety-valve in the steam
boiler. If anything goes wrong. the
fuse blows, automatically turning
off the current This is accomplished
by means of small wire within the
fuse which melts with some slight
noise, which is called blowing"
When you have blown fuse, do not
be frightened, for the safety valve has
worked and no harm has been done.
Notify the company and a new fuse
will be put in. Find out the cause
of the trouble, remember that fuse
must be large enough to carry the
lagest stream of electricity that you
expect to use at one time, and state
very clearly to the repair man, sent
you, all the electric devices you were
using at the time the fuse blew. Thus,
If the toaster and percolator, each
consuming five amperes, together
with the dining room lights were all
in operation, and the chafing-dish
consuming another five amperes was
then started, blown fuse would i'm
mediately result provided the fuse
was fifteen-ampere one. because the
stream of electricity would be too
large and the safety-valve would
blow, while if the fuse had been a
twenty-five ampere one, there would
have been no necessity for the safety
valve to operate. Be very sure, how
ever, that the fuse is not larger than
the stream of electricity the wiring
can safely carry.