As many communities throughout the midwest work to recover after the floods last month, it should come as no surprise that power companies, transformer test instruments, and other testing energy meters are being used. Once these communities are able to restore the power and get access to a clean water source people will be able to get their lives back.
Basic power plants produce three different phases of air conditioning power simultaneously, with the three phases that offset 120 degrees from each other. There are four wires coming out of every power plant: a neutral or ground common that connect to the three phases. In some parts of the midwest where the temperatures soared to the upper 80s many of these flood victims are desperate for a normal life.
Energy Meter Testing Equipment Plays Important Roles in Disaster Recovery Efforts
Most homes have single phase power sources. In fact, residential contractors generally talk about household electrical service as single-phase, 120-volt AC services. Whether you are waiting for the power to be installed in a newly constructed home or you are waiting for power to be restored after a major weather event, one of the first things that needs to be addressed is the status of the closest transformer. In fact, the transformer test instruments that are used are the first step in the recovery process.
Understanding the amount of power that we use on a daily basis can be challenging, but a few small examples is a way to start. For instance, when you use electricity to power a 1000-watt vacuum for a single hour, you use 1,000 watt-hours (1,000 Wh) of electricity. We all know, of course, that there are few things we can achieve in life if we did not have access to electricity. We would not be able to cook our food; we would not be able to heat our homes; we would not be able to power the laptops and the phones that we rely on. For this reason, it is important that transformer test instruments can help provide the solutions that are needed.