Explaining Electrical Jargon & Terms

Every profession or subject tends to come with technical language, unexplained abbreviations and confusing jargon. Unless you are a qualified electrician, you work in an electrical store or you study a course focused in electronics, the electrical world is full of daunting terms to get your head around. More often than not, these terms require a little research to fully grasp the meaning.

In this blog Direct Trade Supplies looks to demystify some of the most common electrical jargon to bring you up to date and keep you in the know how. The sheer size of the electrical field means that we’ve probably missed out a few terms, but despite the ones that got away we’re certain you’ll find refuge from your electrical perplexity.

AC – 

AC is an abbreviation for alternating current. If you didn’t know, electricity is formed when electrons travel through a conductor, and when these electrons move in alternating directions it is referred to as an alternating current.

DC – 

DC is an abbreviation for direct current. Unlike alternating currents, a direct current will see electrons moving in the exact same direction.

AMPS – 

You have probably heard of or understand what amps are but for those at the back amps are units of measurement for electricity. Just how time is measured in minutes and seconds, electrical currents are measured in amps.

AMMETER – 

This is the device that measures (in amps) the amount of electricity travelling through the meter to which it is attached.

BS7671 –

UK national safety standard of electrical installations.

CAPPING –

A slender plastic or metal channel often used to home cables when fixed to a wall before plastering. A capping accommodates several cables that follow the same route to minimise the use of fittings.

CHASING/CHASES –

Messy work that creates slots or grooves into solid walls before installing cables or wires. (In Scotland chases are called raggles).

CIRCUIT – 

Take yourself back to school where you learnt the ins and outs of how electricity works, you may have been asked to create your very own circuit. For a recap, electricity enters an appliance with the main aim to pass through and come out again. Whilst it enters the appliance, electricity needs to sustain a continuous flow without any breaks, and this continuous flow is called a circuit. A break in the circuit will hamper the performance because the entire unit will not be harnessing the correct flow of electricity.

CONSUMER UNIT –

Similar to fuseboxes in the way they are used to control and spread electricity around the home. Often includes a main switch, fuses, circuit breakers or residual current devices (RCDs).

CURRENT – 

Current is the electrons moving through a conductor. The more electrons travelling through the conductor, the faster they move and the more power the current holds. Large electrical currents are powerful and pose obvious dangers.

EARTH – 

Is the planet we live on as well as a safety wire often used in residential properties. If something you are working on goes wrong then the earth wire will direct the electricity straight into the ground rather than passing through you. Earth wires are usually marked with yellow and green striped plastic covers.

FLUSH FITTING –

Electrical units such as switches and sockets (which are visible) use flush fitting back boxes (which are invisible) to be inserted into walls, ceilings or floors.

FUSE –

Fuses are key components in electrical circuits and feature heavily in all homes and properties. The main aim for a fuse is to prevent too much electricity from passing through the wires. Some appliances have their own fuses built in whereas other locations may use one large fuse to prevent too much electricity from entering the property. Quite often a circuit breaker will cut the power when something is overloaded to stop the fuse from burning out. 

GENERATOR –

Locations that are unable to host a conventional electricity supply are often provided with generators. A generator will produce a large amount of electricity to units inside. These are also used once conventional sources of electricity breaks down or a power cut occurs.

INSULATION –

Insulation is used to stop electricity from passing through materials (conductors). Conductor materials are coated with insulation, wires are usually insulated with plastic.

IP RATING –

IP rating is a term to help categorise safe lighting applications. A high IP rating will ensure safe installations inside bathrooms or outside, whereas lower IP ratings will only be suitable for indoor lighting.

JOULE – 

The unit of measurement used to measure energy. 

LIVE –

A live wire will carry electricity into a property and to everything inside that requires powering. Live wires are commonly coated in brown plastic although older systems may include live wires with red plastic covers. Live wires are the most dangerous of all the wires.

MINI TRUNKING –

An enclosure with one removable side to allow cables to be installed on the surface of walls and ceilings.

NEUTRAL –

Along with the earth and live comes the neutral wire, a neutral wire completes the entire circuit and directs power back to the station. Neutral wires are usually covered in blue plastic, however older systems may use a black plastic covering.

PART P –

A section of the Building Regulations for England and Wales in relation to electrical installations in domestic properties.

POWER –

You’d be mistaken in thinking that ‘power’ covers a broad spectrum of describing electrical forces, however in the electrical world power has a specific meaning. Electricians use ‘force’ to refer to voltage, ‘motion’ to refer to electron movements and ‘power’ represented by the little P is measured in watts.

RESISTOR –

A resistor is applied to a circuit board to help to stem the current flow.

SPUR –

Spurs act as an additional connection that is usually taken from a point on the circuit such as a socket. A spur can supply electricity to a new socket or a fused connection unit.

SURFACE MOUNT – 

Surface mounting is where wiring or electrical units including switches and sockets are installed on top of the surface. A flush fitting will hide the unit but cause disruption whereas the surface mount will keep the unit visible but it causes less installation mess. 

 TRANSFORMER –

A transformer or driver is often used in lighting to change voltage. A transformer can transform a low voltage into a high voltage or vice versa.

UNIT-

A unit usually represents electricity usage in the home. Electricity bills are calculated by the number of units used during a billing cycle. A unit is consumed when one kilowatt of electricity is in use for an hour.

VOLTAGE –

Voltage is the universal unit for measuring electricity. Voltage measures the force of electricity moving through wires, the more voltage produces a larger force. This is why high voltage locations are often marked as dangerous because of the force it carries.

VOLTMETER –

A voltmeter is an instrument that measures the force applied or the voltage present to move the electricity through a circuit. 

VOLTS – 

The unit of measurement used to measure voltage.

WATT –

The unit of measurement used to measure power.