So why do you even need to know this stuff? Well, essentially, it could save your life! Sounds dramatic but if you overload your sockets, put a 5 amp fuse in a 3 amp plug or put a 100 watt bulb in a 40 watt lamp, you could be creating a fire hazard.

So here’s a quick round up of watt (pardon the pun!) they all mean;

Volts

A volt or voltage is a measure of the difference in electrical energy between two parts of a circuit. The bigger the difference in energy, the bigger the voltage. Voltage is measured in volts. The symbol for volts is V. For example, 230V is a bigger voltage than 12V.

Plugging in an appliance which has a higher voltage than the socket accepts, will most likely damage the appliance, socket or both which could result in a fire.

Watts

The power used by a circuit is measured in Watts. You can calculate the number of Watts by multiplying the Voltage times the Current. When you get your electricity bill it's generally in kilowatt hours. This is the measurement of power over time or how much power was used that month. Lightbulbs go by a watt measurement and this tells you how bright they are. Putting a 100-watt bulb in a 60-watt fixture could cause intense heat, melting the light socket and the insulation on the fixture's wires.

Amps

Amps or amperes is the unit used to measure electric current. Too many amps is not actually dangerous as the appliance will only take the amps it needs. Too few amps and it is unlikely that the device will even work and if it does, it will not run efficiently and may cause overheating.

And just a couple of other things…

Current

Current is a count of the number of electrons flowing through a circuit. One amp is the amount of current produced by a force of one volt acting through the resistance of one ohm.

Ohms

Electrical resistance is measured in units called ohms.

Ohm’s Law is the formula used to establish a relationship between current (measured in Amps), voltage (measured in volts) and resistance (measured in ohms)

You learn something new every day!!