Electrical Wiring

A process of connecting various accessories for distribution of electrical energy from

supplier’s meter board to home appliances such as lamps, fans and other domestic appliances
is known as Electrical Wiring.

Factors Affecting the Selection of Wiring

Durability
Safety
Appearance
Cost
Accessibility
Maintenance Cost

Conduit Wiring System

Conduit wiring system consists of either VIR or PVC cables taken through tubes or pipes and
terminated at the outlets or switches / sockets. The tube or pipe is known as “conduit”. The
electrical conduit provides an enclosure to avoid any damages in wiring due to external
factors. Nowadays PVC conduits are widely used. Conduit wiring may run over the surface
of the walls and ceiling or may be concealed under masonry work. There are two types of
conduit wiring according to pipe installation.
Surface conduit wiring
If conduits installed on roof or wall, It is known as surface conduit wiring. in this wiring
method, they make holes on the surface of wall on equal distances (not more than 1.2m)
and conduit is installed then with the help of rawal plugs.

The conduit should be laid completely before cables are drawn in and the entire conduit
should be permanently connected to earth. Surface conduit wiring is used for factory or
workshop lighting and motor wiring.

Concealed conduit wiring

If the conduits are hidden inside the wall slots with the help of plastering, it is called
concealed conduit wiring. In other words, the electrical wiring system inside the wall,
roof or floor with the help of plastic or metallic piping is called concealed conduit
wiring. Here conduits are embedded along walls or ceiling at the time of construction. The
conduits are fixed by means of saddles or staples not more than 60 cm apart. The VIR of
PVC cables are drawn into the concealed conduits by means of spring of GI wire.
Conduit wiring is a professional way of wiring a building. Mostly PVC conduits are used in
domestic wiring. But lead conduits are used in factories or when the building is prone to fire
accidents.
Important wiring materials
Switch
Holders
Ceiling rose
Socket outlet/plug
Main switch
PVC casing-capping wiring
cables (VIR (Vulcanized Indian Rubber) or PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) insulated )
Elbow
Junction boxes
Coupling
Saddles
Clamp
Conduit pipe
Fuse
Meter box

Service connection
The line bringing electric power from supplier’s low voltage distribution up to the energy
meter installed at the consumer’s premises is called the service connection. Service
connection may be by mean of underground cables or by mean of overhead conductors or
cables.

Basic Requirements for electric connection/installation

Cut Out Fuse
Energy Meter
Main Switch
Miniature Circuit Breaker
Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker
Neutral Link

Cut out fuse

Each Service connection shall be provided with an aerial cut-out fuse in the tapping
point of the pole / box, such that in case of any overload / faults /surge etc inside the
consumer premises, the supply to the premises will be safely cut off. It is a combination
of a fuse and a switch. The supplier/owner of the installation shall provide at the point of
commencement of supply a suitable isolating device with cut out. It is not more than 2.75
metres above the ground so as to completely isolate the supply to the building in case of
emergency.
Energy meter
The energy meter is an electrical measuring device, which is used to record Electrical
Energy Consumed over a specified period of time in terms of units. The commercial
unit of electrical energy is kilo-watt-hours (KWh).
Energy = ( Power x Time ) Watt seconds or Joules.
If t is in hours, P is in kilo-watts, then the energy is expressed in kilo-watt-hours (KWh)
Now a days digital energy meters are used.
Main Switch
It is a linked switch operating simultaneously on phase and neutral wire. It is to be
provided immediately after meter inorder to isolate the consumer installation from
supply. The advantage of main switch is for safety. In the event of fire or flash flood you can
shut the power off safely by means of a singel switch.
These are of following types
ICDP (Iron Clad Double Pole)- use for single phase supply control (15 A, 30A, 60A, 100A,
250 V)
ICTP(Iron Clad Triple Pole)- use for three phase-three wire and three phase four wire supply
control (15A, 30A, 60A, 100A, 150A, 200A, and 500V)

Miniature Circuit Breaker(MCB)

MCB is a device that provides definite protection to the wiring installations and
sophisticated equipment against over currents and short circuit faults. MCB’s are
connected in phase lines of each branch circuit from the distribution box.
Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker(ELCB)
An Earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) is a safety device used in electrical
installations with high Earth impedance to prevent shock. It detects small stray voltages
on the metal enclosures of electrical equipment, and interrupts the circuit if a dangerous
voltage is detected.Also, the ELCB is used to protect the circuit from the electrical
leakage.When someone gets an electric shock, then this circuit breaker cuts off the power at
the time of 0.1 sec. for protecting the personal safety and avoiding the gear from the circuit
against short circuit and overload.
In electrical installations earthing is done in order to i)Equipment protection ii)Protects
operators from electrical shock

Neutral link
Neutral links are utilised as the terminating point for neutral wires in a typical electrical
circuit and can vary in construction depending on the number of neutral terminations.A
neutral link that is used to terminate more than one wire is generally referred to as a
neutral bar.Neutral links are metallic bars that are usually constructed of copper, aluminium
or brass and can act as an electrical terminal in an electrical circuit.
Power
The rate of doing work or the amount of energy transferred by a circuit per unit time is
known as power in electrical circuits

Power in a dc circuit
If V is the voltage across load and I is the current flowing through load in a dc circuit, then
power is given by the equation P=VI

Power in ac circuits

Consider single phase ac circuit , Let V be the rms value of voltage across the load and I be
the rms value of current through the load and θ be the phase angle between voltage and
current,then

Apparent power
The product of root mean square (RMS) value of voltage and current is known as Apparent
Power. This power is measured in (VA)Volt Ampere, kVA (Kilo Volt Ampere) or
MVA(Mega Volta Ampere).
Apparent power S = V x I = VI
Active power
The power which is actually consumed or utilised in an AC Circuit is called True power or
Active power or Real power, It is measured inWatts(W), kilowatt (kW) or MW.
Active power,P = V x I x Cosθ (in Single phase AC Circuits)
Reactive power
The power that continuously bounces back and forth between source and load is known as
reactive Power (Q). Also known as (Use-less Power, Watt less Power)
Q = V I Sinθ
This power is measured inVAR(Volt Ampere Reactive)or kVAR(Kilo Volt ampere Reactive)
or MVAR(Mega Volt Ampere Reactive).

Power factor
Power Factor (P.F.) is the ratio of active power to Apparent Power.
Power Factor =KW/KVA

Power triangle
The “Power Triangle” illustrates this relationship between KW, KVA, KVAR, and Power
Factor.

From power triangle Cosθ=kW/kVA=power factor

Hence power factor can also be defined as the cosine of the phase angle between voltage and
current.

The Impedance Triangle

The impedance triangle conveys the impedance characteristics of a circuit; the horizontal and
vertical sides correspond to the resistance and reactance, respectively, and the hypotenuse is
the complex impedance. The angle between resistance and impedance is the same as the
angle between active power and complex power in the power triangle

If R is the resistance, X is the reactance and Z is the impedance, then from impedance
triangle, power factor Cosθ=R/Z
Power factor can also be defined as the cosine of the phase angle between resistance and
impedance.
Power in three phase system
If VL and IL are the line voltage and current and θ be the angle between voltage and current ,
then
Three phase active power =√3VL ILCosθ
Three phase reactive power=√3VL ILSinθ
Three phase apparent power=√3VL IL

If VPh and Iph are the phase voltage and current and θ be the angle between voltage and
current , then
Three phase active power =3Vph IphCosθ
Three phase reactive power=3Vph IphSinθ
Three phase apparent power=3Vph Iph

Problems
Qn: A single phase load at 220 V draws a current of 3A at a power factor of 0.8 lag.Calculate
(i)Active power (ii)Reactive power (iii)Apparent power
Hint: Given V,I and power factor ,Cosθ=0.8
Find θ using formula Cos-1(0.8)
Then Active power =VICosθ
Reactive power= VISinθ
Apparent power= VI
Q: A circuit consisting of resistance 50Ω and inductive reactance 30Ω in series is supplied
with an ac voltage of 250 V . Determine i) Impedance of the circuit ii) Power factor of the
circuit iii)Active power
Hint: Given R= 50Ω , XL=30Ω, V=250V

Impedance,

Power factor =R/Z(can be calculated), which is equal to Cosθ

Active power =VICosθ
Calculate I using formula I=V/Z
And then active power can be calculated

Electrical Energy
Total amount of work done in an electrical circuit is called electrical energy
Electrical Energy = Power x Time
units of Electrical Energy is:
Watt Second(Ws) or Joule
Commercial unit of electrical energy is Kilo Watt hour (kWh)

Calculation of Monthly Electricity Bill

Qn: Consider a residential building using following appliances and their hour of operation
per day as shown below. Calculate the monthly electricity bill for the month April at a rate of
Rs 3 per unit.

SI No. Appliance Power Rating No. of Hours

Appliances Of operation
1 Fan 80 W 3 8
2 Tubelight 40 W 3 8
3 LED Bulb 10 W 4 8
4 Television 100 W 1 6
5 Refrigerator 140 W 1 12
6 Iron box 750 W 1 2
7 Water Pumb 750 W 1 1

𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑋 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 𝑥 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

Hint : kWh= 1000
Calculate kWh per day for each appliances
Then calculate total units consumed per day
Then calculate total units consumed in the given month=
total units consumed in a day x Number of days in given month
Then calculate electricity bill= total units consumed in the given month x rate of one unit

Importance of Electrical Safety in a Work Place

Electricity is dangerous (if not handled properly !!!)

Dangers from electricity are due to :
● Electric shocks resulting in burns, injury, deaths.
● Electric flashovers resulting in deaths, fires, damages.
● Electric faults resulting in arcing, explosions and fires.
● Explosions in electrical equipment resulting in damage to installations and deaths.
● Fire hazards resulting in destruction, loss of life and release of smoke, dust, gases
which spread over large areas quickly.

Effect of Electricity in human body

When current passes through the human body, electric shock is received.
The severity of electric shock depends on:-path of current through the body,amount of current
flowing through the body, length of time the body is in the circuit.
Range of current lasting 1 second will have the following reactions on human body:-
● 1 Milliampere
Just a faint
● 5 Milliampere
Slight Shock felt. Most people can let go.
● 6-30mA
Painful Shock. Muscular Control is lost. It may not be possible to let go.
● 50- 100mA
 extremely painful shock. Breathing stops and severe muscular contraction and
death is possible.
● 1 - 4.3 A
Stops Heart pumping action, nerves get damaged and death happens.

Basic electrical safety precautions

● Use protective devices like Fuse and MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) for overload
and short circuit protection from ac mains.
● Use ELCB (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker) or RCCB (Residual Current Circuit
breaker) for protection.
● Never touch any electrical equipment with wet hands.
● Always use the proper rating of Fuse.
● Turn off and secure electrical circuits before working on the line or item.
● All metallic parts should be earthed properly.
● Do not use damaged Power tools and damaged extension cord.
● use personal protective Equipments (PPE) like Shoes, Helmet and gloves while
operating with electricity.
● Sand buckets and fire extinguishers should be placed near electrical panels or
equipment.
● Never overload plug Socket.
● Don’t put fingers into the Socket.
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