Every day you use various appliances and items that require electricity, very seldom will you take the time to realise the invention, work and process that is used to ensure the electricity comes from the power plant to your door.
Chances are that you never knew that electricity dissipates on its way from the power plant due to the flexibility in the wiring, this means that the power needs to be cranked up to a high voltage before it’s transmitted through the wiring to ensure it reaches your home, hundreds of miles away.
Actually it’s impressive to think that the loads of power lines you see throughout the country carry high voltages of electricity constantly and this current is carried hundreds of miles, especially when transmitting to rural areas, this is where the power transformers come into play.
You will often notice these devices when you see a power plant or sometimes they are noticeable at the top of electricity poles. The ones on top of electric poles are often distribution transformers, rather than the power options. The transformers are located at the plant and they increase the voltage before sending it down the wiring to your property.
How It All Works
Basically electrical wire generates a magnetic field, which is related to the current being, sent down the wires. The fluctuation in the magnetic field generates the electrical current which operates all our electrical appliances and items. This needs to be a high voltage to ensure that it can reach far distances, often power plants are located far outside the city limits and miles from some of the rural villages we have in the UK.
These wires often carry up to 750,000 volts at a time, you do not want to touch or be near any of these when they are active, and they can kill you instantly. That is why it’s so interesting to note that these high voltage wires need to be reduced before sending any power to your home, this is where the distribution transformers come into play, reducing the electrical current to ensure that your favourite appliances don’t explode because of the high current being released.
Power transformers are an essential part of our electrical supply and ensure that the electrical current is transmitted for long distances to reach where it needs to go.