A.C Electricity …and why I hate it!
When I say A.C electricity I mean the kind of high-voltage stuff we have in our homes. So before anybody says: “Well, aren’t radio waves a form of A.C?”, let me explain what I mean…
Since you’re reading this, (and you’ve not elecrocuted yourself yet) I guess it’s safe to assume that, at some time in your hobby, you’ve dabbled around with 110v / 240v domestic electricity. Now cast your memories back to the time you received that first shock – I don’t mean physical or mental – I mean ELECTRICAL shock.
You hadn’t forgotten, had you? It’s akin to losing your virginity… you fumble around, poke things about and you never forget it! All you learn from the experience is that it must be treated with a bit more respect. And if you must poke your finger in there again(?) you know to turn the damn stuff off first – it bites! So if it’s that dangerous, why do we use it? Well, did you know this…
When Thomas Edison (a little history lesson here) discovered the beauty of D.C he tried to persuade the powers-that-be that this was the way forward. However, he didn’t reckon on the opposition of those pushing for the use of A.C.
In desperation he tried to show those leaders-of-the-day how dangerous A.C was by demonstrating his A.C ‘electric chair’. His demonstration worked only too well! For those leaders seen the destruction powers of A.C and voted in its favour. He unwittingly played right into the opposition’s hands…they won the day!
So today – due to Mr.Edison’s unintentional error (or plain stupidity of those leaders)- we still have that dangerous commodity in our homes.
How did the electricity that your using today get there? What’s powering that computer you’re using to read this? Yep – you got it… that hulking, great nuclear reactor right there in your area! Are they safe..? about as safe as the stuff they deliver to our homes (just ask the folk of Chernobyl)! And how much do you pay per-year to the companies which run ’em, for the pleasure of using their potential killers? Now, consider this… Do you know you could run your homes without A.C electricity? “How?”, I hear you chorus. “Easy”, say I – and it’s cheap…
You can power most any domestic appliance in your homes by using… D.C! Your T.V’, video’s, computers, etc, etc. already operate by direct current. Think about it… What happens when you plug, for instance, your radio into the wall socket? Yep – the current is transformed to, a safe, low voltage then rectified to D.C!
So why bother with a transformer? One cheap 12Volt automobile battery will provide enough current to power your appliances for several days. Ten of these connected in parellel will be even better – and they’re reasonably cheap when you consider the amount of current per-dollar/pound/rupee, etc. you’re getting!
And when they’re drained..? Simple – We recharge ’em by the most free and abundant power of all… the Sun and/or the wind!
I’ve been an electrician for more years than I want to be – I’ve had more shocks than the average person and they still hurt! I’ve never had a shock from direct current – and that speaks volumes, doesn’t it?<br.
When I say I hate A.C electricity, it doesn’t mean I hate it through fear – No, I hate it because it kills and it’s generated by expensive, dangerous means!
Mr.Edison was right all along!
Thomas Edison
Methinks thou protesteth too much! I received a DC shock from a radio transmitter of about 800 volts and you may take my word for it that it hurt. Blew a quarter sized hole in my skin where the current exited. The real reason that AC won out over DC has to do with power distribution. Assuming for a moment that it is no more difficult to generate high voltage DC than AC Lets start for a moment with a 1 mega volt line voltage. From ohms law we can figure that the current for this line will be much lower for a given load than if we only generated 120 volts. For AC we need to use Z or impedance to correct for the reactive effects of L and C of the transmission line. Neglecting all other considerations, How do we step down the 1MV line voltage to something more safe to feed into the home. There is only one way and that is a resistive voltage divider, which would add a lot of additional load to the line. And consider what happens if the grounded resistor opens. With AC we use a transformer which is much more efficient than a resistive divider. Any excess L or C in the line can be nulled out using phasing caps or inductors. Anyway, that’s why the proponents of AC (notably George Westinghouse, who was Edison’s nemesis) won out over TA Edison. We all owe a great deal to the work of these men and their contemporaries around the world. But you make a valid point in that many of our appliances use DC internally and therefore could be used off the grid with a battery. We could sub in low voltage DC motors to our motor driven appliances and it would all work just fine. But now you’ve gotten yourself into the power generating business to charge the batteries which requires skills most people don’t possess regardless of the power generating method you favor. BTW I swapped out the fan motor in my pellet stove for a DC unit so I could still stay warm when the power goes out. So there are improvements that person practiced in the art can effect to make his power more user friendly.
That about the stupidest article i have ever read. Thomas Edisons Genius walked hand and hand with his stupidity. Unlike Tesla…. Edison cared more about $$$than mankind