It’s important to have a solid understanding of how your home electrical system functions. Having a full knowledge of the components allows you to understand when something in need of repairs or requires servicing. At Christchurch Electrical, we’re always happy to help you with the servicing and repairs, but it’s preferable for your peace of mind and general safety to know what’s going on with your electrical systems at a basic level.

You pay for electricity on a regular basis, but how does it arrive to your home and provide you with power? Your utility company has power lines all over the region, and these powerlines deliver the electricity to your home. Your electric company keeps track of the amount of electricity you use through a monitor that is connected to your home.

The main panel in your home acts as the distribution point from which the electrical currents your home receives travel to the lights, appliances, and other electronics. Your electricity’s journey starts and ends at this panel after circulating around your home and providing you with power. This entire process is referred to as a circuit, and it’s vital that there are no interruptions, otherwise it will be considered dead and require repairs.

Circuits are made up of one live wire that travels from the main panel to the receivers of power in your home, and a neutral wire that comes back to the main panel and completes the circuit. As well as these wires, there will be something called an earth wire that goes from the main panel and into the earth in order to take the electricity away from the wires and into the ground to avoid electrical shocks.

At Christchurch Electrical, we provide a wide range of services to suit both commercial and residential electrical requirements. If you need help understanding, repairing, or servicing your home electrical systems, call us on 03 366 1718, or get in touch with us via our online form.