ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area My Favorite Electrical Myth

One guy wanting to touch a glowing Nichrome wire: "But it's only 9V so I can touch it!"
(a 17-year-old in a physics class)

"low voltage lighting uses less electricity"

And "CFL's are good for the environment."

American electricity is safer than British electricity because it is only 110V which is non-fatal!

I think this comes from our 55v - 0v - 55V site transformers but it annoys me, a lot.

Its ok to have bare copper showing on that extension lead, its only 110V

Idiot: Can I have some fuses
Me: what size?
Idiot: 13A
Me: whats it for?
Idiot: table lamp
Me: 13A is too big, you need a 3A
Idiot: but the 13A ones are bigger and last longer!
Me: Get out (miffed expression pointing to the door!)

You just cant get it across to some people.

A 1500 watt 120 volt heater costs more to run than one of the same wattage at 240 volts. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard people say they don't like using portable space heaters because they cost more to run.

How about "low voltage fixtures don't use as much power as the 120V lights".

I hear that one all the time when I try to meet the Energy Codes when dealing with 'lighting designers'.


I guess watts get littler as the voltage goes down...

After a black out:

*Why don't we have power yet? did't POCO fix the problem?
** yes the problem is fixed, but since the problem was 4 blocks down and there are 300 houses before yours, it takes a while for electricity to get through to you. please Be patient.

Not necessarily an electrical myth, but how about "the check's in the mail"?

Not to be a nitpicker, but "the check's in the mail" isn't technically a myth, it's one of the "3 truths of the Universe".

1. The check's in the mail.
2. I promise I'll respect you in the morning.
3. We're from the government and we're here to HELP you.


But here's a great myth for you ... "It's always safe to touch the white wire".

BZZZTTTT!!!!!!!!!

Ah yes...... I still remember an excellent example of that one. The existing lighting in the hallway of an old house was two standard 240V pendants which had already been fitted with 11W compact fluoros. They wanted them replaced with two strip systems, each carrying three 50W low-voltage dichroic spots: "It will be cheaper to run."

Nothing would convince them otherwise.



Well, for a very long time over here white was the color for B phase!

Leaving a fluorescent tube running 24/24 is cheaper to run than turning it off when you leave the room.

A shock only kills you if it passes across your chest.

DC used to set houses on fire. That's why we got AC, because it switches itself off 50 times a minute.

There's a new sort of storage heater developed by NASA that uses much less electricity.