Types Of Electricity Connections
What Is Single Phase And Three Phase Electrical Connection ?
The electricity distribution company basically offers two main types of electricity connections. The choice of the connection type depends upon the total peak demand of electricity.
Different types of electric connections are used to supply the electricity to your home. Â The knowledge of types of electric connections is required to design the electrical wiring layout for the interior spaces.
The architect has to plan the interior design and the electrical wiring layout of the building keeping in mind the type of the electric supply connection.
The type of the electrical connection required for the house depends upon the demand of the estimated electric power load.
Single Phase Connection
Three Phase Connection
The power load or the estimated peak demand of electricity depends upon the number of electrical gadgets connected to the electricity connection. And therefore, the electrical load calculation for each room is done at the planning stage.
In this  tutorial, you will learn the basic difference between different types of electrical connections used for the residential purpose, what is single phase and three phase supply connection.
This tutorial also covers the calculation for the electricity demand estimation and how to plan the interior electrical wiring layout based on the type of connection.
Before we dive into the main topic, let us first start with the basic fundamental concepts and the terminology used in the house electrical wiring.
Types Of Electrical Connections Explained
Types Of Electrical Connections
What Is Phase And Neutral ?
The electricity supply connection for your house is provided by the electricity distribution company has two types of wires.
The electricity supplied to your home consists of two types of wires. The first type of wire is called phase and the second type of wire is called neutral.
Both phase and neutral are essential part of the any type of electrical connection either for the residential house or for a commercial premises.
Phase
What Is Phase Wire ?
The term phase is used in the context of alternate current ( AC ). The electric power generated by the power plant is sent to the destination consumer through four cables.
Out of the four cables, the three cables carry the electric current and referred as phase lines or live wires. And, the forth cable is called a neutral line.
All electrical gadgets must be connected to the phase as well as the neutral wire. Every electrical gadget needs both phase and neutral wire connection necessary to power on and work properly.
Each phase cable carry alternate electric current with same RMS value but with the different phase angle ( R type , B type , Y type ).
For residential electric supply connection, your home can be connected to any one of the phase line or all three phase line depending upon the type of the electrical connection you opt for.
If your house is relatively large then the total electrical load will also be more. And therefore, you might need a three phase connection. However, for a smaller house or apartment, the single phase type of electrical connection should be sufficient. Â
The phase wire is also alternately referred as live wire and hot wire. It is the phase wire that indicates light when it is touched by the current tester ( type of phase indicator ).
On the three pin socket, the phase line is connected to the bottom right pin. For some electrical gadgets , the phase line must be on right hand side.
Types Of Electricity Connections
Neutral
What Is Neutral Wire ?
It is the neutral wire helps to complete the electrical circuit. All electric home appliances need both phase and neutral connection to work.
In simple words, the electric pole located outside your home carry four wires. Which include three phase wires and the fourth wire is a neutral wire.
Your home is connected to the outside electric pole through a connection cable. In this cable, one wire ( Red Color ) is a phase and another wire ( Black color ) is the neutral wire.Â
On the three pin socket used to connect any gadget, the neutral  line is connected to the bottom left pin. For some electrical gadgets , the neutral line must be on left hand side.
Important
The color code used for the identification of phase and neutral lines is not the same for all countries. And therefore, please refer to your color code applicable for your country.
Types Of Electrical Connections
Grounding
What Is Earthing Wire ?
The term earthing with reference the home electrical wiring refers to establishing a wired connection to ground ( earth ).
All the high wattage electrical gadgets such as fridge, air conditioner ( AC ) , water heater , room heater , centralized AC and other such devices are also connected to the earthing wire as measure of safety.
The earthing is a safety mechanism that provides protection to the user and the electrical gadget in the event of any short circuit or current leakage.
The electrical earthing is provided by embedding a copper earthing plate into the ground outside the building. Earthing must be done as per the recommended process to ensure its proper working.
The earth wire ( Green wire ) is brought to the main control panel ( distribution box / control panel ) for its further distribution to the electric power points in the various rooms as per the requirement.
On the three pin socket, the earthing line is connected to the top large size pin. For all electrical gadgets, the earthing line must be connected to the top central large size pin.
IMPORTANT
The earthing line is a separate electrical line that is common for all the electrical connection points. The earthing line is an important safety mechanism and should never be connected to the neutral line.Â
Types Of Electricity Connections
Types Of Electricity Connections
The electric wiring layout for a house can be designed with two commonly used type of electricity supply connections.
The type of the electricity connection required for a house depends upon the estimated peak demand of the electricity. Â
There are two types of electricity supply connections.
- Single Phase Connection.
- Three Phase Connection.
What Is Single Phase Connection ?
Most electricity home connections fall under single phase connection type. The single phase connection cable that connects your home with the external electric pole will have only two wires.
In single phase connection, the first wire ( Red ) will be a phase wire that carries the electric current. And the second wire ( Black ) is called a neutral wire that is necessary to complete the circuit.
However, all high wattage electric gadgets are also connected to the third wire called earthing or grounding line. The earthing is different from the neutral line.
Types Of Electricity Connections
Types Of Electrical Connections
What Is Three Phase Connection ?
In some situations, the demand of the electricity is very high. For example, a very big residential house or complex or a commercial activity.
In such cases, the single phase connection would not be sufficient and might be overloaded. And therefore, for such high demand consumer, a three phase connection is recommended.
The three phase connection cable that connects your home with external electric pole will have four wires. This includes the three phase wires and one neutral line.
In three phase connection, the first three wires ( Refer to your country color code for L1, L2 , L3 phase lines  ) will be a phase wire that carries the electric current. And the fourth wire is called a neutral wire that helps to complete the circuit.
With the three phase connection, it becomes much easier to distribute the overall electrical load without exceeding the safety limits.
The three phase supply, the electrical wiring would still remain the same. However, Â in three phase connection, you will have total three phase wires available in the distribution control panel.
All high wattage electric gadgets are also connected to another  wire called the earthing or grounding line. The earthing is different from the neutral line.Â
The neutral is also a type of grounding done at the transformer level. The neutral connection line cannot be connected to the house earthing wire.
Types Of Electrical Connections
Electrical Wiring International Color Code
Electrical Connections FAQ
FAQ - Types Of Electrical Connections
What are different types of electrical connections ?
There are two main types of house electrical connections for the residential purpose.
- Single Phase Electrical Connection.
- Three Phase Electrical Connection.
What are the options for house electrical connections ?
For the residential purpose, depending upon the electrical load calculation, you can either get a single phase electric connection or the three phase electrical connection.
The electrical wiring layout of your house is designed accordingly depending upon the type of electrical connection.
What is a single phase electrical connection ?
The house electrical connection is said to be a single phase connection when the electrical supply cable has only two wirers.
The single phase electrical connection has only two wires which include phase wire and the second wire is called a neutral wire.
The phase wire is also alternately referred as live wire or hot wire. Â
The earthing wire is constructed on the site by embedding an earthing plate to establish connection to the ground.
What is three phase electrical connection ?
The house electrical connection is said to be a three phase connection when the electrical supply cable has total three phase wires.
The three phase electrical connection has total four wires which include the three phase wires and one single neutral wire. The phase wire is also alternately referred as live wire or a hot wire. Â
The earthing wire is constructed on the site by embedding an earthing plate to establish the connection to the ground.
What is a Phase Wire in house electrical connection ?
For the house electrical connection cable, the wire that carries the alternate current ( AC ) supply is said to be a phase wire. The phase wire is also called as hot wire or live wire in electrical jargon.
The single phase connection has one single phase wire. Whereas the three phase electrical connection cable will have three phase wires.
What is a Neutral Wire in house electrical connection ?
The neutral wire is essential component of the house electrical connection. The neutral wire is required for the completion of the electrical circuit and electrical gadgets to function.
All the electrical gadgets must be connected to the phase and as well as to the neutral wire. The electrical connection is incomplete without the neutral wire.
The phase wire carries the electrical supply whereas the neutral wire returns used electrical current and helps to complete the electrical circuit.
The neutral is also a type of grounding done at the transformer level.
What is Earthing or Grounding wire in electrical wiring ?
The term earthing with reference the house electrical wiring refers to establishing a wired connection to ground ( earth ).
All the high wattage electrical gadgets such as fridge, air conditioner ( AC ) , water heater , room heater , centralized AC and other such devices are also connected to the earthing wire as a measure of safety.
The neutral wire is also a type of earthing wire but the grounding is done at the transformer. Whereas for residential additional ground or earthing is also established inside the residential building as a safety mechanism.
The earthing connection provides the protection to the user and the electrical gadget in the event of any short circuit or current leakage.
