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Electrical: 10 things you didn't know [Infographic]

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Part 2: Electrical

Join us for a light-hearted look at the world of an MEP contractor, with the second in our new infographic series – 30 things you probably didn’t know about the world of an MEP contractor.

In Part 2 of our series, we turn our attention to the Electrical Sector.

Electrical Infographic

  1. Thomas Edison invented over 2,000 new product including switches, fuses, sockets & meters.
  2. Google accounts for roughly 0.013% of the work’s energy use and uses enough energy to continuously power 200,000 homes.
  3. The Empire State Building has 473 miles of electrical wire. The Sydney Opera House has 400 miles.
  4. Las Vegas uses 5,600 megawatts on a summer day. By 2015 that’s expected to hit 8,000.
  5. Over 1,000,000 light bulbs are used in the Blackpool Illuminations every year.  The electricity consumed over the total of 66 nights is 960,000 units at an approximate cost of £50,000.
  6. Iceland produces all its electricity from renewable sources including 75% from Large Hydro and 25% Geothermal.
  7. There were 248,000 electricians & electrical fitters employed in the UK in 2014. 2% of which had to work on Christmas Day.
  8. Power outages in the UK more than doubled during 2013, with 505 reported outages, compared to 246 in the previous 12 months. Over 2.2 million people were affected by the lack of power with the average outage lasting just over 3 hours.
  9. Of worldwide energy prices the cheapest energy in the world include India, China and Canada, whose electricity costs less than half UK prices.  Move to Denmark though and you’ll find that electricity costs more than twice as much as the UK.
  10. In Victoria, Australia, it is said to be illegal to change a light bulb unless you are a qualified electrician.

Please see full infographic for sources and credits. Information gathered January 2015.