How do Electric Transmission Lines Work?

Discussing some of the fascinating engineering that goes into overhead electric power transmission lines.
In the past, power generating plants were only able to serve their local areas. As power plants grew larger and further away from populated areas, the need for ways to efficiently move electricity over long distances has become more and more important. Stringing power lines across the landscape to connect cities to power plants may seem as simple as connecting an extension cord to an outlet, but the engineering behind these electric superhighways is more complicated and fascinating than you might think.
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Writing/Editing/Production: Grady Hillhouse
Tonic and Energy by Elexive is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License
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This video is sponsored by Hello Fresh.

[@pieguy6992]

We need more KZbinrs like you. 1. No BS; cuts to the point 2. Intelligent 3. Informative videos 4. Videos are easy to understand, yet supply the viewer with significant information 5. Doesn’t clutter the videos with ads 6. Doesn’t ramble on about the sponsor at the 1 minute mark until the 3 minute mark

[@beasthunt]

Agreeed.

[@HorseMaster23]

so true...

[@thatjpwing]

This is what the Internet was meant to be

[@tewtiesmc]

I have yet to get a midroll ad in his videos

[@thenerdnetwork]

At 6:14 You say that the wires on top are to protect against lightning strikes, while this is correct, in recent times the company who owns the transmission lines will actually install OPGWs (fiber optics). As you can imagine these transmission lines travel vast distances, so the transmission company can lease dark fibers (no service on the line, but a communications company can cross connect through that fiber to maximize their route miles of fiber to connect to other cities). If you ever are driving out in a rural area, and cross near a transmission tower that is accessible from the road, you may see the ground wires at the top coming down to a lower point on the tower, coiled up, with a silver case in the middle, this is a fiber splice case for OPGWs. These splice cases are spaced out under 7,000 feet apart. This is such a genius idea, just to help give our country that over the top internet capacity by utilizing our power transmission grid. While the fiber doesnt go directly to an average consumer, it does provide incredible amounts of bandwidth to upstream providers such as primarily Level 3 and others like Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, and Cogent. I went a little too far into detail, but why not I guess! Cool video tho :D

[@kaitlyn__L]

I see Cogent every time I run a traceroute. Guess they own the backhaul in my nearish area once it leaves my ISP's rented ISP, from the line maintenance company (Openreach). I think Openreach own a lot of the UK trunk line structure too, so I guess Cogent is after it leaves the island, especially since most UK servers for big companies are actually hosted in Ireland, and I don't think they have Openreach in the Republic.

[@jovetj]

_“you may see the ground wires at the top coming down to a lower point on the tower, coiled up, with a silver case in the middle, this is a fiber splice case for OPGWs”_ I have always wondered what that was! And it never occurred to me it was a kind of fiber splice! (DUHHH! in hindsight). Thanks!

[@allgoals1325]

@thenerdnetwork If lightning wires are being replaced with optic fibres cables the phases are not protected anymore? Or are this optic fibres being placed next to the lightning cable but then the optic would get burned if a light struck?

[@jovetj]

*@All Goals* The fiber optic fibers are usually embedded in the middle of the stranded shield wire. The shield wire still does the same job, just the fiber is along for the ride.

[@thenerdnetwork]

@@allgoals1325 Here is what OPGW looks: teletechnonet.com/en/products/networking/fibra-optica/optical-fiber-composite-ground-wire-opgw So nothing gets burned in case of a lightning strike. But yea, the guy who responded was correct, optical ground wire does the same job, but carries high speed communications cables that are naturally 100% immune to electrical interference (glass is not not a conductor but rather an insulator). Essentially the fiber optic strands provide optics (the end point laser beams) a conduit from 1 point to another, travelling at the speed of light. Its pretty neat stuff.

[@Lexarf0rk]

I am a Transmission and Distribution Civil Engineer, I shared this video with my coworkers. They all appreciated the video! I would have enjoyed if you integrated the difference in dead end and tangent structures. Still a very well done video.

[@xierxu]

Hire me. I need experience.

[@Awave3]

Please enlighten me. What might be the best major/minor to get that position? I'm looking at a combination of Civil and Electrical Engineering, but for designing towers some professors have suggested Mechanical Engineering as well. Our transmission infrastructure is outdated and under-appreciated. I will see to it that a little creativity will go a long way to modernize the technology and improve the _A E S T H E T I C S_

[@comradefernandomandrake5822]

Electrical and structural engineering would be your best choices.

[@Lexarf0rk]

Awave3 at the firm I currently work for, we split Transmission and Distribution design into several sub-disciplines. We have geotechnical engineers that do the foundation design. Structural engineers primarily analyze existing lattice structures to see if they are still in good shape or not. Not as many lattice towers are build these days because they can become very complex. Some civil engineers also help with the foundation design of the substation layout and grading plans, but most of us civil engineers design steel concrete and wooden poles as well as the sag/tension designs of the conductors to ensure they meet clearance requirements. We also have a fair number of structural engineers that go my route as well. All of the electrical engineers design the substations and phasing of the new conductors. I’ll be honest, out of all the disciplines I just listed, electrical is by far the one I know the least about. I do feel like knowing electrical would help give you a better understanding of why designs are the way they are. Us civil engineers just follow the specs that the electrical guys designate. All we do is hold up the wire basically.

[@jovetj]

In my experience as a complete novice but power line gawker, I would identify a third type of structure: the deflection structure. Robust lattice designs do not need special structures where the line changes direction, but other designs (such as steel poles) may, and a change in direction often does not have dead ends.

[@Hexlattice]

Dude. That demonstration with the tiny wires was AWESOME.

[@jacktorborg9862]

Being a mechanical (civil, mechanical degree) engineer, and having been through Physics 2 and circuits classes in college, I've never seen power lines and voltage steps explained in this easy of a way. This channel always manages to teach me something cool and interesting, and I'm always surprised at how nicely these videos are put together. You would make a great college professor!

[@nate2838]

He can't be a college professor. He's too efficient. They wouldn't be able to charge you a semester per course. He'd teach a semester in a month! His ability to make "complicated" things simple is incredible.

[@Curt_Sampson]

So you're really a mechanical and civil engineer? It must be nice! You can build both weapons _and_ targets!

[@Orbis92]

Probably the most educational use of two microwave death trap transformers I've seen so far :)

[@cezarcatalin1406]

Orbis92 ElectroBOOM is crying in a corner...

[@galfisk]

At least he's not dying in a corner.

[@Shadowbird92]

I personally prefer to burn wood with them haha

[@samsplaying]

What is the location in that photo at 3:50?

[@JonnyD3ath]

Sam Hoover dam, Arizona USA

[@CasuallyPlayinGames]

Loved the hair dryer transformer bit was a brilliant idea. Always good to see a video from you :)

[@willdbeast1523]

Yeah it was a great idea, so good I think I might try it at home

[@daanwilmer]

@@willdbeast1523 I know you're probably joking but... please don't, that thing is a death trap. That thing has wires live at several thousand volts, and you should stay away from those - literally.

[@ergohack]

Using microwave oven transformers to do the step-up / step-down usually results in very high losses, and is really only good for demonstration.

[@CasuallyPlayinGames]

@@willdbeast1523 why not just go straight to the source and touch the wires at your local sub station *s

[@Mrcaffinebean]

CasuallyPlayinGames totally agree, I knew most of these things and still found the demo cool. Hard to beat seeing something in action!

[@MrSmeagolsGhost]

*Leave work designing power lines and see KZbin notification. * Ooooh. *video is literally work* *watches anyway*

[@foltranm]

S g i just watched it drinking coffee before a power systems class. awesome

[@chrimony]

Aren't they already designed? What's new?

[@jmonsted]

It's always fun to watch people misunderstand your work... and in a few cases get it right :)

[@dickJohnsonpeter]

I thought they already designed power lines; where is there room for innovation in power line design?

[@andrewv5104]

Being a civil engineer I appreciate these videos.

[@utuber348]

This is by far the best description of electrical transmission for the non-engineer that I have seen. Thank you, and keep up the good work.

[@jawjuk]

I never really understood the low current/high voltage reasoning of transmission until now; thank you for this great explanation, Grady!

[@nate2838]

Dido.

[@AdamSmith-kl1rs]

I still don’t. V=IR, so decreasing I will also decrease V. It’s not clear how increasing voltage reduced the current.

[@Misterspork57]

​@@AdamSmith-kl1rs V=IR is the equation used to measure the voltage drop across a resistor, in this case representing the line as a resistor. It does not tell you what the voltage on the line is from the source, only how much the voltage reduces between the two ends you're measuring from. The voltage on the line is decided by the source and the transformers. What is held constant on a line is the total power, P=VI, which combines both used and wasted power. The source produces some fixed amount of power, and that energy has to be conserved. Therefore, it either is lost as heat on the line or makes it to the consumer, in this simplified model. Because of the fact we can control the voltage using transformers, we can raise the voltage which decreases the current, keeping the total power constant. To avoid further confusion, when calculating the power lost in the line as heat the voltage used in P=VI must be the voltage drop across the conductor. This is why we can substitute V=IR and end up with P=I^2R. Let me know if anything is still unclear

[@Misterspork57]

​@@AdamSmith-kl1rs​ Side note, the point in the video where Grady clarified this was in the line "The only way to reduce the current and *still get the same amount of power* is to increase the voltage" Although it is easy to miss that, I admit.

[@AdamSmith-kl1rs]

@@Misterspork57 thanks this really helped!

[@kartikeysingh4668]

I got asked in my job interview "how can you tell what is the transmission voltage level by simply looking at the transmission tower?". I knew the answer but my point is these videos are actually very informative for people who are curious about Power systems in general.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Man getting a job at Starbucks is tough! ...I kid of course.

[@Joe-Mamasixtyninefourtwenty]

Its the insulators right?

[@XiAwesomeGodziX]

@@Joe-Mamasixtyninefourtwenty Yes sir

[@cornholiothefirst2018]

@@Joe-Mamasixtyninefourtwenty also more than one wire per phase

[@JonnyD3ath]

corn holio that depends, you can't use that alone as our low voltage systems at 230V and our transmission system at 275kV both may have 1 or multiple conductors per phase depending on application

[@MrSmeagolsGhost]

Wind also has a very large positive effect, with small amounts of winds ~2m/s + greatly increases the heat dissipation of a power line. Also earth wires are typically used for communication as well with multiple fibre optic cables embedded with in them.

[@brinkshows2720]

Here in the Netherlands we have some high voltage powerlines above ground but all the low and medium voltage is already in the ground. New high voltage lines are also laid into the ground nowadays. So no not really. Wires in the earth are not only used for communications and other stuff..

[@Torchedini]

@@brinkshows2720 Well that works because the Netherlands are really dense in population, small in size and not subjected to earthquakes (except Groningen but w/e) Population density and size helps because digging holes is friggin expensive. Having less distance needed and more people able to pay for it is good. And the no earthquakes and other mayor disturbances makes ground cabling relatively worthwhile to do. Also, when you move further and further away from the randstad the powerlines start appearing.

[@brinkshows2720]

@@Torchedini Yeah thats because in the Randstad the powerlines above ground have been replaced. But more outside the Randstad if there are new powerlines they are also laid inground. About the population density. This is true that its really dense, but if you look anywhere in the country there is no low or medium voltage line found above ground. Also in foreign countries you also see low voltage powerlines in cities above ground. Yes we don't any earthquakes (except for Groningen a little), but powerlines are one of the utilities that is least affected by earthquakes. Some even say its better to lay them in ground because when an earthquake hits powerpoles fall over and create damage and dangerous situations, while if they where in the ground they wouldn't have.

[@hamjudo]

The company that runs the transmission lines replaced the upper shield wire on the 120 kV line in my yard. The new shield wire has 1700 optical fibers. But they aren't used for communication, at least not yet. They haven't gotten permission from the railroad to work over the tracks. The rest of the fancy new cable is spooled on the tower across the tracks from the substation.

[@CV-ly6ct]

@@brinkshows2720 he is talking earth as in ground wires... Not literally in the Earth. I understand English is your second language, but don't respond if you don't understand.

[@xdave83]

Great to see another video on power engineering. I had to pause my day just to watch this. I wanted to add that the thought and preparation you put into your physical demonstrations is what really makes your channel stand clear above the rest. A good engineering teacher doesn't just explain how something works, but also why it was done that way.

[@GIPvideos]

Yeah thanks for the Demo! You're the best!

[@ryancafferty4973]

the hair dryer demonstration almost had me weeping with new understanding. i’m 43 and learning new things doesn’t happen as easily as it used to. i really love your wonderfully composed videos. you’re amazing :)

[@lluisfargaslopez3925]

I have just covered this topic in my introduction to electrical engineering class as a mechanical engineering student. You explained it far better than my teacher.

[@ianmcclymonds6912]

Correction at 3:35... V=IR is not the equation that shows that increasing the voltage would decrease current. If you made V larger, I would also be larger to keep the same R. In reality, transformers change the load, so Ohm's law is not violated. Rather, the correct equation is P=IV. This equation shows that you can deliver the same amount of power with lower current if you increase the voltage. I just wanted to comment in the event that someone was confused. Thanks again for your great videos, Grady!

[@MA-qz1sd]

but if you increase the voltage shouldn't the current also increase thus giving you more power? how do transformers increase the voltage while making sure current stays the same?

[@annaasp7570]

Thanks for pointing this out. I scrolled through the comments to see if anyone had made this correction because I noticed the discrepancy too. His audio explanation is correct as he describes the relationship between >powerresistance

[@bilal98364]

@@MA-qz1sd I hope you got your answer. if not, consider this P = I V -> assuming P is constant ('which is the demand") doubling the voltage will give us half the current. in your second question, transforms change the voltage and using ohms law the current will be I(out) = V(out) / Z(load) or I(out) = V(out) / R(load) if the load is purely resistive. which means that the current is dependent on the voltage and impedance.

[@markchatman9583]

I build transmission lines for a living. And hydro dams. Your channel is right up my alley. In the past few years I’ve done my part to build a 735KV line. A 550Kv line and a 325kv line and am currently working on a 695 megawatt hydro dam. Good money in electricity!!

[@theshuman100]

voltage is just a measure of how hard you yeet electrons

[@cezarcatalin1406]

theshuman100 But ElectroBOOM always gets yeeted by those angry pixies

[@dustin9258]

This just made my day 😂

[@walrus4248]

4:25 such a brilliant demonstration of transformers, as his videos often have.

[@Pilawn]

Hey thats me

[@SodiumInduction-hv]

i built you lol (i’m a lineman)

[@ryancapewell6504]

Cringe

[@Joshthetornadodude]

@@ryancapewell6504L bully

[@dedasdude]

Your wife's commentary while you cooked made me laugh! Congrats!

[@chrisray1567]

Me too. She has definitely earned her snarky commentary merit badge.

[@Courtj3st3r33]

You know a video is good when there are comments about the ads.

[@akefayamenay104]

"Nice shallot stack"..now that’s a compliment ;)

[@karlbergen6826]

That was a cool demonstration

[@Norsilca]

They are so ridiculously adorable

[@cussmustard4748]

“Most people don’t like to live near large industrial facilities” - New Jersey has left the chat.

[@JerryKosloski]

*people near Forked River being diagnosed with cancer at an increasing rate.* NJ Government: "Definitely not the power plant that's had multiple radiation leaks."

[@mtadams2009]

The nice towns are not near industrialized area's. Just the poor towns and poor people deal with the mess. Same story in my state of Ma. and the rest of the country.

[@Jemalacane0]

@@JerryKosloski Ah, LNT bullshit! Not to mention both Salem and Hope creek generating stations are over 100 miles away from the Forked River.

[@SodiumInduction-hv]

lol yep i live in NJ I can confirm

[@andreconde8849]

3:30 is inaccurate. You should should the Power formula P=V * I in order to make the statement of I↓ and V↑ thus transferring the same Power (P) . Instead you have V↑ = I↓ * R which is not true for Ohm's law or any multiplication of 2 constants.

[@PrakharSingh21]

Exactly! Even I replayed that part over multiple times as I could not get it over my head as Current is directly proportional to Voltage, so if he keeps the resistance constant then current must increase with increase in voltage.

[@colin4349]

Yeah, that part of the video is extremely confusing and misleading. The part with "V↑ = I↓ * R" should clearly be removed. The video talks about two different type of power in quick succession without clearly differentiating them. There is Pr, power lost due to resistance on the transmission line, and Pc, power to the consumer. Pr = I * Vw = I * I * R Power lost due to transmission resistance is related to the current and the Vw, voltage lost on the line. However voltage lost is related to the current * resistance. Therefor to reduce the Pr, power loss due to transmission, the current and resistance can be played with. If we want to keep the power to the consumer the same, we can look at a similar power formula: Pc = I * Vc The voltage here is different from the previous one. This is Vc, the voltage the consumer sees. However, it is the same current. So to lower Pr and keep Pc the same, Pc = I↓ * Vc↑ and Pr↓ = I↓ * I↓ * R.

[@andreconde8849]

@@colin4349 Exactly, that way would be more explicit.

[@joeshmoe7967]

Re-watched the segment and don't see your point. If you listen to what is being said it all works out. He describes the situation and the variables and the formulas reflect this.

[@SuperSonicDonk3y]

@@joeshmoe7967 there is no way to get higher V with lower I. that formula is the wrong one

[@agoatmannameddesire8856]

You put so much effort into your videos! We’re all hugely appreciative of your work, keep it up! I look forward to every new one you post!

[@DasGanon]

I've always heard that you step up voltage for transmission to manage loss, but never knew why... This explains it perfectly.

[@jovetj]

That's a side effect, but making the line cheaper is the main reason. Higher voltage means less amps going through the conductor, which means you can use a smaller conductor. Smaller conductors are vastly cheaper.

[@randyweaver6543]

Jovet distance as well

[@liyafang3426]

Hey, thanks a lot for the demonstrations. They are very helpful for why we boost up the voltage in the transmission line that also I was always wondering. My sincere gratitude for this video.

[@liyafang3426]

@@stevenutter3614 thanks

[@revgordon91]

Nicely done Grady! I really like how you informed us on how the transmission grid works! As a employee that works with transmission lines on a daily bases, I can tell you have done quite a bit of research on this subject as you have been extremely accurate with everything you said in this video. Nicely done!

[@trent33511]

Absolutely amazing demonstration with the transformers. Both young and old of the house impressed. Thank you for providing such great information.

[@KaziNazmulYT]

In my last semester's final viva, I was asked by my examiner to describe the transmission line system. So, I started to explain this to him in my own way. He then stopped me and said I had to explain this as an electrical engineer. I wasn't sure how to explain that topic from an electrical engineer's point of view. After watching this video, I understood the actual thought of transmission lines. I'm pretty sure that my examiner wanted this type of explanation from me. Thank you so much for this easy but meaningful explanation. Love from Bangladesh.

[@jjs709]

In 7 minutes you explained this better than my EE professor did in 1.5 hours

[@ErnestJay88]

If Electroboom explained this, he will be electrocuted so many times.

[@verylongname8161]

He did!! The transformer part alone in his ac vs DC video

[@crackedemerald4930]

He wouldn't: you can only get electrocuted once

[@michaelmccarthy4615]

Electroboom has a high tolerance for pain. That's his call to fame....

[@KarlBunker]

@@crackedemerald4930 "He wouldn't: you can only get electrocuted once" That depends on whether you use the word as it was defined when it was coined over 100 years ago, or the way it's used and defined today. Word definitions change over time. Denying that reality makes you both a pedant and incorrect.

[@KuraIthys]

@KarlBunker - yes. It gets so annoying when people argue with modern definitions of words because they don't agree with them, and forcibly try and deny the existence of the new meaning. That, or use a dictionary to justify why a colloquial meaning is 'wrong', completely missing the fact that a dictionary is a DESCRIPTIVE text, not a PRESCRIPTIVE one. (That is, a dictionary contains an explanation of observed usage up to the point the dictionary was published, rather than containing a description of what a word is supposed to mean according to some kind of authority.) Words change meaning. Sometimes substantially. To deny that is to deny the reality of how language functions. (grammar also changes over time of course. But that's a side issue. - for that matter, grammar and even spelling is contextual; a statement like HI HOW R U is valid in some contexts, but not in others. To say nothing of dialect related variations, such as colour, aluminum, and the like...)

[@Wapajama99]

Thank you so much for uploading these videos! I've been curious about these systems for so long now.

[@AnerBenArtzi]

I saw the title and thought "I know how transmission lines work." But then I remembered this is Practical Engineering, and it's worth watching even if you think you already know. Great video. I was looking forward to hearing about how the parameters of conductors are chosen... maybe in another video, I guess.

[@PandeyPrashant]

Here, if you want to know about the parameters on choosing conductors, you might be interested in this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/laGqk3-OqpuMjbM

[@adamanderson225]

Great example. Very well simplified.

[@timothystreib4226]

Thank you for this video. I am watching this because I work for a company that involves this. It credits to my knowledge and helps me advance in my career. Thanks again

[@Crobisaur]

I'd love for you to expand on this with AC related losses with line capacitance and impedance. It was one of my favorite parts of my EMag courses in undergrad.

[@imalol1]

yes! a new video!

[@Jared01]

I can confirm that the power lines will induce voltages on nearby lines. I used to work for a telecom giant, and our copper phone lines would pick up voltage all the time. It was also easy to find when a ground had been cut from a phone pole, due to the induced voltage and noise levels.

[@jonahansen]

Very cool direct demonstration of the concept using the two transformers. Thanks!

[@flagmichael]

(Recently retired from a Fortune 100 electric utility) - Probably the best video I have seen about electrical transmission! I fault the electric industry as a whole for not educating the public about Bulk Electric Service; an astounding percentage of people believe critical infrastructure is accessible from the internet, they think electricity providers are free to buy from only the generation sources they choose, believe blackouts are caused by insufficient generation rather than transmission shortfalls, and think photovoltaic solar, even rooftop solar, improves grid stability. Some details I could add: most commercial sized fossil and hydro plants use buss voltages around 100kV; long transmission lines transpose (roll) phases about every 70 miles for balance; the insulators are coated with a semiconductor to equalize the voltage gradient even when wet or dirty.

[@hannessteen7699]

You should do a video on why rotating mass is important to a powergrid

[@General12th]

Are you talking about flywheel energy storage?

[@JonnyD3ath]

J.J. Shank pretty much

[@rthat1]

@@General12th Probably more traditional power generation methods that involve large spinning turbines. However, there's an initiative with some North American Energy Reliability Organizations to study the impacts of inverter-based generation technologies on the Bulk Electric System. This may lead to stronger voltage/frequency performance requirements years from now.

[@Pat21617]

I’ve heard the grid referred to as the “infinite buss”! I’ve also seen lightning strike the shield wire, travel down the tower and exit thru the ground cable we just installed. About 20 meters from the tower the sand turned to glass. The tower was 32meters tall as I recall, the ground wire was a meter deep. Great respect for lightning from that point on.

[@sareeyemanusqaame8723]

What if the sand turned Gold or diamond?

[@nate2838]

@@sareeyemanusqaame8723 Harnessing the power of lightning to create gold..... that would be something

[@bernieponcik1351]

This is fantastic! Thank you for doing this, I learned half a dozen new things about stuff I see everyday :)

[@feelingzhakkaas]

excellent information with simple and easy to understand explanation.

[@sp4nrs]

I’m an engineer working in hydro power generation. I assume you are too? Based on your many dam and weir videos. Anyway you do great work explaining otherwise complex concepts to the masses. You’re a real asset to the world. Keep it up, much respect from New Zealand

[@apoorv360]

make a video on harmonics in electrical systems and how its taken care of

[@inzanozulu]

Oh I love the hair dryer demos! Thank you

[@jjnether]

As always, great video! For anyone that's confused at 3:31, the explanation of power loss doesn't quite make sense just looking at Ohm's Law. Based on Ohm's Law, smaller current would be the result of smaller voltage, not greater. However, if one realizes that we're dealing with two different voltages, it will begin to make sense. To decrease current through the conductor, we must decrease the voltage from one end of the conductor to the other. And that can be done by increasing the voltage that's measured from the conductor to ground. This concept is explained well in this Khan Academy video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKPFqYiHrdpjopI

[@erelpc]

Yes I thought that didn't make any sense and it was left unexplained in the video, as voltage and current don't have an inverse relationship. Thank you for explaining. Your linked video also highlights the fact that ohms law refers to the relationship of V and I for a given circuit, but transformers are based around 2 different circuits.

[@marcusmonson7717]

Hard to imagine high voltage AC power is over 100 years old! Fantastic demonstration explaining voltage vs current draw. I've been doing commercial and residential electrical work my entire adult life and I always learn something new, a different perspective and appreciate your using language not designed to confuse watching your videos. Keep up the good work.

[@danwison6058]

I appreciate the use of proper terminology. Well done sir

[@soumyadatta4514]

3:38, to explain how to reduce current and still get same amount of power, it’s not Ohm’s Law you need to show. It’s just power law P=IV.

[@ethanpayne4116]

Yeah showing Ohm's Law at that part made it very confusing since apparently Ohm's Law only applies separately to the two sub-circuits of a transformer, and can't apply to the whole thing since we have constant power.

[@GlennHamblin]

Thanks Grady. Especially for the 15 x number of disks. Cool guesstimator.

[@MrAmalasan]

I was wondering about this exact topic just this week!

[@badullabasha]

THIS IS A MYSTERY FOR ME UNTIL NOW.

[@sementaldela11]

Great demonstration with the example of transformers and the hair dryer.

[@tonystackle5977]

Love to see this as someone who works building these lines! Thank you!

[@thesarcast795]

I'm not an electrician, never will be, but god this is interesting.

[@crispyglove]

Power companies aren't compensated for energy lost in the grid? You don't think that's baked into the cost of electricity?

[@HorzaPanda]

Haha, yes. It’s still in their best interest to reduce losses as long as that costs less than generating more electricity, but yep, they factor that in 😂

[@seneca983]

"You don't think that's baked into the cost of electricity?" In principle, only a portion of it should be and the size of that portion should depend on the elasticity of the supply and demand.

[@tchevrier]

yes and no. Utilities can set the rates they sell it to consumers so all of that is factored into their pricing structure. I wouldn't call it "baked into" because that sounds kind of shady. That said, power sold from utility to utility is typically sold on the open market so you might not have too much control over those prices.

[@agilemind6241]

Sure, but it's still a major loss of efficiency, and thus profit or competitive edge. More energy loss = more energy generation required = more maintenance costs & more pollution etc...

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@tchevrier baked in sounds shady to you? That's interesting, because I've always found the opposite - that "it's all been accounted for" sounds sinister but "it's baked in" reminds me of "it does what it says on the tin", but also just.. home baking.

[@Zartymil]

Hi! At 3:30 I think you meant to refer to the equation P = V*I instead of Ohm's law. Reducing I in Ohm's law will always (assuming R > 0) decrease V.

[@dyson9422]

3:30 is not the only cringe-worthy time, but for 9:49 he does a good job and avoids the eyes-glazed-over response that I get when I try to explain transmission lines.

[@fixerofthings]

One of your best demos. Very informative video, thanks!

[@HarshRajAlwaysfree]

man the amount of effort u put in for ur videos really makes us wanna bow down in front to pay respects

[@coal6tamarack2374]

3:36 I think you meant to show the P = V • I equation. If you reduce the current in V = I • R, the voltage also decreases. A higher voltage across an equal resistance will lead to a higher current and vice versa. Doubling the voltage would give you double the current and four times the power.

[@deonmurphy6383]

Alfred Jodokus Kwak the key point is that for a given Power, increasing the Voltage reduces the required Current. And the voltage drop (loss) in a line is a function of the Current and Resistance.

[@coal6tamarack2374]

​@@deonmurphy6383 That's absolutely correct but that's not what the equation at 3:36 is about.

[@roberthunter5059]

You're misunderstanding the V in the power equations. P=IV, which substituting with ohm's law (V=IR) also gives V²/R and I²R. However, the V refers to the voltage drop across a load. While the voltage of the power lines in reference to ground definitely goes up, that is not the voltage drop across the line itself from point A to point B, which is ideally constant for a given power line.

[@coal6tamarack2374]

@@roberthunter5059 V^2/R isn't a Voltage drop, that's the power usage of a load R at the voltage V

[@roberthunter5059]

@@coal6tamarack2374 That's what I said.

[@MrTheSharkie]

“Can you bounce it off your arm?” I’m dying!!🤣🤣🤣

[@ramanshah7627]

Bahaha I'm so late to this party. This video is 1.5 years old, but if I'd watched it 3 months ago, I'd completely have missed this Salt Bae reference :D

[@ellisjackson3355]

I've always always wondered about those insulators that I see in those pylons. Maybe I should've did EE.

[@robertgoss4842]

I hope you understand how much good you do. You somehow take some very knotty, everyday functions and in your friendly, non-threatening way, somehow make them far less disagreeable and much more readily digestible. Cool knack to have. I never miss your videos.

[@TestingPyros]

Volt Amp resistance is key. The higher the amps, the more physical items are pushed through. The lower the amps, the less likely the lines are to burn. This looks neat!

[@kurtmueller2089]

Probably preaching to the choir here, but those two microwave transformers made for a really awesome demo.

[@animamundii]

9:00 - As a chef I can tell that knife is painfully dull.

[@VeteranVandal]

As a cook, he is a great engineer.

[@jonshaffer5793]

who the fuck cares?

[@animamundii]

@@VeteranVandal No doubt about that.

[@jwebes]

1:23 not in Ontario Canada :( All of our bills have a "delivery fee" that says "The delivery charge also includes costs relating to electricity lost through distributing electricity to your home or business. "

[@jovetj]

How very innovative of them!

[@toddrf]

All utility customers pay for the losses. It just may be that your utility is more up front about it.

[@brandonlink6568]

My grandpa was a lineman for thirty years, I wish I had learned more about this stuff from him.

[@cleokey]

Was a distribution lineman in so cal for 25 years, retired 20 years ago. Loved it, great video

[@horizonbrave1533]

I really really hope you know how much I (and many here appreciate the work you do! Love these videos, I've always been fascinated by electricity and how it's 'shipped' around. I went into the field of Telecommunications and IT but there's still a very big part of me that wishes I would have taken the E.E route!

[@rjones6219]

Having done an electrical apprenticeship in machine tool electrical engineering, and done courses on heavy current technologies, such as this video. Then going into IT and teaching a lot of telecomms stuff, I reckon you are in a good career area.

[@horizonbrave1533]

@@rjones6219 Thanks! Yep, three years from that comment and I still enjoy it here!

[@14vimalk]

Are there special challenges in having multiple feeds into the grid? That is, having a few different power plants supply power to same grid, or having every consumer also being a producer.

[@joevignolor4u949]

One significant challenge is phasing. The video omitted the fact that using transformers to change the voltage levels is why the system must use alternating current (AC). Transformers don't work with direct current (DC) and require AC instead. In an AC circuit the voltage rises to a maximum, then falls through zero and then reverses to the opposite maximum. It does this over and over continuously and each reversal is called a "cycle". The power grid operates at a frequency of 60 cycles per second, referred to as 60 Hertz. In a AC power system with multiple generation sources care must be taken to apply all the power to the grid "in phase", which means all the different sources must be applying the highs and lows in the cycle into the system at the exact same time. Otherwise the power from the different sources will oppose each other rather than all working together. This will waste power and if the various inputs get too far out of phase the system can even burn out and fail. The way this problem is overcome is that each individual power source on the grid, including residential contributors, has to constantly monitor the phasing on the entire grid. Then each individual source has to adjust its own phasing to bring itself into lockstep with the rest of the sources on the grid.

[@dwegmull]

The stock footage at 00:08 Is of the machines that drives the cable cars in San Francisco.

[@mikecowen6507]

Ha! Somebody *DID* notice!

[@Talinthis]

thx man i am a journeyman electrician but never done the transmission stuff. i could only speculate what the wire on the top was. i suspected it was some sort of protection for the phases, and lo and behold i guess that is the case! awesome video

[@SamReligious]

Thank You for not forcing Your Video to 10 Minutes, to get Extra AdS

[@krembo1077]

What causes the power line noise? What is done to minimize it?

[@Azivegu]

That is an electric discharge of the air. So basically, the power lines leak electricity into the air. The air then dissipates the energy and that produces a buzzing. There are steps to be taken to help minimize the problem, but it'll occur in any high voltage system.

[@erikjohansson1814]

krembo Electricity Earplugs

[@AksamRafiz]

@@Azivegu u basically dodged his question so what about not replying if ur not gonna provide an answer in the first place.

[@Azivegu]

@@AksamRafiz you high bro?

[@thedankmemelord5215]

@@AksamRafiz He just provided the answer

[@robcandy9273]

I admit I let out quite a few "oh"s. Funny the things you wonder about as a kid but no-one seems to know so you just learn to ignore then suddenly you find the answer remember you once wondered

Next video: Tapping high voltage power lines and making own induction cooktop.

[@General12th]

You'd need a pretty long ladder to get high enough to run a stove. Your neighbors will start asking questions. Then the police will start asking questions.

[@JonnyD3ath]

J.J. Shank not to mention if you put a ladder up there - BANG lol

[@rexroad9917]

A gentleman in Olympia, WA put coiled of wire under the BPA HVAC lines that ran behind his home. The BPA engineers in Portland, OR detected the power loss and traced it to his home in Olympia. He was arrested and convicted of stealing power, fined and went to prison. It is also very, very dangerous to put a coil of wire under a transmission line.

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

Being a Construction Engineer and having worked on these transmission lines I still am surprised that the cost of these national transmission grids is never analysed. 5 times more electricity will be needed with no fossil fuels in the future. Can you do a video on this topic please ? 😊

[@johnno4127]

Some of your final comments reminded me of my high school. My high school is on top of a hill with high power transmission lines passing over the front parking lot. They installed metal bollards along the curb and you could feel the hum or vibration of the power lines if you touched the bollards.

[@SlipperyTeeth]

Your wife is flirting with you so hard I'm surprised you managed to finish filming the ad

[@jovetj]

Coulda paused it and you'd never even know!

[@usmanaabdussalami9935]

I'm student of electric engineering how you tech me more

[@Nexalian_Gamer]

Can you do a video on live,neutral,and ground?I'm having trouble with these.

[@comradefernandomandrake5822]

@Nexalian Gamer The neutral is the return path of the current. In an electrical service it is grounded at the transformer and at the service entrance. The ground wire normally does not carry current. It will carry current if there is a short to the apparatus metal enclosure. This short circuit current will be so great that the fuse or circuit breaker will trip. There you have it.

[@Nexalian_Gamer]

If it's grounded to the transformer with live voltage on it then won't it be hot every other half-wave?

[@comradefernandomandrake5822]

Just as much current flows through the neutral as the hot wire. The only difference is the voltage on the neutral is very close to ground because it is grounded. Theoretically you could ground one hand and touch the neutral with the other and you won't be shocked. But don't try that at home. To further complicate things a 120/240V system has three wires: two hots and a neutral. The two hots are 180 degrees out of phase and no current flows through the neutral if the loads are balanced on the two hot legs. 204V between the hots. 120V between each hot and neutral.

[@soundseeker63]

Power distribution is one of those topics that the more you know, the more there is to know! You could easily make a video on this topic 2+ hours long by talking about things like why 3 phase is generally used, why AC is more popular than DC, how conductor bundles and the shape of equipment can effect corona discharge, load sharing between phases, benefits of overground vs underground cable, surge and short protection devices etc....you really could go on for LOOOONG time if you wanted to, probably well beyond what most people would understand or find interesting! Good job he kept if relatively short and sweet.

[@charlesaeneas]

Brilliant as it cuts to the essentials while making it clear and easy to understand. A great teacher!

[@danmale4213]

Currently building the foundations for transmission lines it’s what you can’t see that’s the most work... but maybe i’m a little bias

[@johndoe-es7zh]

I've seen various access roads to facilitate construction but do you guys ever airlift material in for construction? I have seen some towers and just had absolutely no clue how you guys got material up there.

[@shuvamadhikari7847]

@@johndoe-es7zh Yeah in rural areas and hilly regions where buildings roads aren't feasible or economical we airlift materials for construction. In one case we also have constructed rope ways for transportation of stubs and other construction materails.

[@monophoto1]

@@johndoe-es7zh It's not unusual to see helicopters used to move construction material into place, or to spool out conductors. But one of the ongoing issues that Grady mentioned in passing was that transmission lines sag when they carry heavy loads, and that can create problems if there are trees beneath the lines. It's not unusual for grid operators to use aircraft to patrol transmission lines to monitor for vegetation growth. Eventually, however, it is necessary to get people on the ground to do something about vegetation under the lines - that can be a challenge.

[@monophoto1]

Structural design of transmission lines and towers is itself a fascinating and complicated science. The Electric Power Research Institute operate a laboratory near Dallas where actual towers are erected and subjected to calibrated stresses to determine the load constraints.

[@JonnyD3ath]

Louie Powell on our network the lines are patrolled on a regular basis and we run a constant vegitation management program where guys are on the ground 365 days a year cutting to keep them clear

[@joshb8302]

Transmission loss is definitely compensated for on our bills.

[@joshb8302]

@@jeffolney2102 everywhere with electricity

[@JonnyD3ath]

Of course it is, they are running an electricity supply network, not a charity lol

[@carlosanvito]

The other reason we use highly separated conductors rather than insulated multi-conductor cables to transmit power is that such cables have very high capacitive and inductive reactance which severely limit the practical distance that power can be transmitted. Insulated HV cables are used for short runs such as under highways and short bodies of water. For longer runs, AC power needs to be converted to DC while it flows in the cable and back to AC where connected to the load.

[@dancingtiger577]

I don’t think I have heard a better more concise explanation of current and voltage, well done ;)

[@swaroop2912]

Sir can you make a video on disaster management and mitigation

[@tncorgi92]

That would be a very long video.

[@swaroop2912]

I know sir, but he can do it in parts.

[@PatrickOliveras]

Perhaps a series on this

[@migkillerphantom]

@@swaroop2912 why do pajeets talk all weird like that? He's just some random guy, not your sepoy unit's token white officer

[@swaroop2912]

@@migkillerphantom he might be a random guy , but he is sharing his experience and knowledge with us and out of respect 🙏 we like to call our teachers/ elder one sir. I hope this helps you to understand 😁

[@banny123456]

This scratch only the surface of the power grid. It's way more complex.

[@toddrf]

Really? You mean we didn't get a graduate-level college course in transmission engineering in this 10-minute video?

[@jxmai7687]

@@toddrf every one got a degree by watch this video.

[@rickstandish6690]

Grady, I discovered your channel 3 weeks ago and subscribed after watching the very first episode. Great work, great vids and my kids love it. Thanks.!!!!

[@richardp1522]

You totally changed my understanding of electrical transmission lines. Your explanation start to finish altered my previous patchwork knowledge of them. Great post thanks.

[@ProudMonsterHunter]

1:19 here you get billed for transmission loss as well :c

[@JainZar1]

How? Sure you pay a fee per kWh for high- and mid-voltage transmission to your energy provider, but that is more than just the transmission loss. You only get billed per kWh that passes by your Wattmeter/Ferraris-counter

[@TheHuesSciTech]

Where is "here"?

[@hkr667]

Everybody gets billed for that. Companies are not charities. For most people it's just included in the kWh price of the usage they do pay for.

[@andrew13299]

In Italy you get charged for inductance and capacitive losses in your house.

[@michaelmccarthy4615]

In SoCal we get billed by power companies because they start fires due to lack of maintenance. We get billed for improperly designed nuclear power stations and later decommissioning of those plants. We get billed when they convert to solar and wind power. We get billed for the pollution caused by coal, gas, or hydro. We get billed for even thinking about using electricity at the wrong time of day. Now they shut the power completely off if they think it's too dangerous. Next we will be billed while sitting in the dark . ..

[@jessemckeown5628]

I'm sorry but the animation around 3:33 is badly confusing: V and I are factors on opposite sides of =, and keeping R fixed means decreasing I also decreases V. The trick, as I previously understood it, is to artificially magnify the impedance Z of the consumer's power needs, as seen by transmission, so that it's much larger than the impedance of the transmission network alone.

[@tchevrier]

it is confusing, but I'm not sure your trick is the right way to look at it. He's using the wrong equation. The proper way is to understand that the power consumption is constant. And since P=IV it makes it pretty obvious that current and voltage are inversely related.

[@kirianf9072]

can u tell us something about HVDC?

[@bader2886]

شكرا جزيلا لمن قام بترجمة الفيديو للغة العربية , متطلعون لمزيد من المحتوى العلمي باللغة العربية ❤

[@traso56]

I've studied electricity for some years but never actually knew why high voltage reduces power loss, yo ureally learn something every day, thank you :)

[@brinkshows2720]

2:20 "Small drop in voltage" Drops from 120 to 111. "small"

[@paftaf]

Brink Shows Usually, we call something small if difference is less than 10%

[@ericwest3249]

What happened to the pumped storage video? It stopped playing mid video and now is gone!

[@abscopal]

I'm also interested in that!

[@cylosgarage]

can we please talk about how overtly sensual that ad was im sweating