Amps, Volts, & Watts — What Each Means and Why You Should Care

Preparing, installing, and implementing your holiday program will require you to understand some important terms and features. The technical aspect can be overwhelming for those who have never dealt with electrical equipment before. Here is a brief overview of a few important electrical terms: amps, volts, and watts.

One easy way for understanding these terms is to think of them like water flowing through a hose. So, let’s turn on the water and get started.

• Amps- Amps are the measure of how much electricity is flowing through an electrical line. You can compare amps to the amount of water running through the hose.
• Volts- Volts are measures of electricity. They measure the force of electricity flowing through an electrical line. Volts would be comparable to the pressure of the water that is flowing through the hose. In the U.S., most devices use 120 volts of electricity, but large appliances like dryers may use more than 120 volts.
• Watts- Power is usually measured in watts. Watts are the result of multiplying amps and volts together to get the working capacity of the electricity.

Expert tip- High powered appliances are usually specified in kilowatts.

Review the packaging of your appliances, and you will usually discover a label or panel which indicates the voltage supply, frequency, wattage, and possibly current. Understanding these electric terms on at least a basic level will ensure that you are utilizing the proper outlets and outputs for your appliances used in your décor program.

If we wanted to calculate for amps, we would use the same calculation. If a 240 volt appliance consumes 480 watts of power, wow much current (amps) does it draw? 

480 watts / 240 volts = 2 amps

And for volts?

If a 720 watt appliance draws 3 amps, what voltage (volts) is it running on? 

720 watts / 3 amps= 240 volts 

Review the packaging and/or casing of your appliances and you will usually discover a label or panel which indicates the voltage supply, frequency, wattage and possibly current. Understanding these electric terms on at least a basic level will ensure that you are utilizing the proper outlets and outputs for your appliances used in your décor program.

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