Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc.

ELECTRIC NOTES

POWER LINE FACTS AND MYTHS

If birds can touch electrical wires, are they safe for people, too? If you’re not on a metal ladder, are you clear of danger from power line electrocution?

Know for sure before you take a chance with your life.

First, the facts: Electricity is always looking for the shortest and easiest path to the ground, a path that can include people and objects that touch or come too close to power lines. Electricity is fast—it travels at the speed of light in a vacuum—and it can cause severe burns or death if it flows through the human body. Take power line safety seriously. Read on to find the facts on the following myths:

Myth: Wires must be safe to touch if birds can land on them.

Fact: Birds don’t represent a direct path to the ground, giving electricity nowhere to go but back to the wire. It’s easier for the current to simply stay in the wire. So touching a power line is not safe for humans.

Myth: Power lines are safe to touch because they’re insulated.

Fact: Most lines are insulated only to protect against slight tree contact, but not enough to prevent human injury. Don’t touch them!

Myth: It’s safe to rest nonmetal ladders on a power line.

Fact: Anything that can get wet can conduct electricity, and many nonmetal ladders still contain metal parts. Keep your ladder away from power lines, no matter its construction.

Myth: Ladders are safe near power lines as long as they don’t touch them.

Fact: Electricity can “jump,” especially when a good conductor like a metal ladder comes close. Keep a safe distance of at least 10 feet.

Myth: Trimming trees close to power lines is safe if I don’t use a ladder.

Fact: Metal isn’t the only thing that conducts electricity—the moisture in the tree also can. If a tree comes into contact with the line while you’re trimming, it has a direct path to the ground through the tree, your pruning tool and you. Call your electric cooperative when it’s time to trim trees near power lines.

CHANGE THE CLOCK; CHANGE A LIGHTBULB!

We spring forward this year at 2 a.m. March 14, kicking off months of extra sunlight in the evening. These extra daylight hours help people save electricity by letting them turn the lights on a little later in the evening.

This year, make those energy savings go even further. When
you set your clock forward one hour, change a lightbulb in your home from an incandescent bulb to a more efficient compact fluorescent bulb. That single lightbulb would pay for itself many times over in lower energy bills by next March, as the bulbs offer a similar quality of light but use significantly less energy.

The change to daylight saving time is also a good time to put fresh batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and then test them to ensure they work.

DRESS UP YOUR HOME—AND CUT ENERGY COSTS—WITH LANDSCAPING

Dear Jim Dulley: We just built a house, and it needs a lot of landscaping. I want to plan and plant it all myself. I’ve heard proper landscaping can impact my utility bills. What are some basic efficient landscaping tips? — Janice S.

Dear Janice: People tend to appreciate landscaping for its aesthetic value, but proper landscaping also impacts the energy efficiency of your house. From an overall environmental standpoint, good landscape design also minimizes the need for mowing and other lawn care. In addition to increasing the efficiency of your home, wise landscaping can reduce the need for watering.

Proper landscaping includes the use of ground cover, dwarf and full-size shrubs, climbing vines and trees. Ground cover is typically some type of plant, grass or gravel. The selection you make depends on your climate and specific house. Within the same neighborhood, a combination that works best for one house may not be the best for a home just one street away.

In general, try to use low-growing ground cover plants or gravel instead of grass. Other than some unique types of grass, most common species of grass require maintenance. Grass is still the best choice for areas of your yard where children play or pets roam, but try to keep it to a minimum.

In all but the most humid climates, placing low-growing ground cover plants near your house helps keep it cool during summer. The leaves block the sun’s heat from being absorbed into the ground, and they give off moisture. This evaporation of water from the leaves, called transpiration, cools air near the home—similar to when we perspire.

In hot, humid climates, gravel that is shaded from the sun can be more effective than ground cover plants. Using gravel also eliminates the need for watering, but it may increase the air temperature around your house. The thermal mass of the gravel stores the afternoon sun’s heat, causing the heating effect to last into the evening. Though not helpful during summer, gravel provides an advantage during winter.

When selecting ground cover plants, consider their specific characteristics (mature size, water needs, propagation, foliage density, etc.) To minimize the watering requirements, group the plant types based on their watering needs.

Dwarf shrubs are ideal for energy-efficient landscaping because they remain small at maturity (2 to 3 feet high). Plant some near the house foundation and some farther away for windbreak ramps. Since they stay small, they require little care and little watering.

In addition, dwarf shrubs can cut your utility bills year-round. The sill plate, the bottom frame along a home’s foundation, remains one of the greatest air infiltration pathways into many houses. Planting dwarf shrubs near the house, especially evergreen varieties, can block the force of cold winter winds and reduce the amount of air leaking in.

As a windbreak ramp, dwarf shrubs can be planted to the northwest side of taller shrubs and trees. These smaller plants begin directing the cold winds upward toward the tops of taller trees. The upward wind path continues over the top of your house, not against it.

Planting climbing vines on a trellis can create effective shading to reduce the heat buildup on a wall during summer. In most climates, locate the trellis close to the house to also take advantage of transpiration cooling. In humid climates, locate the trellis a little farther away from the wall. This allows the airflow to carry the moisture away but still provides good wall shading.

Climbing vines are often more effective than trees for shade because you can target specific windows and areas of your house where heat produces the greatest problem. Deciduous vines, which lose their leaves during winter, are best so the winter sun still reaches the house. One with a robust stem structure can help disrupt the force of winter winds.

Trees have perhaps the greatest effect on your utility bills. The actual landscaping details vary for different climates, but some general concepts apply to all. Evergreen trees are effective for the northwest across to the northeast side of a house to block the winter winds. During winter, the sun does not shine from those sides. Deciduous trees planted on the other sides provide summer shade but allow the winter sun through. You may want to leave a small gap to the southwest to allow summer breezes to reach your home.