r/Electricity

Initially, I'm sorry if this post does not belong on the sub and accept it being taken down if that's the case.

On the first charge of a new phone (iPhone 17), I felt a subtle but uncomfortable shock on the bottom right side, where the phone wasn't covered by the case. It stayed like that for about 5 minutes before I noticed and disconnected the charger.

After that, I swapped the charger source for another one that I have at home (which was the one I meant to use in the first place, since the "shocking" one had been faulty) and while it heated during charging, the phone itself didn't. Also, the shocks were gone and the charging went on normally.

I checked the battery health and it remains at 100% and the battery seems to be working just fine, but I'm still worried that something might have gone awry with the battery. Should I be?

So I have a series of questions that are basically all the same general question, but each one adds in an additional factor. I’m moreso curious about the immediate effects within the body (how the current travels through the body, the route it takes, where the exit point would be, etc), rather than long-term effects, but those are interesting to me too.

In each instance here, unless otherwise specified, the contact with a live wire is made with the RIGHT hand.

1. if you touch a live wire and do NOT have any form of metal on your person (like a wedding ring for instance), and get an electrical shock, what happens inside your body? How does the current move through the body and find its exit point? Is it always the case that it crosses the body to exit through the opposite foot or hand?

2. Now, same question, but this time you touch a live wire with your right hand and are wearing a gold wedding band on your left ring finger. Will the current zip through the body and exit at the point of contact with the metal item (the gold ring)? What is the nature of the interaction between the electrical current shooting through your body and the metal item you’re wearing? How does wearing a metal item change the behaviour of the electrical current in your body compared to not being in contact with any metal?

3. Same question again, but this time you are wearing MULTIPLE metal pieces of jewelry - say, a silver chain around your neck, wedding band on your left ring finger, and a metal belt buckle making slight contact with your skin. Does the presence of multiple metal items/pieces of jewelry against your skin cause the electrical current to behave any differently than if you were wearing only one piece of metal jewelry? Does the electrical current move throughout the body to make contact with each metal item you’re wearing, or does it “pick” the strongest electrical conductor to travel to? (I’m assuming there’s some form of an almost magnetic-like interaction that draws the electrical current to the metal item(s), but this is pure uneducated speculation on my part).

4. Same scenario, live wire to right hand while wearing the metal items in the previous question, but now you’re holding a wrench in your left hand. What happens in this instance and how does it differ from the one above where the left hand isn’t holding anything, metal or otherwise?

5. Same scenario, all the jewelry, right hand contact with live wire, except this time instead of holding a wrench in your left hand, you’re holding your cell phone, which is turned on. What’s the dealio here, and again, how does the activity of the electrical current in the body change from the wrench in hand scenario, if at all?

Almost done, 2 more:

6. Same as the above scenario, but this time, the phone in your left hand is charging, connected to an external power source that is independent of the live wire your right hand is making contact with.

6A) The power source charging your phone is a portable power bank (connected via USB-C cable).

6B) The power source your phone is connected to and charging from is a wall outlet (connected via USB-C cable to power adapter to outlet. Actually, let’s throw an extension cord into the mix because your phone cord isn’t long enough to reach the outlet).

Note: the type of connector cable here isn’t relevant, I just chose USB-C because it’s the most common these days.

How does the activity/pathway of the electrical current change from scenario 5 to scenario 6? Likewise, from scenario 6A to 6B?

Lastly, say you didn’t make contact with the live wire via your right hand, but rather, you tripped and fell forward and your shirt got caught on something and was pulled up, exposing much of your trunk/torso/chest, and you landed on the live wire with your bare chest. Now your contact point with the live wire is much closer to your heart as well as more sustained since you’re laying on top of it with all of your weight, unable to roll off of it or get up and break contact with it. (I’m assuming here that your position laying face down atop the wire + the intensity of the electrical shock/current coursing through you from your chest would more or less “paralyze” or “freeze” you in place, making it extremely difficult if not next to impossible to break contact with it, causing you to get full blown electrocuted on repeat and probably die very quickly. (Again, this is a mere assumption on my part. Please do correct me, I would much appreciate it!).

Also, keep in mind, you’re still wearing the chain necklace and wedding band in this scenario.

Another also: what if you landed on the wire in a way where it so happened to be touching both your bare chest AND part of the necklace chain? A real doozy I’d imagine.

If you got all the way through this, I do thank you. If you have any insight or knowledge to share here I would greatly appreciate getting schooled on all of this. I’m on the autism spectrum, and I randomly came across a youtube short about electric shocks and being electrocuted that piqued my curiosity, and now my brain won’t let it go.

Also, if someone could explain the difference between getting an intense electrical shock vs being full blown electrocuted, I’d greatly appreciate it. Also, (last one, I promise), what kind of electrical burn damage would these scenarios produce and at what locations on the body for each scenario? Would there be electrical burns at the location of each item of jewelry or just at the entrance and exit point? How does the exit point change with each scenario (if they indeed do so change?)

August 25th for Munster and highland to get electricity. What the fuq?? I know nothing about electricity but I know a line should have been buried every year for the last 30 that NIPSCO has been serving lake county. How can executives EARN millions in annual bonuses and their customers can't get their product for two weeks?! For what did they earn bonuses? There's been no innovation here. We are working America. Our children need to go to school and we need to go to work. I'm astonished at their hubris. We have fallen behind America.

Edit: I know nothing about electricity and will not pretend I do. I suggested burying lines as an annual innovation cuz that's all I know. We are going to have utility problems post tornado but two weeks? Nope

I have 8 more to replace.

I’m a tenant in the Somerville area and I recently figured out why my electric bill has been so high. My neighbor’s outdoor AC condenser is wired to my electric meter, so I’ve been paying for their air conditioning on my own bill for months.
I have been keeping the switch off of course and these past few weeks my meter is running regularly but the landlord never believed me and I had to figure this out in my own. After my neighbors complaint here is what happened:
• A technician who came out found the miswiring.
• My neighbor confirmed to me (in writing) that it’s his AC.
• I made an unedited, continuous video showing that when I flip a specific breaker in my own panel, the outdoor condenser turns on and off — while my own AC (a window unit) stays off the whole time. So it’s clearly his equipment on my meter.
• I have my electric billing history showing the pattern.
What’s frustrating: the landlord is denying there’s any problem and told me that if I’m unhappy I should “look for another place.” I’ve already flipped the breaker off (and taped a note on it) so I’m not bleeding money going forward, and I’ve filed a complaint with the local inspection/health department.
I also have a consultation booked with a tenant lawyer.
My questions:
1. What’s the smartest order of steps from here to actually get reimbursed for what I’ve already overpaid?
2. Has anyone actually recovered money for something like this — through the utility billing process, small claims, or a consumer-protection (93A) claim? What did it realistically look like (amount, timeline)?
3. Is a lawyer worth it for this, or is small claims something people handle themselves? These claims can shift attorney’s fees to the landlord if I win — does that change the math?
4. Anything I should be careful about or documenting that I might be missing?
5. Given the “look for another place” comment after I complained — how seriously do people take retaliation here, and does it change how I should approach this?
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s dealt with cross-metering or utility overbilling as a tenant. Thanks in advance.

I hate nipsco. I don’t understand how it’s taking so long to do something ComEd did in a few days. Maybe you should t have fired all those linemen. Maybe you shouldn’t have neglected cutting those overgrown trees. They like to say they can’t control the weather. But you knew it was coming and how bad it could get. you know your infrastructure is TRASH and that the power was going to go out. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED!!! Now over 100k are suffering and might have to suffer another week because your Incompentence is reaching towards the sky. how does comEd have it’s shit together more than you? how are you not embarrassed you can never handle anything remotely big by yourself. you always need help but then have the nerve to FIRE THOSE THAT DO THE DAMN WORK YOU CANT SEEM TO EVER KEEP UP WITH?! thr company is ran by morons. and now we are about to see a nastey bill spike because of this bullshit. we have to suffer and get screwed in two ways over this. no power for days/weeks and we have to pay for that fact down the line is bullshit. And where are these damn crews? after a certain hour they vanish. I searched Gary, Hammond, Merrillville and Hobart to see no one. THEY ARE LYING ABOUT WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK. nipsco lies about everything. JUST GET ME MY DAMN POWER I PAY FOR YOU SHITHEADS.

Prepaid system in my flat
Shifted recently
So any of u who lives in flat (use wifi ac washing machine and others) how much u spend on electricity per month
I just use fans n light so less still have to reacharge every week
It’s still mid week n spent 4K on it idk what to do can’t afford that much n cant leave the flat due to agreement
some scam in meter?pls guide me how to check or w who to talk

So I brought my PS4 from Taiwan to France. Originally things were fine when I used the original charger that had label 125 volts. However, I only have one adapter and changing it is annoying.

I found a charger that has the European plug that can seemingly power my PS4 with no adapters. However I'm worried about the voltage. My PS4 can handle 220-240 volts (written on it). The new charger has labelled 250 volts on it. France's voltage is seemingly 230 volts.

I am wondering what the 250 volts on the charger means. Does it mean all voltage going through it reaches 250? Does it handle a maximum of 250? Or is it simply capped at 250?

I am a resident of Goldman Plaza who moved in last May 2026**. I am writing to formally requesting the bldg assistance in reviewing and verifying the significant increase in my electricity charges.**

Prior to moving to Goldman Plaza, my monthly electricity bill typically ranged from PHP 500–800. Since moving in, my monthly electricity charges have increased considerably, ranging from approximately PHP 1,700–2,500.

However, I recently checked my latest bill through the Meralco app and was surprised to see an amount of approximately PHP 3,000 (August 15,2026), which is significantly higher than my usual consumption.

I would like to emphasize that my electricity usage is relatively limited. I am normally at the office from approximately 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday to Friday. At home, I only use the air-conditioning unit once a week for 12hrs and primarily use a small clip-on electric fan. I only cook during weekends, use minimal lighting (mostly a night light), and do my laundry approximately once a week, with each laundry cycle taking no more than three hours.

Is anyone experiencing the same?

I want to get a kill-a-watt and see that right now the EZ and Flex are basically the same price on Amazon. I can’t find any reviews of what the Flex does different except AI slop full of nonsense. I would like it to retain measurements and runtime after an outage so I don’t want the original. I think these two both retain that, but what is not the same?

Does anyone here know (for sure) what the differences are?

I am interested in practical, low-cost ways people have reduced electricity use at home. Which changes made a noticeable difference for you, and which common tips did not seem worth the effort?

I would especially appreciate examples involving heating or cooling habits, appliances, lighting, and standby power.

National Grid sent an email saying my usage, for an 800sf single occupancy home, is on track to double this month to 870.81.

How? I've done nothing different. They installed a smart meter a few months ago. Is this their way of getting around rate increases? Who can afford this crap?