Uses of Electrical Wires

• Despite being cheap to buy, electrical wire contains a very pure form of copper. speaker wire image by Paolo from Fotolia.com

  Electrical wire has obvious uses, such as the delivery of power across the country and through our homes. It consists primarily of solid-core copper conductors with individual thermoplastic coatings, a bare grounding wire and a flexible plastic jacket binding the cores together. Because electrical wire must meet specific quality and safety requirements, the components are of a high quality. The copper conductors, for instance, consist of very pure metal which doesn't corrode, making it ideal for a variety of other uses beside electrical connections.

Speakers

• Specific speaker wire is very expensive, due to the high quality copper braiding used. Solid core electrical wire for mains connections contains equally pure copper conductors and is able to carry higher currents than most speaker wire. Although not as flexible or aesthetically pleasing, affordable solid-core electrical wire provides a comparable performance to the even most expensive speaker cables.

Gardening

• Thanks to the purity of the copper conductors and the quality of its plastic coating, short pieces of electrical wire are very useful to gardeners. It can be used for attaching plants and saplings to support rods, for fence repairs and anywhere a flexible yet strong tie is required. Because copper does not corrode, scrap pieces of electrical wire are just as useful and can often be acquired very cheaply or for free.

Jewellery

• Because it's in contact with skin, copper is a popular choice for jewelery makers as it does not corrode and rarely produces allergic reactions. "Jewelery grade" copper wire is quite expensive, yet the metal contains a purity equal to electrical wire. Thin strands of electrical wire are flexible and malleable, yet maintain their shape, making them a useful alternative to jewelery wire.

Computer Networks

• Special adapters have been designed that can send computer network data through live electrical wiring in the home, with speeds comparable to Cat-5 cable. An adapter is plugged into an electrical outlet, which provides an RJ45 network socket you can plug a computer into. An identical adapter at another location completes the connection using another short network cable to link the computer to a router, hub or switch. This removes the need to install a network cable through the house.