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Understanding the difference between watts and amps will help you safely navigate electrical projects.
What Is Amperage?
Amperage refers to an electrical circuit’s number of Amperes, often simply called “amps.”
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This is why many experts sayyou should be more concerned with amps than voltswhen trying to avoid electrical shock.
Warning
Regardless of the voltage or amperage, always consider an electrical circuit to be potentially dangerous.
The current is limited by another electrical value called resistance, which is measured in ohms.
Imagine pouring a 5-gallon bucket of water into a funnel.
This is because you decrease the resistance.
This is exactly what happens when you lower the resistance of an electrical circuit.
What Is Wattage?
Wattage is the rate of power flowing from the circuit.
One “watt” is equal to one unit of energy being transferred per second.
In plain terms, watts are the rate at which the electrical energy is supplied or utilized.
The Importance of Wattage
So, why is wattage important?
Appliances and devices have a specified electrical demand that must be met for them to function properly and safely.
If the power supply cannot meet these demands, the gear can break or pose a safety risk.
Light Bulb Wattage Options
One everyday example of wattage you’ll see is light bulb wattage.
A 60-watt incandescent light bulb uses more energy than a 40-watt incandescent light bulb.
The resulting lower power draw results in the light being dimmer.
As explained above, the higher the resistance, the lower the current.
The lower current results in a lower power draw.
In this example, the voltage is what manipulates the wattage.
An amp is a measure of electrical current or the volume of electrons moving through a circuit.
On the same voltage, higher amps means more power.
