The Inspiration Behind Line8 Power Tracks (Part 2)

The power track concept takes its inspiration from the simple and common track light. The track light is a common fitting seen in many retail shops and even homes. With a simple track installed on the ceiling, we can now add, reposition and remove lighting points as and when we like. This is exceptionally useful when it’s difficult to plan the number of spotlights you need and where you need them during the renovation phase as the placement of subjects that need lighting.

The power track is a very similar invention in solving a very similar problem. The difference that we’re talking about electrical sockets here instead of spotlights. The features that separate these two products will be their safety and electrical load capability. Last week I touched on the safety aspect of the design and this week I will share more about the innovations behind the electrical load capability.

Power Loading Capability

The electrical power track is designed for users to be able to add, remove, and reposition power sockets freely and safely. The Line8 Power Track will be able to accommodate no less than 14 sockets per meter of track.

To be able to support a large number of sockets, a different kind of electrical connection must be used. This kind of connection is not as revolutionary as it is commonly used to distribute power throughout a building using an electrical bus bar as the power distribution device. The Line8 power track simply a miniature bus bar that has been designed and adapted for use in our interior space rather than in the electrical riser of a building.

All homes typically have a single big incoming electrical wire from Singapore Power that the electrician will then use to distribute it all around the home.

The method of connection the electrician will use to distribute the power throughout the house is called a tap-off circuit connection. This kind of connection is different from the ones typically found in the normal multi-plug or extension plug. That is why there will be an overload risk if multi or extension plugs is used. However, we are usually not as concerned about how many electrical points we are getting the electrician to add to your whole house.

For example, a 2 room flat and a 5 room executive maisonette has the same 40A electrical main cable from Singapore Power. But the 5 room will logically have a lot more plugs than a 2 room.  But there is no overloading risk in the 5 room.

The Significance

The key to making that possible is the tap off electrical connection. It is also the same way our government distributes power to every household in a HDB block.

This is how a typical electrical bus bar look like

Line8 uses the exact same type of connection the electrician or professional Electrical Engineer would have used to distribute power. only that we have converted the complicated wiring diagram into a simple twist mechanism.

So by adding a Line8 adaptor into the track. It's the same technically correct wiring method as how a professional electrician would have added a power socket on your wall manually.

Line8, a locally founded R&D and Engineering Company develops and manufactures the Line8 Power Track System. Our products have proven to be innovative and aesthetically pleasing in many of our customer's homes locally and overseas.

Learn more at : www.line8.com.sg

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a tap-off connection, and why does a power track use it?

A tap-off connection is the same method an electrician uses to distribute power from a building's main incoming cable to every socket in a home, rather than the daisy-chained wiring inside a multi-plug or extension cord. Line8 converts that same technically correct wiring method into a twist-lock mechanism, so adding an adaptor to the track is electrically equivalent to an electrician wiring a socket onto your wall.

How many sockets can a Line8 power track hold?

A Line8 power track can accommodate up to 14 sockets per metre of track. This is possible because the track functions as a miniature electrical bus bar — the same type of distribution device used to carry power through a building's electrical riser — adapted for use along a wall or worktop.

Why don't power tracks have the same overload risk as extension cords?

Extension and multi-plugs daisy-chain sockets off a single cable rated for one load, which is why adding more plugs increases overload risk. A power track instead taps directly off the main incoming supply the way household wiring already does — the same principle that lets a larger home carry more sockets than a smaller one on the same 40A main cable without any added overloading risk.