One night, I was working on an important document on my desktop, when the power went out. In the blink of an eye, all my unsaved work was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it wasn’t just the computer. The lights, the fans, the aircon and fridge all went out as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I looked out the window, I saw that it wasn’t just my house. Power to the entire block of terrace houses had gone out as well. Even the streetlamps were out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, there was one house across the street that still had its lights on. How was that possible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I asked my neighbour about it, he said, “Their house didn’t get a blackout because they have 3-phase wiring.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The power was restored after an hour, and the official statement from Tenaga Nasional (TNB) was that a power line had been damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was still wondering about the house across the street that still had their power, because of “3-phase wiring”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is 3-phase wiring? Does it prevent blackouts from affecting my house? And how can I get it to avoid losing all my work again?<\/p>\n\n\n