What Is Vegetable Glycerin

Vegetable glycerin is also known as vegetable glycerol. It is a carbohydrate that is usually derived from plant oils. It is used as a sweetener and as an ingredient in a number of cosmetic products. Vegetable glycerin is also used in place of alcohol to extract botanicals.

Glycerin is an organic compound composed of three carbon atoms, hydrogen atoms, and three OH groups. These OH groups form hydrogen bonds with water, slowing down its movement and giving liquid glycerin the property of a syrup. It is also resistant to freezing, a property used in storing sensitive liquids, such as enzymes, in laboratory freezers.

Food-grade vegetable glycerin is 99.7% pure, with the remaining 0.3% being water. It has a sweet taste, but is metabolized differently than sugar and does not raise blood sugar levels. Glycerin is used in foods marketed as being low in carbohydrates to keep them sweet and moist. It also does not contribute to bacterial tooth decay.

Vegetable glycerin is also used as a substitute for alcohol, in making botanical extracts. The advantage of this is that people who do not want to be exposed to alcohol can still have access to the botanical products. The disadvantage is that the resulting products have a much shorter shelf life.

Its solubility in alcohol and water had led to great utility in the manufacturing of products. Glycerin is used in a large number of cosmetic and household products, such as toothpastes and shampoo. It is also a component of glycerin soap, which is often used by people with sensitive skin. This soap acts as moisturizer to prevent the skin from drying out. For this reason, glycerin lotion is also popular.

There are also medical uses for vegetable glycerin. Glycerin suppositories are used as laxatives. It can also be used as a topical remedy for a number of skin problems, including psoriasis, rashes, burns, bedsores, and cuts. Glycerin is also employed to treat gum disease, as it kills associated bacterial colonies.

While glycerin can be made as a by-product of soap that is made from animal fats, it can also be made from plants. The glycerol backbone is part of the basic structure of many lipids. Vegetable glycerin is made from the oils and fats of a plant-based ingredient, generally coconut or palm oil. The oil is heated to a high temperature under pressure with water. The glycerin backbone splits off from the fatty acids, and is absorbed by the water, from which it is then isolated and distilled.

How Much Is a Kilowatt Hour

A kilowatt hour a unit of energy, and the typical way that electricity is measured. A kilowatt (kW) is 1,000 watts (w), and a kilowatt hour refers to the use of a device or a set of devices that use 1,000 watts for one hour. Using a 100 watt light-bulb for 10 hours would equal 1 kilowatt hour (kWh), as would the use of a 10,000 watt machine for 6 minutes.

Kilowatts and Kilowatt Hours

A watt or kilowatt is a measure of power, or how much electricity is being used by a device at a particular moment. This is useful information, because it can be used to compare average energy consumption; an 11 watt compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb might produce the same amount of light as a 100 watt incandescent bulb, making it more efficient. Like knowing the average miles per gallon (or kilometers per liter) that a car gets, the devices can be compared without taking how long they are being used into account.

Energy is a measurement of power over some period of time. Power companies use the kilowatt hour because power use is cumulative; someone who uses an 11 watt CFL isn't paying for the 11 watts that the bulb uses in any given instant, but rather how much power is used by that bulb over a month. To determine this cost, how many kilowatts a device uses is multiplied by how many hours it is used to get kWh, which are then multiplied by the price of electricity per kWh.

watts ÷ 1,000 = kWh
kWh × hours of operation × rate = cost

Electricity Rates

Electricity prices are measured by the kilowatt hour, and the rate tends to fluctuate over time — both over the long-term, as in a week or month, but also over the course of a single day at the wholesale level. In some countries and regions, prices for electricity can vary based on the time of day in which the power is used; in many other places, however, prices are set by the government or based on the average cost over time. Smart meter technology and "time-of-use" pricing is expected to become more widespread over time, however.

Prices also vary dramatically by region, often based on how much it costs to generate and distribute power, as well as taxes and other charges. In the United States for example, the average residential cost of a kilowatt hour in Wyoming is 6.2 cents and goes all the way up to 25.12 cents in Hawaii.

Electricity Rates in the US

Here are the costs per kilowatt hour by region of the United States in 2010:

Region	Average Residential Cost of a Kilowatt Hour
U.S. average	9.83
Pacific Noncontiguous	19.94
New England	14.44
Middle Atlantic	13.80
South Atlantic	10.08
East North Central	9.12
Pacific Contiguous	9.07
East South Central	8.20
West South Central	8.00
Mountain	7.84
West North Central	7.80

Region Definitions:

1. Pacific Noncontiguous: Alaska, Hawaii
2. New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
3. Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
4. South Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
5. East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin
6. Pacific Contiguous: California, Oregon, Washington
7. East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee
8. West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
9. Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
10. West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

What is Amperage

Amperage, also called current, is the amount of electrical energy flowing through an appliance at any given time. This measurement is expressed in units called amperes, often shortened to amps. When electricians speak of the electricity flowing in and out of your home, they may be referring to voltage, amperage or wattage depending on the circumstances. Of the three, amperage is the one you may experience first when you plug in a faulty lamp or flip the wrong switch.

Understanding amperage may require a crash course in electrical engineering, wiseGEEK style. Electricity is to home electrical circuits as water is to home plumbing systems. Electricity is brought in to the home through power lines ultimately connected to a generator. In a standard US home system, this incoming electricity is limited to 110 volts. In other countries, it may be closer to 230 volts. Voltage is roughly the equivalent of how much water can fit in a pipe. Volts don't flow by themselves -- they are drawn from a high point (the line outside the house) to a low point (the toaster) once the circuit is completed by the toaster's switch. Voltage is mostly a measurement of 'potential' energy available, not necessarily how much is actually used.

This is where amperage comes in. The toaster, or any other electrical product, needs a certain amount of electrical energy to perform its job. It draws that amount of electricity from the 'river' of volts in the line. A small electrical appliance like a toaster usually needs less power than a larger appliance such as a refrigerator or power saw. In electrical terms, these appliances work at different amperage rates. A large electric motor may draw 100 amps, while a small heating element may draw only 10 amps. Both tap into the same 110 voltage line, but their amperage needs are noticeably different.

Amperage must be controlled in order to protect the electrical lines from overheating or short-circuiting. This is why electricians use fuses and breakers. A 30 amp fuse, for example, will allow smaller appliances to run on the line it protects, but if an electric clothes dryer pulls 60 amps, a metal filament in the fuse will melt and break the circuit immediately. Breaker switches also control amperage through circuit breaking. Larger electrical devices often have their own circuits with higher capacity fuses or breaker switches to avoid such overloads.

The general rule of thumb for homeowners is the higher the amperage, the more an appliance will cost to run. There is always a trade-off between power and economy when it comes to electrical devices. If economizing on the monthly utility is a priority, then select products with lower amperage. If power and speed are important, then look for products with higher amperage. The utility company bills customers based on total wattage used, which is calculated by multiplying amperage by voltage. Wattage is the basic measuring unit of electrical power, so customers are usually charged by the watt or kilowatt. This is why it is important to turn off electrical devices when they are not needed. Extra amperage means a higher amount of billable wattage hours.