On the choice of allowable cross-sections of conductor material in internal electrical networks when building individual households

In this work, a software package was developed in order to investigate the applicability of conductors having different cross-sections for installing internal electrical networks in individual households. A combination of general scientific methods, including circuit theory, numerical analysis and visualisation using MATLAB graphical editor, was used. The state of individual households in the Irkutsk region was analysed. It was confirmed that one of the most common causes of combustion associated with the construction of internal electrical networks of individual households involves unbalanced phase cur-rents, leading to additional heat losses, which give rise to fire hazards. A thermal calculation of the electric network functioning under normal operating conditions was carried out in order to obtain ex-pressions for determining the maximum permissible values of the neutral conductor current of the in-ternal electrical network of the house. These algorithms and programs were used to tabulate the limit values of the zero sequence currents for different cross-sections of the conductor material and tem-perature ranges. The efficiency of using balanced/unbalanced converters to mitigate the negative ef-fects of unbalanced power consumption was demonstrated by a field test. It can be concluded that one of the most efficient ways to reduce fire hazards in individual houses involves balancing the operating modes of the internal electrical network. The obtained data may therefore be used by construction or-ganisations, as well as the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, which monitors the fire safety of individual houses.