Have you ever been right in the middle of a high-stakes project or maybe just a really intense gaming session, when suddenly everything goes pitch black? No warning, just that sickening click of a circuit breaker and the sudden silence of a dead house.
It is a uniquely frustrating sound, Corn. It is the sound of a system reaching its limit and just giving up. And if you live in an older apartment in Jerusalem like we do, it is a sound you probably know far too well. It is the sound of the sixteen-amp ceiling.
Exactly. I am Corn, and welcome back to My Weird Prompts. Joining me as always is my brother, the man who knows more about electrical sub-panels and transient voltage than anyone I have ever met.
Herman Poppleberry at your service. And today we are diving into a topic that hits very close to home. Literally. Our housemate Daniel sent us a prompt about the joys and sorrows of Israeli apartment wiring. He and his wife are looking at renovating a place, and they want to avoid the classic trap of having half the house go dark because someone decided to make toast while the vacuum was running.
It is such a common experience here. You have got these sixteen-amp circuits that are somehow expected to power three different rooms. Daniel was also asking about why smart switches seem to lose their minds every time there is a power flicker. So, Herman, let us start with the basics. Why is the wiring in so many of these apartments seemingly designed to fail the moment you turn on more than two appliances?
It is a combination of historical standards and the way our power needs have exploded over the last few decades. Most older apartments in Israel were designed for a much lighter electrical load. We are talking about a time when a home might have a few light bulbs, a radio, and maybe a small refrigerator. The idea was to keep things simple and cheap. Back in the nineteen-fifties and sixties, the standard was actually even lower, but the sixteen-amp circuit became the workhorse of the Israeli residential grid.
But we do not live in that world anymore. I mean, between my workstation, the air conditioning, the electric kettle, and the washing machine, we are pulling way more current than people were in the nineteen-seventies. Even in twenty twenty-six, with more efficient appliances, we just have more of them.
Oh, absolutely. And here is the technical bottleneck. A standard single circuit in these older buildings is typically rated for sixteen amps. Now, if you do the math, in a country with a two hundred thirty-volt system like Israel, sixteen amps multiplied by two hundred thirty volts gives you about three thousand six hundred eighty watts of total capacity for that entire circuit.
Three thousand six hundred eighty watts. That sounds like a decent amount until you actually look at the labels on your appliances.
Exactly! This is where people get caught off guard. A standard electric kettle, which is a staple in every Israeli kitchen, usually pulls between two thousand and two thousand five hundred watts all by itself. So, if you are on a sixteen-amp circuit and you turn on the kettle, you have already used up more than two-thirds of your entire capacity for that circuit. If someone in the other room, which happens to be on the same circuit, turns on a hair dryer or a powerful vacuum cleaner, you are going to hit four thousand watts instantly. The breaker does exactly what it is designed to do, which is trip before the wires in your walls start to melt.
It is interesting that you mention the rooms sharing circuits. Daniel mentioned that in many apartments, multiple rooms are tied to that same sixteen-amp breaker. Why would a builder ever think that was a good idea?
It comes down to cost and simplicity during construction. Back in the day, it was much cheaper to run one thick cable to a central junction box in a hallway and then spider-web out to three different rooms from there. It saved on copper, it saved on labor, and it saved on the size of the electrical panel. In episode eighty, when we talked about why industrial buildings like airports are wired differently, we touched on this idea of reliability versus cost. In a residential setting, cost almost always won out. They assumed you would never have a space heater in the bedroom and a vacuum in the hallway running at the same time.
So, for Daniel and his wife, as they are planning this renovation, what is the fix? Is it just a matter of adding more breakers, or is it deeper than that?
It is definitely deeper. If they are doing a full renovation, the first thing they need to look at is upgrading to what we call three-phase power, or tlat-fazi in Hebrew. Most older apartments have a single-phase connection, which usually caps out at twenty-five or forty amps for the entire apartment. That is your total ceiling. No matter how many breakers you have, you cannot pull more than that from the grid without the main breaker outside your door tripping.
Right, so even if you have ten different sixteen-amp circuits, if you try to use them all at once, you will just trip the main breaker instead of the individual one. It is like having a bunch of small pipes feeding into one tiny main pipe.
Precisely. Upgrading to three-phase power essentially gives you three separate forty-amp lines coming into your home. It triples your total capacity from about nine kilowatts to over twenty-seven kilowatts. It allows you to distribute the load. You put the heavy hitters like the induction oven on one phase, the air conditioning on another, and the rest of the house on the third. That is the gold standard for a modern Israeli home, especially now that we are seeing more electric vehicle chargers being installed in private parking spots.
That sounds like a massive job, though. You have to involve the electric company, right? What is the process like in twenty twenty-six?
It is a bit of a dance. You need a certified electrician—a hashmali musmach—to prepare the apartment. They have to rewire the main panel, ensure the grounding is up to code, and pull the new wires. Then, you apply to the Israel Electric Corporation. They will send an inspector to verify that everything is safe. Once it passes, they swap your old meter for a new three-phase smart meter. The cost for the I-E-C side of things is usually around three thousand to five thousand shekels, plus whatever your electrician charges for the internal work.
Okay, so let us say they get the three-phase power sorted. How should they think about the actual wiring inside the walls? How do you avoid that overlapping room problem?
The modern approach is to have dedicated lines for high-draw appliances. In a proper renovation, you should never have a kitchen outlet on the same circuit as a bedroom outlet. You want a dedicated sixteen-amp line just for the oven. A dedicated line for the washing machine. A dedicated line for the dishwasher. And then, you separate the rooms. Each room, or at most two low-use rooms, should have its own breaker.
I imagine Daniel's wife, being an architect, is probably thinking about the aesthetics of where all these outlets go, but the behind-the-scenes logic of which wire goes to which breaker is really where the daily quality of life is determined.
It really is. You want to map out your heavy zones. The kitchen is obvious, but people forget about the bathroom. If you have a powerful electric heater in the bathroom for the winter, that needs its own circuit too. Otherwise, you turn on the heater, your wife starts the hair dryer, and suddenly you are standing in the dark in a wet shower. Not a great way to start the morning.
No, I have been there, and it is miserable. Now, let's pivot to the second part of Daniel's question, which is something I have noticed in our place too. Those smart switches. They are supposed to make life easier, but Daniel says they often malfunction or just stop working entirely after a power outage. Why is a simple power flicker so devastating for these devices?
This is a classic case of sensitive electronics meeting a very dirty electrical environment. When the power goes out and then comes back on, it does not always come back as a clean, perfect wave. You often get a massive spike, or a surge, followed by a few milliseconds of instability. This is especially true in Jerusalem where the grid can be a bit temperamental during winter storms.
Is that what we call inrush current?
Inrush current is part of it, yes. When the power restores, every device in your house tries to pull power at the exact same microsecond. Your fridge compressor kicks in, your power supplies for your computers charge their capacitors, and all your smart bulbs try to boot up. This creates a massive, momentary demand that can cause the voltage to sag and spike. For a cheap smart switch, this is like being hit by a tidal wave.
And the smart switches are caught in the crossfire?
Exactly. A smart switch is basically a tiny computer that controls a relay. A relay is a mechanical switch that physically opens and closes to turn your lights on and off. There are two main reasons they fail after an outage. The first is a hardware failure called relay welding.
Relay welding? That sounds intense.
It is! When the power comes back on with a surge, a tiny spark can jump between the metal contacts inside the relay. If that spark is hot enough, it can actually melt a tiny bit of the metal and weld the switch into the on position. That is why sometimes after a storm, you find a smart switch that simply will not turn off no matter what you do in the app. The physical metal is fused together.
That explains the mechanical failure. But what about when they just disappear from the network or need to be reset? I have had switches that just go into a blinking frenzy and refuse to talk to the hub.
That is usually a firmware or networking issue. Most cheap smart switches use Wi-Fi. When the power comes back, your Wi-Fi router takes maybe two or three minutes to fully boot up and start broadcasting a signal. But the smart switch boots up in about two seconds. It looks for the Wi-Fi, does not find it, and then sometimes it enters a setup mode or just gives up and goes into an error state. By the time the router is ready, the switch has already stopped looking.
So it is a timing issue. The switch is ready to go before the infrastructure is there to support it.
Precisely. And if you have fifty smart devices all trying to reconnect to a router that is still trying to figure out its own I-P address, you get a massive traffic jam. Some devices will successfully connect, while others will time out and stay offline until you manually power-cycle them. In twenty twenty-six, we have better protocols, but many people are still using older Wi-Fi-based tech.
I remember we talked about this a bit in episode one hundred twelve, about why airports avoid smart bulbs. They cannot afford that kind of unpredictability. But for a home renovation, what can Daniel do to prevent this? Is there a pro version of these switches that is more resilient?
There absolutely is. If I were Daniel, I would stay away from Wi-Fi-based switches for any permanent installation. I would look at Zigbee or the newer Thread protocol. These require a dedicated hub. The beauty of Thread and Zigbee is that they create a mesh network. Even if the main hub is slow to boot, the devices can still talk to each other. More importantly, high-quality switches from companies like Lutron or even some of the higher-end European brands are built with much better surge protection and zero-cross switching.
Zero-cross switching? What is that? It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie.
It is a clever bit of engineering. The switch waits for the exact moment when the alternating current wave is at zero volts before it opens or closes the circuit. This almost entirely eliminates the spark that causes relay welding. It makes the switch last ten times longer and makes it much more resilient to those power-on surges. It is the difference between slamming a door and closing it gently when the latch is perfectly aligned.
That is fascinating. It is one of those things where spending a bit more on the hardware upfront saves you so much headache down the line. I am curious about the neutral wire issue too. I have heard that some Israeli apartments do not have a neutral wire at the switch box, and that causes problems for smart tech. Is that still a thing?
That is a huge point, Corn. In traditional Israeli wiring, following older British-influenced standards, they often only ran the hot wire down to the switch. The neutral wire went straight to the light fixture in the ceiling. A smart switch needs power to run its own internal computer, which means it needs both hot and neutral to complete its own little circuit.
So if you do not have that neutral wire, the switch has to leak a little bit of power through the light bulb just to stay alive?
Exactly. And that is why you see some L-E-D bulbs flickering or glowing dimly even when they are supposed to be off. It is because the switch is using the bulb as a path to ground. If Daniel is renovating, he should absolutely insist that his electrician pulls a neutral wire to every single switch box in the house. It is a tiny extra cost in wire during a renovation, but it opens the door to using any smart switch on the market without those weird flickering issues.
It really sounds like the theme here is do not cut corners on the infrastructure. It is easy to get excited about the fancy tiles or the kitchen cabinets, but the copper in the walls is what actually makes the house livable.
It really is. I always tell people, your electrical plan should be the most detailed document in your renovation. You should know exactly where every high-power appliance is going to sit. You should have a clear map of your phases. And you should definitely invest in a high-quality surge protector at the main panel level.
A whole-house surge protector? I did not even know that was a thing for apartments. I thought those were just for big industrial sites.
It is becoming much more common in twenty twenty-six. It is a device called a Surge Protective Device, or S-P-D, that sits right next to your breakers. If a lightning strike or a grid malfunction sends a massive spike toward your home, this device shunts that extra energy into the ground before it ever reaches your expensive smart switches, your O-L-E-D T-V, or your computer. For someone like Daniel, who has a lot of tech, it is the best one hundred dollars he will ever spend.
I think about all the times we have had to reset our router or re-pair a light bulb after a winter storm here in Jerusalem. It feels like such a normal part of life, but you are saying it does not have to be.
It really does not. We accept a lot of electrical jank in Israel because we are used to these older buildings. But when you are starting from scratch with a renovation, you have the chance to build a system that feels invisible. A good electrical system is one you never have to think about. You should be able to run the dishwasher, the oven, and the vacuum at the same time while your smart lights just work. No flickering, no clicking, no darkness.
That sounds like a dream. But let us talk about the practical side of this for a second. If Daniel goes to an electrician and says I want three-phase power, dedicated lines for every major appliance, neutral wires at every switch, and a whole-house surge protector, is the electrician going to look at him like he is crazy?
Some might! There is definitely a this is how we have always done it mentality among some older contractors. They might say, you do not need all that, sixteen amps is plenty for a bedroom. But Daniel has to be firm. He needs to find an electrician who is a hashmali musmach, a certified electrician, and specifically one who is comfortable with modern smart home standards. In Israel, there are different levels of certification—hashmali ma'asi, musmach, and rashi. For a full renovation and a three-phase upgrade, he wants at least a musmach.
It is also worth mentioning that in Israel, the regulations are actually quite strict, even if they are not always followed in older rentals.
Right. For example, by law, any renovation today must include an earthing system that meets modern safety standards. In many old Jerusalem buildings, the ground was just a wire clamped to a metal water pipe. But since many of those pipes have been replaced with plastic, that ground often does not actually go anywhere. It is a floating ground, and it is incredibly dangerous.
Wait, so if there is a short circuit, the electricity has nowhere to go but through the person touching the appliance?
Exactly. That is how people get shocks from their refrigerators. During a renovation, the electrician must verify or install a proper ground rod into the earth or connect to the building's foundation reinforcement. It is non-negotiable for safety, but it is also critical for the health of your electronics. Smart switches and computers need a clean ground to bleed off static and interference.
This is making me realize how much we take for granted in our own place. We have just adapted to these weird quirks. Oh, don't turn on the kettle yet, the laundry is in the final spin cycle. It is almost like a mini-game we play.
It is a game where the prize is not having to walk to the hallway in your socks to flip a switch. But for Daniel and his wife, they can opt out of that game. They can design a system that handles the load. They should also consider the future of the kitchen. Induction cooktops are becoming the standard in twenty twenty-six, and those can pull seven thousand watts on their own if you have all the zones going. That requires a dedicated three-phase line just for the cooktop.
I want to go back to the smart switch issue for a moment. Daniel mentioned that different switches stop working at different times. Why would one switch fail while the one right next to it is fine?
That is often down to the load that the switch is controlling. A smart switch controlling a single, simple L-E-D bulb is under very little stress. But a smart switch controlling a heavy chandelier with twelve bulbs, or an old-school fluorescent fixture with a heavy ballast, is dealing with much higher electrical noise. When the power flickers, the back-electromotive force—or back-E-M-F—from those heavy loads can kick back into the switch and scramble its brains or fry its relay.
So even the type of light bulb you use can affect how well your smart switch survives a power outage?
Absolutely. This is where those second-order effects come in. If you have cheap, non-dimmable L-E-D bulbs on a smart dimmer, you are asking for trouble. The electronics in the bulb and the electronics in the switch end up fighting each other during those unstable power moments.
It sounds like the advice for Daniel is: buy high-quality, matched components. Do not mix and match the cheapest smart switches you found online with the cheapest bulbs from the corner store.
Precisely. Stick to an ecosystem if you can, or at least a consistent protocol like Thread or Zigbee. And please, for the love of all things holy, make sure your electrician uses deep junction boxes behind the switches.
Deep junction boxes? Why is that important?
Smart switches are much fatter than regular switches because they have to house all that circuitry. In a standard shallow Israeli box, you have to crush all the wires behind the switch to get it to fit. That creates heat, it puts stress on the connections, and it makes it much more likely that something will wiggle loose or short out over time. If they are already cutting holes in the walls, tell them to use the deep European-style boxes. Your future self will thank you when you are not struggling to shove a nest of wires back into a tiny hole.
That is such a great, practical tip. It is those little things that you do not think about until you are actually holding the screwdriver and realizing nothing fits.
I have spent too many hours of my life fighting with shallow electrical boxes, Corn. I do not want Daniel to suffer the same fate.
So, to summarize the plan for Daniel: step one is upgrading to three-phase power to increase the total pipe of electricity coming in. Step two is dedicated lines for the big appliances like the oven, washer, and induction cooktop. Step three is running neutral wires to every switch. And step four is using high-quality Thread or Zigbee switches with deep boxes and a whole-house surge protector.
That is the ultimate no-compromise electrical plan for an Israeli apartment. It transforms the home from a nineteen-seventies relic into a twenty twenty-six powerhouse. It is about future-proofing.
I am curious about your thoughts on the future of this. We are seeing more and more things becoming electric. Electric cars are the big one. If Daniel thinks he might ever have an electric car, even if he does not have one now, should he be planning for that during the renovation?
One hundred percent. Even if he lives in an apartment building, if he has a dedicated parking spot, he should run the heavy-duty cabling from his meter to that spot now. It is ten times more expensive to do it later when the floors are finished. And that is another reason for the three-phase power. Charging an electric car on a single-phase sixteen-amp circuit is like trying to fill a swimming pool with a drinking straw. It will take days. With three-phase, you can get a proper eleven-kilowatt charger that will top you up overnight.
It really feels like we are at a turning point where the old way of wiring just cannot keep up with our lives. We are more dependent on a stable connection and stable power than ever before.
We are. And I think that is why Daniel's question is so relevant. It is not just about convenience; it is about the reliability of our digital lives. When the power flickers and your smart home system crashes, it is not just annoying—it can be a real disruption if you are working from home or relying on that tech for security or climate control.
Well, I hope that gives Daniel and his wife some solid ground to stand on when they talk to their architect and electrician. It is a lot to think about, but getting it right now means decades of not having to worry about the sickening click of a tripped breaker.
Exactly. Do it once, do it right, and then forget it exists. That is the goal of good engineering.
Before we wrap up, I want to mention that if you are listening and you have found yourself in a similar situation—maybe you have a weird electrical quirk in your own house or a smart home mystery you cannot solve—we would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us through the contact form at myweirdprompts dot com.
And while you are there, you can check out the full archive. We have over four hundred episodes now, covering everything from the math of fiber optic reliability in episode two hundred twenty-four to the history of industrial lighting.
Also, a quick favor to ask. If you have been enjoying the show, we would really appreciate a quick review on your podcast app or on Spotify. It genuinely helps other people find us and keeps the show growing. We love seeing your feedback.
It really does make a difference. And thanks again to Daniel for sending in this prompt. It was a great excuse to nerd out on my favorite topic.
I could tell you were enjoying yourself, Herman. I think you have been waiting all month to explain zero-cross switching.
Guilty as charged. It is elegant engineering, Corn! How can you not love it?
Fair enough. Well, this has been My Weird Prompts. We are Corn and Herman, coming to you from Jerusalem.
Thanks for listening, and may your breakers always stay flipped to the on position.
See you in the next one.
Take care, everyone.
So, Herman, one last thing. You mentioned that three-phase power gives you three forty-amp lines. Does that mean Daniel could technically run three different electric kettles at the exact same time on three different circuits?
He could run six! Two on each phase. Not that anyone needs that much tea, but in an Israeli household on a Friday afternoon before Shabbat? You would be surprised how close people get to that limit.
I can imagine. Everyone's got the oven going, the hot plate, the water urn, the air conditioning... it's the ultimate stress test for the grid.
It really is. In fact, the Israel Electric Corporation sees a massive spike every Friday afternoon. It is like a national synchronized event. If your apartment isn't ready for it, that is when you find out.
It's a good thing we've got you to explain the why behind it all. I feel like I understand that little grey box in our hallway a lot better now.
That box is the brain of your house, Corn. Treat it with respect.
I will, I will. Alright, that's it for us today. Don't forget to visit myweirdprompts dot com for the R-S-S feed and more.
And we'll see you next time. Goodbye!
Bye everyone.
