ESD Flooring Terms & Definitions

Here are several terms you might find when researching esd flooring and static control floors.

[A - D] • [E - H] • [I - L] • [M - R] • [S - Z]
 [Antistatic Carpet Terms] [Anti-Static Resilient / Vinyl Terms]

By Letter

Impedance: The total opposition (i.e., resistance or reactance) a circuit offers to the flow of alternating current. It is measured in ohms and the lower the ohmic value, the better the quality of the conductor.

Installed Cost: The actual cost for materials and labor that also includes floor preparation, shutdown or loss of use of space, removal of old flooring and any procedures such as initial required cleaning, vapor test or vapor barrier applications.

Insulative: The property of “insulation” refers to a material’s ability to store as opposed to conduct. An insulator is the opposite of a conductor. A good example of an insulator is a stone hearth. Although the hearth stores heat from a hot fire, it can be touched without danger because the heat is retained by the hearth and not transferred to the skin (as opposed to touching the metal grille on the same fireplace). In the case of carpet construction, all fibers are insulators unless a conductive coating is applied to the external perimeter of the fibers. Insulated fibers will both generate and store static electricity. They cannot be grounded, even if a copper wire is attached to them.

Insulative Material: A material having a surface resistivity of at least 1 x 10¹² ohms/square or 1 x 10¹¹ ohm- cm volume resistivity.

Insulator: A material with high electrical resistance, (an insulator), will not conduct a charge to ground. Examples of insulators are plastic, rubber, vinyl, and wood. A practical example of an insulator is the rubber or vinyl casings around common electrical wires.

kV: A measurement of electrical voltage. The measurement stands for kilovolts or thousand of volts. Currently, the floor covering industry measures the static propensity of products by using a kV measurement.

Laboratory Evaluation Equipment: An instrument or collection of instruments that meet the criteria of a standard or standard test method that provides a measurement that is accurate and repeatable. This equipment is typically used to qualify materials, devices or procedures prior to acceptance and under controlled conditions.

LAN: An acronym for Local Area Network.

Latent Failure: A malfunction that occurs following a period of normal operation. Note: The failure may be attributable to an earlier electrostatic discharge event. The concept of latent failure is controversial and not totally accepted by all in the technical community.

Low kV: Low kV is a synonym for antistatic carpet. Low kV carpet will not generate as much static electricity as standard carpet. Low kV carpet reduces the shock hazards associated with walking on standard carpet. The typical human threshold for feeling a static zap is 3.5 kV or three thousand five hundred (3500) volts. Most low kV carpet will inhibit static sufficiently so the people do not feel painful shocks. Low kV carpet cannot be grounded and will not reduce static electricity when the humidity is low or after extended carpet wear.