Electrical steel, also called transformer steel or silicon steel, is specially designed for use in electrical equipment such as transformers, electric motors and generators. Its high magnetic permeability, low core loss and low electrical conductivity set it apart from other types of steel. These properties are due to the addition of varying amounts (from 1% to 4%) of silicon during the manufacturing process. The silicon helps reduce the electrical conductivity, which also reduces eddy current losses (or core losses) when an alternating magnetic field is imposed on it. This makes electrical steel very efficient in applications where energy conservation is imperative. Electrical steel can either be manufactured via grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) or non-grain-oriented electrical steel (NGOES), depending on the desired magnetic characteristics; GOES is more suitable for fluxes with a single direction while NGOES works best when the flux has multiple directions, such as in electric motors.