As we add more advanced technology to our homes, the higher the risk becomes of devices being damaged by a power surge. While you don’t necessarily need surge protection for all of your plugs, anything with intricate microprocessors should be protected.
What is a power surge?
A power surge is when an abnormally high voltage occurs for a very short period of time. This could be due to lightning discharge, oversupply of voltage on the mains or from a generator, equipment faults, and using appliances with high power requirements.
Power surges fall into two broad categories, based on their source. They can be internal or external power surges. External power surges are caused by lightning striking utility equipment, or a tree branch touching a power line, or a short-circuit in a transformer, or when load shedding starts and ends. Internal power surges can be caused by devices turning on or off that have a significant power draw. This includes air conditioners, refrigerators, power tools, and hair dryers. Faulty wiring can also be the cause of a power surge.
How to prevent damage from a surge
On a retail level, you can buy surge protectors to protect your devices on a per outlet basis. However, these low-cost multi-plugs are not a complete solution. Here at Titan Electrical , we recommend a whole-house surge protection system. This system is hard-wired into the building’s main electrical panel, offering protection to all of your electronic devices.
This whole-house system, when used in tandem with multi-plug surge protectors, will offer your house the best level of protection. The whole-house system should handle the worst of any surge, with the outlet-based units absorbing any excess power.
While the incredible power or a lightning strike won’t be stopped by surge protections, you can at least make sure that anything short of lightning will have less chance of damaging your equipment and devices with intricate microprocessors.
Contact us today about getting a whole-house surge protection system installed to protect your computers, televisions, stereo systems, and media centers from damage. Nobody likes load shedding, but it is even worse if your expensive TV no longer works when your load shedding slot ends.
Contact us today for Expert Electrical Service.
