The Dangerous Electrical Power Surge – Everything You Need to Know
An electrical power surge is a massive spike in your electrical system’s current when there is an unexpected interruption of the flow of electricity passing through the grid.
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Appliances that contain microprocessors can cause power surges. Appliances like television, cordless phones, computers, washing machines, and microwaves; hence, your home consist of items vulnerable to power surges. Power surges happen and last for a fraction of a second, but it is ironic how they last for a few seconds and cause life-long damages to plugged-in appliances or any other outlets in your home. It is the incapacity of your home’s electrical system to handle the overloading of its circuit caused by a power surge, which then damages or completely ruins the appliance(s).
The Causes of Electrical Power Surge in Your Home
Faulty wiring: Wiring your home is the only medium used for the distribution of electricity. When it is damaged, or its casing is exposed, it could alter the flow of electricity, which would lead to a power surge, especially when in contact with a conductive material. Also, a tripped circuit breaker and short circuits in your home’s wiring system can cause power spikes. However, there are few signs that show that your wiring system is damaged, and they are:
Buzzing or vibration sounds eluding from outlets
Outlets producing a burning smell or having visible burn marks.
Electrical overload: Electrical overload occurs when you overwhelm a single circuit. This happens when you plug in many appliances, overuse an extension cord, or when you use appliances that are above the circuit’s amperage level. Electrical overload would cause a power surge due to excessive drawing of power.
Lightning: Lightning strikes cause a massive spike, with a single strike strong enough to burn out your appliances like monitor, television, and even your router. A lightning strike can cause a spike in your electrical system’s current regardless of how far its proximity is from your home. This is why it is recommended to unplug any unused devices and appliances, even if you possess a surge protector. A surge protector is not strong enough to protect your household appliances from a lightning strike during storms.
Power surges have the capability of damaging and, in some cases, destroying home appliances and electronics. Power spikes can also set your house ablaze. However, you can forestall these problems by installing a power surge protector in your home if your home has a faulty wiring system or is filled with powerful electronics or appliances. When a power spike happens, the surge protector will redirect the excess energy towards the grounding wire in your home, rather than letting it get to your appliances.
The protective capacity of a surge protector is flawed when the source of the spike is lightning. As said earlier, a lightning spike is so massive that the damages it can cause can only be forestalled by unplugging appliances such as television, computer, and other electronics when you are in the middle of a raging electrical storm.
Factors you need to consider to choose the best surge protector apt for your home
There are several kinds of surge protectors in the market, but there are good ones apt for your home. Here are what you should consider when choosing the best surge protector apt for your home:
The capacity of the surge protector to absorb the excess electric spike
Amount of power outlets it possesses
The capacity of the surge protector to absorb excess electric spike:- If your home is susceptible to intermittent power spikes or if you possess many appliances and electronics that you are planning to keep them plugged in, you will need a surge protector strong enough to absorb excess electric spikes to forestall electrical overloads and other things that can cause power surges in your home. The energy absorbing capacity of a surge protector is measured in ‘Joules’; hence the larger the Joules the greater it’s capacity to absorb excess spikes. For the best protection, it is advisable to purchase those with greater Joules, which is above 600 Joules. Anything lesser than it won’t be enough to prevent the electrical power surge in your home with a damaged wiring system and many plugged-in appliances or electronics.
Amount of power outlets it possesses:- Choosing a surge protector with enough surge outlets to power and protect all devices that you need to be attached to it is better than adopting a daisy chain system. Daisy chain system involves connecting several surge protectors together by plugging them into one another. You should not adopt this system because it mitigates the effectiveness of each of the protectors.
If you want a surge protector that has enough surge outlets to power and protect the devices attached to it and a protector with a great capacity to absorb excess electric spike, a whole house surge protector is the answer. It is a single device with more outlets and doesn’t require a daisy chain to other protectors. Imsfoit connects to your main electrical panel and thereby protects your whole house against power surge/spike.
A whole-house surge protector offers an additional benefit of protecting your home’s electronics from a lightning strike by mitigating the power surge before it gets into your home. If there is an electrical spike occurrence on an electrical line due to a lightning strike, the protection device will mitigate the surge before it enters your home.
Furthermore, if damage in your wiring system is the cause of your home’s surges, you should talk to a professional electrician to check and determine if your home needs to be rewired or if you need to replace your home’s circuit breaker.
Summary
As stated above, a power surge can cause damage and destroy your home’s electronics or appliances. In worst cases, they can cause a house fire.
Power surges may not be intermittent; hence, you can not predict their occurrence. But with adequate protection in place, you won’t be scared of replacing any of your home’s appliances due to power surges. Therefore, with a whole house surge protector, you will be able to save money.
