With the rapidly increasing number of electronics in modern homes, electrical disasters have become a common occurrence. There are many sources of these disasters in every room in your home, and if left unchecked, they have the potential to cause serious damage to your property. Out of these, one of the most major disasters is a power surge.
A surge can be caused by a number of different things. The cause can be natural or manmade, but the fact remains that you want to do everything to keep the surge from entering your home’s electrical system. This is because the heavier appliances in your home are at risk of being harmed by a power surge, to an extent where you may have to replace them.
The following is a guide to help you get a better understanding of how power surges work and what you can do to avoid them.
What Is a Power Surge?
A power surge is a sudden spike in voltage from your home’s electrical source. This results in excessive current suddenly running through wires, which can be dangerous for a range of different reasons. A Power surge enters your home from outlets. If a gadget is plugged in when this voltage spike occurs, the extra electricity will be supplied to it. A lot of gadgets are too sensitive to bear this sudden change, which results in them getting damaged. The following are the main sources of a power surge.
While this is a rare occurrence, this may be the most damaging cause of an electric surge. If, by chance, lightning manages to strike a power source near your home, the huge amount of electricity flows directly into your home’s system. There is essentially no way to stop this huge flow of current, and it is strong enough to have dire consequences. Storms are quite unsafe for power lines. Trees could fall on them, or an object could interrupt the flow of electricity – both of these occurrences can result in a very strong surge.
A common mistake homeowners make is plugging too many gadgets into one outlet. When you do this, all of these electronics simultaneously draw power from a single circuit. This can easily get out of control, and the power being drawn can suddenly become too much for your gadgets to bear. This results in a sudden power surge, one you cannot prepare for in advance. Since it is unforeseen, this type of surge is highly likely to cause irreversible damages to your appliances. Particularly larger appliances should not be plugged into a single extension cord to avoid a voltage spike.
Due to the failure of a power grid, blackouts can often occur. After the electricity supply to your home is interrupted for a certain period of time, its return causes a sudden jump in the current. If the connected electronics are not protected at this time, they can be damaged; this is why you should add surge protectors to individual appliances if you don’t have whole home surge protection.
Here are some ways to prevent excessive damage to your electronics in case of a power surge.
Get Whole Home Surge Protection
Whole home surge protection is the best way to protect your home against most electrical disasters. Internal surges are the most common type, and this type of surge protection will keep your appliances safe, even if you didn’t take manual precautions in advance. Lightning protection is also a good option for homeowners who live in an area where the weather can be unpredictable.
This type of surge protection adds an extra layer of security to your home. Even if a surge occurs, you won’t have to worry about valuable data being deleted, or issues like electrocutions due to wiring.
Unplug Certain Gadgets
Cutting off the main power supply during a surge may be inconvenient for some people, since that could mean you can no longer use the internet or any other electricity-powered services.
In that case, you can choose particular gadgets to unplug. Some electronics in your home are more vulnerable than others. These are larger appliances which use more power, such as refrigerators or air conditioners. Whenever a surge occurs, the best thing to do is to avoid the use of any plugged gadgets. Unplugging them will ensure that under any circumstances, your gadgets will be protected. Specifically, the gadgets which use water in their functioning should especially be cut off from power, since this can easily lead to fatal accidents in case of contact.
Keep an Eye on Updates
When a power surge occurs due to a manmade cause, you will most likely be notified beforehand. In this case, you can take precautions before it actually begins. Even weather updates can warn you about an impending surge, but power grid switches are almost always informed about in advance.
If you know a surge may occur, it’s best to have all resources you may need. You may not be able to use certain gadgets for a while, so having backups such as a portable charged internet device can be of great help.
Considering the consequences of power surges, taking appropriate precautions against them is a must. This will ensure that your home remains safe no matter how bad the storm gets outside. In some cases, a surge may even lead to a fire breaking out in your home. Taking precautions against surges will ensure that your home, valuables and family remain safe from such harm.