Homeowners have been putting increasing electrical demand on their homes than ever before. You likely have a number of devices connected to your power supply at any time, right? With many power charging stations to handle your portable devices? What are you doing to protect these devices and the rest of your appliances from power surges?
It’s important to think about this, because a voltage spike can cause irreversible harm to complex electrical equipment. And despite popular believe, power surges are not just caused by storms, and power strips are helpful, but they don’t do much to comprehensively protect your home. Read on as we uncover the problem with power surges and what you can do about it.
What a Power Surge Means
Also known as a voltage spike like we mentioned above, a power surge occurs when there is a sudden increase in the voltage going through your electrical panel and wiring. This can actually melt the wires, cause fuses to blow if you have a fuse box, and create electrical fires within your panel.
While something like a lightning strike can cause a power surge, there are other sources for voltage spikes. Problems in a local power plan, for example, can abruptly cause surges throughout the grid. But the biggest danger is actually from your most powerful appliances!
Take your air conditioner or heating system, for instance. HVAC systems actually account for half of all the energy you use in your home. When your HVAC system cycles on, it can create an imbalance in the electrical current, which creates a surge.
Power Strips Aren’t the Answer, Whole-House Protection Is
Power strips are a safer alternative to many of the older octopus plugs that allow for more appliances and fixtures to be plugged into an outlet. The power strip itself contains its own circuit breaker, so when there is a voltage surge, the strip will shut off power to itself to prevent damage.
We do recommend using these for wherever you have important equipment plugged in, but this is just the first layer of protection. What you really need is whole-house surge protection. Otherwise, a massive voltage spike can easily overcome a power strip, and many of the lesser surges won’t cause them to activate. As a result, damage can accumulate.
Our professional electricians can successfully install a whole-house surge protector into the electrical panel of your home. This panel is where all the electricity from the grid enters your living space and divides it into individual circuits. When the surge protector is installed right in the panel, then excess voltage goes down into the ground instead of your electrical system. Therefore, the voltage spike can’t hurt the rest of your home.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our licensed and experienced electricians to install your whole-house surge protection system. We also manage professional wiring repairs and installations!
Contact Covenant Heating and Cooling to get in touch with a reliable Hendersonville, TN electrician. We are “Dedicated to the Promise of Serving You”!