There is an explanation of what triggers power surges. In order to understand that, you must first know what exactly counts as a power surge, because there are different phenomena when it comes to electricity.
A power surge can be explained as a sudden, unexpected spike in the electrical voltage which normally lasts for a couple of seconds. Are they harmless? Not entirely. Power surges can sometimes be quite intense because it really depends on the electrical voltage that passes through in those few seconds. And with that the damage to any electronic device or appliance plugged in, would be anything from minor damage to rendering the electronic useless.
Is there a way around it? A solution to solving the problem of surges? Not exactly because power surges can be seen as a bi-product of electricity so it’s basically something unavoidable. However, there are ways where homeowners can minimize or temporarily protect their electronic devices and appliances from them.
How You Can Minimize Damage Caused By Surges
Install a Lightning Rod
Lightning rods are essentially electrical conductors that are usually mounted on the roof of a house. They are meant to catch lightning strikes and serve as a pathway to ground them instead of physically causing damage to the household structure. Do most households across the United States have a lightning strike guide rod? Not necessarily, but you would find that in the states that are prone to such climatic conditions like thunderstorms and lightning, there are lightning rods installed on the roof of homes and buildings.
Lightning is one of the factors that can trigger a power surge. How so? Well, a single lightning strike carries over millions of volts, while a complete home requires a mere few hundred volts with all its electrical needs. That is not to say a lightning strike affects just one home – in some cases if lightning does strike one particular place, power surges are the least of their problems since they can physically damage the home structure. Lightning finds its way into our homes through underground cables and transmission poles on the ground, so even though it spreads into the gird, the sudden spike in the electrical flow to our homes is a surge.
Use Surge Protectors
Since there may be no end to the problem of power surges, or even knowing and predicting when they can occur (apart from obvious reasons like lightning), there is a temporary in-house solution to protecting the electronic devices and appliances in a home. By using power surges to plug devices into power outlets, homeowners can provide a temporary means of keeping their electronics protected at all hours of the day.
A surge protector comes in the form of a multi-plug or an extension cord, except they aren’t like the ordinary ones. Surge Protectors come built-in with circuit breakers that ground the excess voltage instead of letting it pass onto the connected device. But they do come with an expiry date – and that depends entirely on the intensity and the amount of power surges a surge protector has endured. Some may last a couple of years, while some can last us just a few months.
Though surge protectors are slightly more expensive than the ordinary multi-plugs and extension cords, they are worth the investment when it comes to keeping the home safe and saving yourself the trouble of having to pay up bills for repairs. This is especially useful in situations where power surges can be triggered by faulty wires within the home structure, or even overloaded power outlets. That is because faulty or wiring that has worn out has a lesser electrical resistance, but it is possible to figure out when or if the wiring within the outlet is damaged: a burning odor, burn marks or even a buzzing sound are some of the indicators.
Subscribe To a Surge Coverage Plan
A lot of electrical companies offer something referred to as a Surge Coverage Plan. What these plans entail is monetary compensation for any device listed within the agreement that gets damaged because of a power surge. Often times our appliances and electronics stop working or run into some malfunctioning issues that are unexplainable, and that is because of power surges. So who always pays up for the repairment bill? The homeowner of course. Surge Coverage Plans for a small monthly fee, provide homeowners with the peace of mind that their electronics are in a way insured, and that they are able to save more money in the process.
Conclusion
There are factors that can trigger power surges and most of the time they occur out of the blue. Lightning, faulty wiring, and overlap of voltage because of electronics plugged into the same power outlet are just a few, to begin with. But of course, there is always a solution to things – a temporary one if not permanent, and this is what applies here when it comes down to protecting your home and the electronic devices and appliances within from any damage. We hope this article was a good insight into some of the ways in which you can provide the protection needed as a homeowner if you weren’t already aware.
