You invest a lot of money into your home appliances, computers, phones, and other electronic devices, and the last thing you want is for them to “fry” because of a power surge.
Here in Florida, electrical surges from storms are a given. And most people think the power strips they got from the store are enough to protect them, but that’s not true.
For ultimate protection, call Southwest Florida Electric Inc. to find out how a whole home surge protector can benefit you.
If you deal with flickering or dimming lights when you use your microwave or other appliance, our breaker panel repair may be the solution.
What is a Power Surge?
Power surges occur when there’s a drastic increase in voltage in your home’s electrical system. If sustained for a second or more, the spike in power can shoot an electrical current through your devices, “frying” them with an overload of current.
Power surges happen when power likes are knocked down or during a lightning strike. Whatever the cause, however, the results can be devastating, causing your electrical system to wear out more quickly and permanent damage to valuable electronic devices.
Also, power surges can happen because of faulty or outdated wiring, short circuits and tripped breakers, and the daily use of high-powered appliances like refrigerators, HVAC systems, or microwave ovens.
Dangers of Not Having Surge Protection
As mentioned above, power surges can damage sensitive electronics in appliances like refrigerators, televisions, gaming systems, computers, and audio equipment.
So, the question becomes: What is the value of these items, and is it worth risking having to replace them if they become damaged beyond repair by a power surge?
Also, you have to consider where you’ll be when a power surge occurs. If you’re home during a severe storm, you can protect yourself by unplugging critical devices and appliances. But, what if you’re out and can’t get home in time?
Imagine being out or on vacation and learning about a power grid problem in your neighborhood and not knowing if it damaged your electrical devices.
Installing a surge protector doesn’t just keep your devices safe; it gives you peace of mind.
What About Power Strips?
When most people think about surge protectors, they think about the power strips they get from the store. The primary purpose of power strips is to give you extra outlets; they’re like extension cords on steroids!
However, some power strips also feature surge protection, and this is where things get confusing.
The truth is that most of these products offer the bare minimum surge protection for your electronic devices, but it often isn’t enough, and here’s why.
Surges that come from lightning strikes can send a 200,000 amp jolt down the line, instantly “frying” any electronic devices connected to the outlets because the ultra-fine connections in electronic chips can’t withstand that much power, and neither can the power surge strips.
The surge protection you get from power strips protects you against minor, day-to-day surges, which don’t typically pose serious risk initially but will wear out your devices more quickly over time from the repeated jolts.
Simply put, the surge protection you get from power strip surge protectors isn’t enough to protect your devices from massive electricity influx.
You can get the most effective surge protection from a whole home surge protector installation.
How Home Surge Protectors Work
Your electrician installs the surge protector behind your breaker panel, preventing high voltage spikes and surges from traveling to and damaging your appliances and devices.
Once the surge protector senses a high voltage spike, it re-routes the electricity, effectively stopping it in its tracks for maximum protection.
At Southwest Florida Electric Inc., our expert electricians will take care of installing your surge protector and give you information on further safeguards you can take to protect yourself during lighting storms and how to identify faulty home wiring.
