There are many reasons for power surges. Most power surges are internal and happen when motorized devices or small or large electronics start and shut off and end up using more voltage than a circuit can handle.
External power surges come from the outside of your home and are caused by things like lightning or when a tree trunk cones in contact with a power line. They could also happen when your electrical company is doing maintenance work.
It doesn’t matter whether the surge is internal or external, it can damage your electronic appliances and devices. In other words, power surges can overload the circuits and short them out within no time.
Your electronic appliances and devices may not show any apparent damage, but power surges degrade them slowly. If you’ve experienced an electrical surge, the first thing you should do is not panic.
Believe it or not, power surges occur several times a day, and usually don’t cause any damage. However, a large power surge can destroy wiring and circuits in an instant. Let’s take a look at how can a power surge be fixed and how a power surge protector works.
How to Fix a Power Surge?
Power surges come unannounced, as they are a sudden spike of electricity that comes into your sockets. Hence, there isn’t exactly a way to “fix” it. That being said, there are many precautionary measures that you can take to prevent future surges.
Also, you can purchase surge coverage, such as the ones offered by FirstEnergy in their home repair plans.
How to Prevent Power Surges?
First and foremost, you should inspect your electrical wiring at home. If you have overloaded circuits, old electrical panels, or wiring, you have to get these updates as soon as possible because as mentioned above, power surges happen unexpectedly.
Here are some things you can to help prevent a power surge.
Install a Whole-House Surge Protector
If you want to go all the extra mile to protect your electronic devices and appliances from any form of damage, the best thing would be to purchase a whole-house surge protector.
There are several companies out there offering electrical engineering design services that can install a whole-house surge protector for you at your house’s primary breaker. This will then act as a gateway for power going toward your electrical system.
If you would rather install it yourself, all you need to do is carefully read the installation methods listed by the surge protector’s manufacturer. In fact, you can simply attach it to the main electrical bus bar and to the neutral bus bar.
However, be mindful to NOT double-tap the protector into the electrical panel. The protector/suppressor will automatically shut off the power in case of a spike in voltage and redirects the excess amount of current to the underground wire.
Points-of-Use Surge Protection Devices (SPDs)
When you attach SPDs alongside a good grounding system, it should provide sufficient protection to your electrical appliances and electronics from most power surges. Moreover, an SPD does not arrest or suppress a surge, it simply diverts the surge toward the ground.
Most point-of-use surge suppressors look similar to a regular plug strip. Unless it specifically says that it offers surge protection, don’t assume otherwise.
In fact, you can also consider stalling special electrical outlets that give surge protection. These outlets are handy in locations where they may not be enough room to plug-in a surge protector, like a countertop microwave oven.
Here’s how an SPD works.
- SPDs protect specific appliances in a home, but if you’re looking for a more comprehensive approach to power surge protection, it is to combine SPD with another surge protector device.
For instance, combine a service entrance surge protectors with an electrical panel surge protector. Hence, by installing these two power surge protection, you’ll be creating a better surge protection system.
- Service entrance surge protection devices are typically mounted onto or in the main electrical panel, or maybe at the base of an electric meter. Using this surge protection device provides surge protection to the entire electrical system.
Things such as lights, motors, light switches, outlets, and all other hardwired items in a house don’t have to be plugged into an electrical outlet and are not connected to an SPD.
And, if there’s a surge due to power fluctuation or a lightning strike on your utility lines, a service entrance surge protection device can bring the power surge to a much lower level before it even gets to the SPD.
However, surge protectors have a limited lifespan, and if you’re living in an area where there’s high surge activity you may need to replace the protectors periodically.
Conclusion
We can all agree that power surges don’t tell and come, they happen expectedly at the most unexpected time. This is why it’s best to replace older electrical systems and overloaded circuits in your home.
Use a whole-house surge protector or SPD to protect your home and loved ones from fires, and to protect your personal items.