It is far less expensive to invest a small amount in whole-house surge protection, than to replace costly appliances!
Why Is Protecting My Home From Surges So Important?
The vast majority of homes have expensive electronic equipment such as: Entertainment Equipment, Hot Tubs, Computers, Televisions, Ranges, Dryers, A/C Units, Refrigerators and more. The combined value of these items can easily add up to several thousands of dollars, and every one of them are vulnerable to power surges. You see, all of the items we’ve listed have sensitive electronic circuit boards that are highly susceptible to damage from voltage variations.
The good news is that you can easily protect ALL of the valuable items in your home with a Whole-House Surge Protection Unit that is connected directly to your main circuit breaker panel. In addition, you can protect from surges entering your home through the cable and phone lines with add-on modules.
Could You Give Me an Example of A Power Surge Causing Damage?
For Instance: If you experience a lightning strike at or near your home, an instant and heavy surge of energy travels through the electrical system and anything that is attached to the electrical system (plugged in) may get “Fried”, no matter if the power is on or off. We receive several calls each month from homeowners that have this happen.
The sad part is, they end having to pay out of pocket to replace these appliances when it could have easily been prevented with whole-house surge protection. There are several types of surges/spikes and different things that cause them. Please read below for more details.
The following is more detailed information on what surges are, and how they work. Feel free to call our office anytime to talk with a professional who can answer any questions that you may have.
Surges are sudden and unexpected spikes of voltage that travel through a home/office electrical system. Some surges come from within the electrical system, such as turning on a vacuum cleaner or a document being sent to your printer. Other surges come from outside your home, as in electric utility switching, downed power lines, cut power lines, and lightning storms. As mentioned earlier, surges can also enter through cable TV and telephone wiring.
Statistics:
* A five year survey of power quality in North America indicates that there are 35 disruptive or destructive power disturbances per household each year .
* Deregulation of the electric utility industry is expected to continually decrease the quality of utility power in the future.
* On an annual basis, 30% of power outages are lightning related.
* It is noted that five percent of all insurance claims are lightning related, amounting to over $1 billion each year.
Helpful Links:
State Farm:
http://www.statefarm.com/learning/be_safe/home/learning_besafe_athome_elec.asp
Siemens:
http://www.sea.siemens.com/reselec/product/rzsurgeindex.html
