If you have ever had a power surge in your home, you know that they can be quite destructive. All appliances and electronics are at risk for an extra rush of power.
A power surge can happen at any time and for many different reasons. Lightening or severe weather, a transformer that malfunctions, or even running too many appliances at once.
How to Protect Your Kansas City Home from a Power Surge
A power surge happens even when you don’t know it’s happening at all. In fact, you likely experience upwards of 20 each day. Small enough to go unnoticed by you, your appliances are the ones taking a hit.
Get an Inspection
Making sure all your wiring is intact and grounded is the first step to making sure you can tamper with the power surges. Surge protectors take the excess power and move it to the ground.
If your home and wiring are not properly grounded, that energy has nowhere to go except back through your outlets and into all your appliances. Any professional electrician will do this already.
Don’t Overload Outlets
We have all found that there are never enough outlets available in the areas where we want them. The kitchen, the den, the home office. Often, we just plug in an outlet extender or power bar.
While a power bar is great for adding additional plugs, it’s best to keep those for the smaller items, like a laptop and charging your devices. They should have an on/off switch, but these are not great for power surges. If you need to, you can have extra outlets added.
Unplug Unprotected Appliances
Your bigger appliances should be protected against power surges. But for the smaller ones or some outlets that are not, unplug these items. Televisions, computers, and other items you don’t use all the time can be left unplugged until you do need them.
Power Surge Protection
There are several types of power surge protection you can have installed. Depending on where you live, you may want to consider having a few different types.
Point-Of-Use
The point-of-use power surge protectors go directly into the outlets of your home. These protect whatever is plugged into that particular outlet. Make sure they have a warranty from the manufacturer that will cover any devices in use during a power surge that do get damaged.
They should have an indicator on them that lets you know it needs to be replaced, and it should be recognized to be up to the standard set in your state. They are not very expensive and can help save your appliances and devices.
Whole House Protection
A whole-house surge protector can help your appliances and electronics from getting damaged during a power surge. They can’t always protect 100%, however.
There are surge protectors that go from the source power lines outside your home to your home’s own power meter. There are also surge protectors that connect between your power meter and your breaker panel inside the home.
Power Surge Protection
Thinking about getting all three can actually save you thousands of dollars trying to replace all your appliances. If you are wondering if power surge protection is worth it, it is. It’s a fraction of the cost of replacing your appliances.
Contact us here at Fusion Electric today to find out more about protecting your home and belongings from unseen power surges. We can help you understand what happens during a power surge and what type of protection is best for you and your home.
