Do I need a surge protector?
The short answer is yes, surge protectors are always a good idea to have. Electrical surges can be unpredictable and the causes are not always obvious, a surge protector is a good way to protect some of your higher valued electrical items in the case of an electrical surge either from inside your home or from your electrical service provider.
Things like lighting strikes, power outages, bad or old faulty wiring as well as issues coming from your electrical service provider can be the cause for a power surge. This article will explain why you need one and what kind of protector to get.
WHAT IS A POWER SURGE?
As we stated above a power surge can happen for a number of different reasons, but basically what a power surge is, is an overload of power that runs to your home or devices due to some kind of error or natural occurrence on your electrical system. This spike in voltage and amperage has the power to cause high levels of damage to your electrical devices that are plugged in.
WHAT DOES A SURGE PROTECTOR DO?
Electricity does not always provide a even and consistence source of power throughout your home. It can cycle through lows and peaks in voltage. What a surge protector does is it keeps the power consistent, when there is a spike in voltage the surge protector dissipates the excess power in order to protect whatever devices you have plugged into it. In most standard homes you will have 120 volts nominal to your home. Nominal voltage means that is the average voltage that should be at your home at a given time but due to the inconsistency of the power you will sometimes read lower than 120 volts and you will sometimes read higher than 120 volts if you are measuring your voltage at any given time. Your electronic devices are typically rated to receiver the standard nominal voltage of a home, this is where a surge protector comes in handy. When your home gets some of those peak voltages at any given time the surge protector will drop it down to the voltage your device is rated for. This is great for protecting your home and all your electrical devices.
WHAT KINDS OF SURGE PROTECTORS ARE THERE?
There are a couple of different kinds of surge protectors, those are:
Point of entry surge protector: This would be installed between your electrical meter and the panel for your home. This protects your entire home from electrical surges.
Urge surge protector: This is your most common type of surge protector, it has a cord that plugs into your outlet followed by a strip of plugs that you can use.
UPS: This type of surge protector is for bigger items and systems that you would most likely not need for your home. This is typically the most expensive form of a surge protector.
WHAT KIND OF SURGE PROTECTOR IS BEST FOR ME?
Any kind of surge protector is always a good idea to protect your home from malfunctions in the electrical system. To figure out what is best for you, you will need to answer a couple of questions. What is your budget? If you are willing to pay some more money then a point of entry surge protector is a great idea to protect your home. These devices you can find as cheap as $50 to $100 dollars but the higher rating you require of them the more the price can go up. The cost for these is mainly in the installation as I recommend you find a qualified electrician to install your point of entry surge protector. If you are looking for a cheap and standard option then a urge surge protector is probably what is best for you. These are the types of surge protectors I am sure you have seen before they are are typically a plug with a strip of outlets attached. These are most commonly used when plugged into TVs and computers.
SHOULD I GET A SURGE PROTECTOR
As stated above the answer is yes, you should get some kind of surge protection in your home. If you chose not to get the surge protection for your entire home then it is a good idea to get some of urge surge protector for your higher valued electronics. Most commonly things like TVs and computers are protected with these because when a power surge happens if these devices are not protected they will receive extra voltage that they are not rated for. This causes the mother board of the tv or computers to burn up which almost always results in unrepairable damage. So in order to make sure your high valued electronics are safe I highly recommend surge protection for your home. I hope this article helped you gain a better understanding of your electrical system and a stronger knowledge of how to protect your electrical devices.