A power surge is any spike in a home’s electrical current. While the spike only lasts a short time (less than a thousandth of a second), it can cause a lot of damage to a home. Find out the dangers of a power surge, and how you can protect your home and your belongings against one.

Causes of a Power Surge

There are many different causes of a power surge. One common way of causing a power surge is when a high-power electrical device is switched on, such as an air conditioner. While this doesn’t generally cause any type of damage, it can depend on your home’s electrical system and the power of the device.

If your home has any faulty wiring, it can affect the home’s ability to handle spikes in power. If there is any faulty wiring in your home, you should seek the help of an electrician at once.

Another common cause of power surges is lightning strikes. Lightning doesn’t have to hit your home directly to cause a power surge. If it hits anywhere down the power line, you can experience a spike in electrical current.

The Effects of Power Surges

Often times, our circuit breakers will trip before a power surge can cause any real damage. However, this is not always the case. When this happens, we can experience a number of problems. Electrical surges can completely ruin our home’s electrical appliances. It can burn out computer monitors, destroy televisions and even break refrigerators.

In the worst case, a power surge can even start a dangerous electrical fire in our homes.

Protecting Your Home From a Power Surge

urge protection is the best way to ensure your home and belongings are safe. There are two options when it comes to surge protection for your home, point of use and whole house.

Point of use protection is used to protect certain electrical equipment in your home. It protects everything from your small appliances to your major electrical equipment. The point of use in surge protectors directly connects your electrical equipment to the outlet. It then uses to suppressor to stop power surges. These can handle up to 6,000 volts of electricity. On the other hand, house protectors work differently. Rather than protecting one product, they protect the entire home from transient surges. These types of surges enter the house thought the electric supply.

Protect Your Home From Power Surges

Don’t let a power surge damage your home. Contact Mister Sparky today. Schedule an appointment today and let one of our experienced technicians protect your home from power surges. Just give us a call or go online to schedule your appointment.