The Importance of Surge Protection | Insight from Your Trusted Myrtle Beach, SC Electrician

2/27/2020

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A power surge can have a detrimental effect on many homes and businesses in SC at any one time. Power surges are sudden, brief, spikes in voltage that’s typically very strong and can be very disruptive. Many homes have 1000s of dollars’ worth of electrical equipment, and it can take only a split-second power surge to stop devices from functioning. Power surges can be large, swift, and dangerous, caused by lightning strikes. Or small surges that are repeatedly absorbed by your equipment and cause damage over a long-time span. In some cases, you might not even realize this damage is happening, which is why it’s recommended an electrician assesses your home if you believe it may have been affected by a power surge, no matter how small.

Surge protection devices can help to reduce the likelihood of power outages and shield sensitive equipment from damage. Surge protection isn’t only critical for large businesses for whom downtime can be costly or equipment expensive to replace; it is also useful for SC homeowners who want to protect their assets. A Mister Sparky electrician can help you to protect your home using a two-factor surge protection approach.

Factor 1: Source Protection

The first step towards complete surge protection in any Myrtle Beach, SC, home is to make sure that incoming power lines, phone lines, and Cable TV lines are protected. Source protection installation by an electrician can also cover outdoor items, such as pool equipment, A/C compressors, and landscape lighting.

Factor 2: Protection at Point of Use

Surge protection from a Mister Sparky electrician also includes protection at the point of use. If an additional current does manage to sneak past the surge protection at the outside source, a point of use strip can be used to protect TVs, computers, DVRs, microwaves, etc. that may be sensitive to surges. This two-pronged approach can help to entirely eliminate the risk of power surges from causing unwanted damage to circuits inside your home.

Half of all power surges may come from inside your home and are caused by large appliances turning on and off. The average voltage of circuits in Myrtle Beach, SC, homes is 120v. A surge may cause a rush of power that is more than ten times this amount. Power surges are increasingly common, with the average home experiencing five surges a day, approximately 2,000 per year. In South Carolina, the coastal area is prone to storms and lightning strikes, which can easily cause unwanted surges. A qualified electrician can install multiple points of protection that can safeguard your home and appliances.

How Does Lightning Surge Protection Work? 

Lightning surge protection devices, when correctly installed by an electrician, divert excess voltage and current into a grounding wire. Surge protection devices prevent excessive current from flowing through electrical appliances and electronics in your home or business, while at the same time allowing the typical 120 voltage to continue throughout your circuits so that your devices don’t lose power.

The primary uses of lightning surge protectors are to absorb and distribute excess current away from your equipment, eliminating the additional voltage from your circuits, and provide a low resistance path for a lot of excess current to travel.

When an electrician is designing a suitable surge protection solution that will protect your home, they may include the following elements create a lighting surge protection kit that diverts current away from your Myrtle Beach, SC home or business:

• Facility Guards

Facility guards offer the highest level of protection. These devices may handle surge capacities up to 400,000 amps.

• Transient Limiters

Transient limiters are designed for commercial and light industrial business use. These surge protection devices can handle surges up to 100,000 amps per phase.

• DC Surge Protectors

DC surge protectors are built to provide superior protection of control lines from transient power to surge voltages up to 10,000 amps at a time. DC surge protectors can provide protection across a wide range of voltages to protect all DC applications at the same time.

• Data Line Protectors

Data line protectors come in a wide range of configurations to protect control lines and telephone lines. These devices include a line filtering mechanism to enhance the protection, safety, and reliability of telecoms equipment.

• Hybrid Surge Protectors

Hybrid surge protectors are specialized surge protection devices that are built to protect a specific piece of equipment, such as computers or process control equipment.

What Are the Advantages of Surge Protection?

There are many worthy advantages of surge protection that should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to install surge protection in your home or business. It’s a cost-effective preventative maintenance mechanism that helps to reduce business and appliance downtime, guard against lost revenue, protect lives, maintain your building and home security, and protect fuses and other electrical elements from requiring replacement.

How Can Mister Sparky of Myrtle Beach Help You with Surge Protection? 

Here at Mister Sparky, we have exceptional standards that have been recognized with Super Service Awards on Angie’s List for multiple years running. Our excellent standards make you our number 1 priority. We ensure all of our Mister Sparky technicians are skilled, friendly, and committed to providing your electrical solution on time and within your budget. We know your time is valuable, and we’ll turn up when we’re scheduled to arrive. If we don’t, we provide service calls up to $1,000 for free. We also know the last thing you want to be doing after the electrician leaves is to be cleaning up a mess that’s been left behind, so we make sure that we clean up.

With a Mister Sparky technician, safety always comes first. We’ll always maintain a clean, safe working environment, whether it’s a surge protection installation, an upgrade, or repair that needs to be done. We can help you with any surge protection queries or requests that you may have. Make an appointment with a Mister Sparky electrician, and we’ll promptly resolve any surge protection queries for you.