Flat River Electric Blog
Trusted residential electrical advice from your West Michigan electricians.
A single power surge can quietly damage or destroy the electronics you rely on, from your TV and computer to your furnace control board. Here is how surges happen and how to protect against them.
Surges come from many sources: lightning, utility switching, downed lines, and, most often, large appliances inside your own home cycling on and off. Each surge sends a spike of voltage through your wiring that your electronics were not built to handle.
The surge-protector power strips you plug electronics into are a good first layer. They protect whatever is plugged into them, but they do nothing for hardwired equipment, and they wear out over time and need replacing.
A whole-home surge protector installs at your electrical panel and defends every circuit in the house at once, including hardwired items like your furnace, air conditioner, appliances, and LED lighting. It is your strongest line of defense against the larger surges that come from outside.
The best protection is layered: a whole-home protector at the panel to knock down big surges, plus point-of-use protectors on your most sensitive and valuable electronics. Together they cover what either one alone would miss.
Surge protection depends on a good ground to send excess energy safely away. In older or ungrounded homes, addressing the grounding is part of protecting your electronics.
If you have lost electronics to a surge, or you just want to protect a home full of them, whole-home surge protection is one of the most cost-effective upgrades you can make. We are happy to help.
