How to Protect Electronics from Power Surges

Electrical Company Lowell MI

After spending thousands of dollars on electronics, the last thing you want is for them to get fried during a power surge. Whether you want to protect your household appliances or latest smartphone, we recommend you hire one of our electricians to install a whole house surge protector. A house surge protector gives you peace of mind.

What Happens When There is a Power Surge?

While power is always “surging” through your home, these daily fluctuations in power are relatively small. A power surge has a much stronger spike of energy than what you would get from flipping on a switch or turning on your furnace.

While a power surge only lasts about a thousandth of a second, this can be enough time to damage your smartphone, laptop, tablet, or other electronic device unfortunate enough to be plugged into an outlet.

Follow Basic Electrical Safety Rules

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. By following some of our simple electrical safety rules today, you can avoid a headache tomorrow. A power surge often happens when people don’t understand how their actions affect their homes’ electrical systems.

Our electrical safety tips include:

  • Use power strips with surge protection.
  • Hire one of our electricians to replace worn or damaged wires.
  • Keep wires, cords, and outlets away from damp areas.
  • Don’t overload your outlets.
  • Don’t use extension cords on a daily basis.

READ MORE: 5 Electrical Tips to Keep Your Family Safe >>

Don’t Daisy Chain Extension Cords

Don’t plug an extension cord to a power strip, only to plug in another extension cord leading to a second power strip. Extension cords are meant to be used as temporary solutions, not permanent ones.

If you need more electrical outlets in your home, hire one of our residential electricians to install tamper resistant outlets. Tamper resistant outlets are great for family homes because they’re designed to stop children from sticking sharp metal objects (like forks) into the prong holes.

A tamper resistant outlet works like a normal wall outlet when equal pressure is applied to both sides of the plug at the same time. However, the shutters inside the electrical outlet won’t open if there’s not equal pressure to both sides of the plug.

Buy Appliances with Built-in Surge Protection

Many of today’s appliances come with a built-in surge protector. If you’re shopping for a new household appliance, we recommend asking the salesperson for one with built-in surge protection. Having surge protection helps give you peace of mind. That way, you know that your latest investment will be protected in the event of a power surge.

Get a Whole House Surge Protector

A whole house surge protector stops external power surges (like those caused by lightning strikes) from entering your home. This can help give you peace of mind the next time the local weather forecast calls for thunderstorms.

Our residential electricians will be able to wire a whole house surge protector to your circuit breaker box. A whole house surge protector not only protects your electrical wiring, but also all your plugged-in appliances.

Call Today!

Our residential electricians in Lowell MI want to make sure your home is safe from electrical surges so you can have peace of mind. To request an estimate for electrical repair, call Flat River Electric at (616) 987-0596.