Whole House Surge Protectors in Lake County, FL
Installing a Whole House Surge Protector
What would you do if a sudden power surge were to fry all the appliances and electronics in your home? Replacing all your appliances at once, from your refrigerator to your TV, is the average homeowner’s worst nightmare. Unfortunately, this could happen if your home is not protected against a power surge. Mr. Electric of Lake County helps homeowners in Lake County, Florida prepare for power surges with whole house surge protectors. Installing one of the best whole house surge protectors will safeguard all the devices and appliances in your home from even the most powerful surge in electricity. Learn more about whole house surge protector installation.
Power Surges Explained
Your electrical devices are designed to handle a very specific amount of electricity. When the voltage running through any circuit of your home spikes suddenly, it is considered a power surge. Severe power surges can cause the wiring, circuitry, and microchips in your appliances and devices to heat up to the point of failure and even fire. Mild or sustained power surges can put a strain on devices, reducing their lifespan or compromising their performance. Some of the appliances that a sudden power surge can destroy include:
- Refrigerators
- Clothes dryers
- Coffee makers
- Flatscreen TVs
- Air conditioners
- Microwave ovens
- Washing machines
- Desktop computers
- Ovens, ranges, and stoves
- Plugged-in smartphones, laptops, and tablets
Common Causes of Power Surges
So, what causes a power surge? Power surges are most often caused by one appliance pulling more electricity. When a heavy-duty device, like a refrigerator’s compressor, turns on, it increases the demand for electricity, increasing the voltage flowing through that circuit. Without a surge protector, this extra load enters your whole home, damaging other appliances. There are many reasons that the voltage in your electrical system can spike, though. Some of the most common reasons you might see a power surge include:
- Damaged power lines
- An issue with your wiring
- Problems with the utility company’s lines, transformers, or other components of their system
- Lightning can cause a power outage, blowing through power strip surge protectors. However, it is very rare.
Will a Standard Surge Protector Be Enough?
Your most common interaction with surge protectors is on power strips. You may notice that your power strip will trip and suddenly turn off from time to time. That is the surge protector inside of it, protecting your electronics from a power surge. External surge protectors like this use a material called metal oxide varistors (MOV) to monitor the voltage running through the outlets. Some homeowners wonder if a power strip is enough to protect their appliances from electrical overload. While they are not the most effective solution, they can provide an adequate level of protection. They fall short when you look at their inability to protect your devices during especially strong power surges. On top of that, they only protect the appliances plugged into them.
The Advantage of a Whole House Surge Protector
A whole house surge protector protects your home at your circuit breaker box, where electricity from the power grid enters your home. This means that anytime there is a power surge, the whole home surge protector will cut off that excess voltage from your entire home, not just a power strip. On top of that, a whole house surge protector is rated for longer usage than a standard surge protector and can handle even the most powerful occurrences of electrical overload.
Request a Whole House Surge Protector Appointment Now!
If you don’t have a whole-house surge protector, it’s time to get one. Professional electricians have settled the debate over the pros and cons of whole house surge protectors. Nearly all of them will tell you it’s an essential safety feature of any modern homeowner. A whole home surge protector will pay for itself if it only prevents one catastrophic power surge in its lifetime, and it will likely stop several. Request your whole house surge protector installation appointment online now.