Common Causes of Electrical Power Surges And What You Can Do About Them in Barrington

The unseen hazard can cause $5 to $6 million worth of damage every year according to the National Lightning Safety Institute. By keeping your home safe from power issues is important as a home owner, including checking your wiring and ensuring all your appliances are working. 
Keep your home safe from power issues is important. This includes checking 

What is a Power Surge?

Power surges are unexpected and unavoidable events that cause an upward spike in power supply of a home’s outlets. Most appliances draw about 120-volts of power from a single given outlet. 

An intense sudden burst of power such as this can cause plugged in appliances to overheat, malfunction or in some cases catch on fire. 

1. Overloading Outlets or Circuits

Your outlets have their limits too, just like your appliances. But, by attaching too many to one single outlet can force more to that specific outlet causing a surge. 

The most common culprit of this is during the holidays, when the abundance of lights, power cords, and other devices that are ran constantly. By using timers and weather proof cords for outdoor lights can help prevent surges. 

Numerous outlets in homes maybe supplied by a single circuit. Plugging in too many appliances or one that requires more power than the circuit can produce, this will overload or blow the circuit causing damage to the overall wiring of that outlet or to your appliance. Using grounded power strip or surge protector can just very well save your outlet and your device. If you suspect a wiring problem, the wiring may need to be distributed across multiple circuits by a professional electrician. Alternatively, if all the electrical outlets in one room are operating on a single circuit, the culprit could be the circuit itself.

2. Damaged and Exposed Wiring

Exposed wiring is dangerous in itself, but wiring in the walls of your home can pose great threats. Improper care of the exterior and care of your home may cause for pests such as mice and squirrels to get inside your walls and nibble at the wires. The exposed wiring then allows for electricity to roam freely throughout the walls with ways to close the circuit. This can cause for fires if the wiring is not encased in tubing and is touching insulation. 

3. Lightning

Lighting is pure electricity and can cause a surge of electricity to your outlets if it strikes near your house. Always unplug your electrical devices at the first hint of a storm. They do not stand a chance against the raw voltage of a lightning strike. About 30 000 000 lightning flashes strike the ground annually in the USA, and it’s not true that it won’t hit the same target twice.

4. High-Energy Electrics

Appliances and machines that use a lot of energy, like air-conditioners can cause a power surge when they are first switched on.

These high-powered devices draw a huge amount of voltage through your building’s circuitry. Any electrical device along the way may become caught up in this flood of electricity, leading to damage. Flickering lights are a tell-tale sign of power spikes due to these kinds of appliances.

5. Power Outages Can Mean Power Surges

Believe it or not, no power can lead to too much power in your home’s electrical system. When the power is switched back on, the burst of power from EVERYTHING coming back on at once can overload your home’s electrical system causing a power surge and damage some devices. 

6. Take Care with Cords

Be careful where you place and run extension cords. Rugs and other obstructions running over or placed nearby cords and outlets are a fire hazard. Anything that could catch fire should be removed away from any cords, outlets, and wires. Putting up decor during the holiday season typically requires using an often chaotic arrangement of extension cords, outlets, and power strips to power all of the lights and accessories. Because of this, you should be vigilant about where cords and other electrical accessories are located and take precautions to relocate certain hazardous items.

7. Use Surge Protectors

Power surges, while mostly rare, can damage or destroy electronic devices, appliances, and potentially damage your home’s wiring. Install surge protectors to help guard against this risk to home electrical systems and appliances from high voltage surges. These devices can be installed on individual outlets or as entire home protection systems.

Surge protectors cannot prevent a power surge from affecting your home, but they can protect individual devices from damage or destruction. A good idea is to look for a surge protector power strip to protect multiple devices plugged into a single outlet. During the holidays, taking extra precautions to protect your home electrical wiring, lighting, and devices is extremely important.