Repair & Improve

How To Protect Your Precious Power

Electricity no longer as reliable as a California sunset

by Tom Kraeutler

With increasing reliance on electrical power for every facet of life, consumers are being forced to look for new ways to protect both the quantity and quality of the electricity delivered to their homes. Not only is a lack of electricity inconvenient, it can be damaging and dangerous.

Protecting your home from power problems has become a necessity of the new millennium. While California has been the center of attention, the West Coast energy crisis has proven that utility companies can no longer be counted on for a steady stream of electrical power. Because of an aging infrastructure, confusion over deregulation and other factors, the suppliers of the nation’s electricity have been struggling to maintain enough service to power homes and businesses.

According to a study by Coleman Powermate, a generator and equipment manufacturer, 75 percent of U.S. homeowners experienced a power outage in 2000. In addition, 90 percent of the study’s respondents said they had been without power sometime during a five-year period between 1996 and 2001.

Sags, Surges And Spikes
Power disruptions can range from complete blackouts to fluctuations in the amount of power delivered to a home’s electrical system. These fluctuations usually occur as either sags, also known as “brownouts,” where start-up demands of electrical appliances pull more power from the utility company than it can re-supply to the home. Sags can cause serious damage to appliances like computers, which need very steady sources of electricity to function.

Surges occur when high-powered electrical motors, such as air conditioners and household appliances, are switched off, causing extra voltage to dissipate through the power line. Computers and other sensitive electric equipment can also become damaged by surges.

Spikes are instantaneous, sometimes dramatic increases in voltage and can be caused by an event like a lightning strike or a car accident involving a utility pole. During a spike, huge amounts of voltage can instantly spread throughout centrally wired electronic equipment like telephones or televisions. Spikes are the most damaging of all power problems and can completely destroy these appliances.

Protect Yourself
So how do you protect yourself from these power problems? By setting up backup systems to protect mission-critical appliances from damage or destruction. Here’s where to begin:

WHOLE HOUSE GENERATORS – The California crisis has spurned record sales for companies that provide whole house back up generation systems. Why? Because these appliances make perfect sense. Generators can run on natural gas or gasoline, and some can re-power most of the homes critical systems within a short time of an outage.

SURGE SUPRESSION – Surges can occur from outside or inside the home. To protect yourself, you’ll need several types of devices:

Lightning Rods – Good to protect against blasts of lightning hitting at or near your home. Lightning rods provide a “ground” path to divert this runaway power from harming your home’s electrical systems.
Surge Arrestors – Surge arrestors are mounted inside your electrical panel and provide another protection against voltage spikes, which occur from the outside.
Surge Suppressors - Surge suppressors provide the second stage of an interior defense system. Most suppressors resemble power strips with outlets, and protect equipment that's particularly sensitive to moderate surges such as computers, TVs, phones, and audio/video systems.

When shopping for surge suppressors, keep in mind that major qualitative differences exist. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for and finding out your suppressor didn’t work can be a very expensive lesson to learn.

BATTERY BACK-UPS – Probably the single most effective equipment to protect computers from damage is a battery back up. Known as an “uninterruptible power supply” or “UPS”, these small devices will not only protect your sensitive data from surges or spikes, they can also instantly restore power to your computer long enough to allow you to safely save your work and shut down the system.

Web Resources
Check out these sites for good tools and tips on protecting your power:

Electric Generators Direct.com – Use the home wattage wizard to find out how much power you’ll need in the event of a blackout.
National Lightning Safety Institute – Get the facts on lightening and learn how to avoid becoming a victim.
Energy Guide.com – Enter a few details on your home and learn what energy saving improvements makes the most sense.

Protecting your home from power problems has become a necessity of the new millennium. But with a little preplanning, the inconvenience of losing electricity can be left at just that.

Print Version

Search Related Topics: Electrical, Storm Proofing...


Home Listen Ideas & Tips Repair & Improve Cool Products E-Newsletter Tip of the Day Tools & Resources Mold Resource Guide Estimators & Calculators Resources & Links RSS Feeds Topics Contact Us About Partners Media Kit News/ Resources Products/ Store Affiliate Tool Kit Enter your Search Terms Submit Search Form The Web The Money Pit	Repair & Improve How To Protect Your Precious Power Electricity no longer as reliable as a California sunset by Tom Kraeutler With increasing reliance on electrical power for every facet of life, consumers are being forced to look for new ways to protect both the quantity and quality of the electricity delivered to their homes. Not only is a lack of electricity inconvenient, it can be damaging and dangerous. Protecting your home from power problems has become a necessity of the new millennium. While California has been the center of attention, the West Coast energy crisis has proven that utility companies can no longer be counted on for a steady stream of electrical power. Because of an aging infrastructure, confusion over deregulation and other factors, the suppliers of the nation’s electricity have been struggling to maintain enough service to power homes and businesses. According to a study by Coleman Powermate, a generator and equipment manufacturer, 75 percent of U.S. homeowners experienced a power outage in 2000. In addition, 90 percent of the study’s respondents said they had been without power sometime during a five-year period between 1996 and 2001. Sags, Surges And Spikes Power disruptions can range from complete blackouts to fluctuations in the amount of power delivered to a home’s electrical system. These fluctuations usually occur as either sags, also known as “brownouts,” where start-up demands of electrical appliances pull more power from the utility company than it can re-supply to the home. Sags can cause serious damage to appliances like computers, which need very steady sources of electricity to function. Surges occur when high-powered electrical motors, such as air conditioners and household appliances, are switched off, causing extra voltage to dissipate through the power line. Computers and other sensitive electric equipment can also become damaged by surges. Spikes are instantaneous, sometimes dramatic increases in voltage and can be caused by an event like a lightning strike or a car accident involving a utility pole. During a spike, huge amounts of voltage can instantly spread throughout centrally wired electronic equipment like telephones or televisions. Spikes are the most damaging of all power problems and can completely destroy these appliances. Protect Yourself So how do you protect yourself from these power problems? By setting up backup systems to protect mission-critical appliances from damage or destruction. Here’s where to begin: WHOLE HOUSE GENERATORS – The California crisis has spurned record sales for companies that provide whole house back up generation systems. Why? Because these appliances make perfect sense. Generators can run on natural gas or gasoline, and some can re-power most of the homes critical systems within a short time of an outage. SURGE SUPRESSION – Surges can occur from outside or inside the home. To protect yourself, you’ll need several types of devices: Lightning Rods – Good to protect against blasts of lightning hitting at or near your home. Lightning rods provide a “ground” path to divert this runaway power from harming your home’s electrical systems. Surge Arrestors – Surge arrestors are mounted inside your electrical panel and provide another protection against voltage spikes, which occur from the outside. Surge Suppressors - Surge suppressors provide the second stage of an interior defense system. Most suppressors resemble power strips with outlets, and protect equipment that's particularly sensitive to moderate surges such as computers, TVs, phones, and audio/video systems. When shopping for surge suppressors, keep in mind that major qualitative differences exist. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for and finding out your suppressor didn’t work can be a very expensive lesson to learn. BATTERY BACK-UPS – Probably the single most effective equipment to protect computers from damage is a battery back up. Known as an “uninterruptible power supply” or “UPS”, these small devices will not only protect your sensitive data from surges or spikes, they can also instantly restore power to your computer long enough to allow you to safely save your work and shut down the system. Web Resources Check out these sites for good tools and tips on protecting your power: Electric Generators Direct.com – Use the home wattage wizard to find out how much power you’ll need in the event of a blackout. National Lightning Safety Institute – Get the facts on lightening and learn how to avoid becoming a victim. Energy Guide.com – Enter a few details on your home and learn what energy saving improvements makes the most sense. Protecting your home from power problems has become a necessity of the new millennium. But with a little preplanning, the inconvenience of losing electricity can be left at just that. Print Version Search Related Topics: Electrical, Storm Proofing...
© 1999-2008 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. - All rights reserved. \| Privacy Policy Designed by: DVI \| Developed by: Kurvits Media