Nov
10
There’s More Than One Way To Divert A Power Surge
November 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment
It is becoming ever more necessary to double up on your home’s surge protection capabilities. Power surges aren’t just created within your home; they come from outside the home as well. This is why you need a service entrance surge protector as well as your outlet surge protectors you use on all your appliances. The service entrance variety is also known as a whole house surge protector. It stops surges coming in through your power lines. The wall surge protector guards everything plugged into your outlets.
Despite the power of the whole house surge protector to stop external power surges, no solitary device will fully protect you. As powerful as these devices are, all it takes is one direct hit from a lightning strike to your power lines and that device is destroyed. That is why it is necessary to consider deeper protection, within your home. Having a two-tiered system increases your security from a surge in electricity, no matter the cause.
With a whole house surge protector all lines coming into your home are protected. This includes your electrical wiring, phone and cable connections and anything else hard-wired to your home’s electrical panel. It acts as a first line of defense and can be installed to protect either all lines at once or each line individually. Depending on the style you choose your whole home surge protector will connect either between the utility side and your mains panel or between your mains and the lines entering your home.
Using a whole house surge protector provides security for your home’s entire electrical system. This includes anything that utilizes motors, exterior light, outlets and switches and anything else that is hard wired into the electrical panel. In other words, anything that does not plug in and cannot plug in is protected.
A point-of-use surge protector includes all surge protectors that plug in at a wall outlet. This is not to be confused with your standard power cord that has six to eight outlets, as this type of device offers nothing more than a convenient way to stuff your wall outlet with a bunch of appliances. These surge protectors are used on a specific appliance and often come with a warranty.
All of your electrical appliances and electronic devices fall into this category of plug-in equipment requiring surge protection, especially items like plasma TVs and digital equipment, things with electronic buttons or switches that turn them on and off. In the case of a personal computer, you will need a surge protector that covers coaxial cable connections and phone modems as well as your standard computer cords. This goes for land lines as well.
So to recap, there are two kinds of surge protection you should be aware of and should consider installing in your home. The first kind is the service entrance surge protector or the whole house surge protector. It protects all the lines from power surges coming into your home from the outside. The second kind is the point-of-use surge protector which includes all surge protectors that plug into a wall outlet. These protect against surges created within the home.
More importantly, with the advancement of technology, components used to make new electronics are becoming tinier and more and more compact which makes them more susceptible to power fluctuations. As gadgets becoming more easily inter-compatible with one another your equipment becomes more and more prone to severe damage from power surges traveling from one device to another. The need for surge protection is ever on the increase and you should start thinking now how you are going to protect yourself.
Understanding the benefits of a two-tiered surge protection system is the first step. A whole house surge protector is only one line of defense. Yet there are many kinds of wall surge protectors that can help you protect your home and your equipment. Shop around and find the one the fits your needs.
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