How to Prevent Power Surges in Homes

Electricity powers modern living, from how you wake up in the morning to how you go to sleep. To protect your home, you must keep your electrical systems well-maintained and reinforced against mishaps. This guide explains what a power surge is, why it happens and how you can safeguard your property from electrical damage.

What Is an Electrical or Power Surge?

A power surge happens when the potential electrical energy or voltage (V) in an electrical system suddenly spikes beyond its normal range. In the United States, most outlets are designed to handle 110 to 120 volts of electricity, so surges that push over 120 volts through your appliances can cause significant damage.

What Causes Power Surges?

Electric surges happen for several reasons, including:

• Energy-intensive appliances: When appliances that require a lot of electricity, such as washers, dryers and refrigerators, either turn on or switch to a more energy-intensive mode, they can trigger small power surges.
• Disrupted power lines: If the wires connecting your property to the grid become damaged or accidentally connect with external power sources, they can send high-voltage bursts through your wiring.
• Faulty wiring: Age, wear and tear, improper installation, structural damage and even rodents can cause wires to fray or lose insulation, making them more susceptible to electrical surges.
• Short circuits: If an exposed live wire accidentally touches a neutral or ground wire, the electric current skips its normal path and delivers too much electricity to a single point.
• Power outages: If your home loses and then promptly regains power from the utility company, your electrical system could experience a voltage spike through the municipal power lines or from all your appliances turning back on simultaneously.
• Electrical storms: Direct lightning strikes or indirect strikes in your general area can send electricity through your wiring, plumbing or other conductive paths, overloading your system.

What Are the Signs of a Power Surge?

When electricity surges in your home, you’ll likely experience one or more of the following signs:

• Blown fuses
• Flickering lights
• Briefly losing power
• Tripped circuit breakers
• The smell of burning plastic
• Devices beeping or resetting

If you see burn marks, melting or smoke coming from an outlet after an electrical surge, locate the source and cut power to that area on your circuit breaker. If there is an active fire on your property, call the fire department. You should also call a professional electrician to inspect and fix the electrical problem.

Are Power Surges Common?

Small power surges can happen without you even knowing, sometimes several times a day. The frequency of power surges in your home depends on your area’s electrical grid reliability, the age and condition of your appliances, the weather, and the quality of your electrical system.

What Kind of Damage Can Electric Surges Cause?

Appliances and fixtures are only designed to handle moderate voltage levels. When a power surge happens, even one too small to notice, your plugged-in appliances pay the price. Larger electrical surges can compromise the entire building’s electric system, leading to a full-blown power outage. Some of the damage that you can expect from power surges includes:

• Fire hazards: When malfunctioning electrics make too much heat, they can start fires or even ignite explosions if they’re near combustible gases.
• Appliance damage: Too many volts flowing through your appliances’ circuits can overload them, overheat them or break them completely.
• Data loss or corruption: If your computer or console is connected to an outlet during a surge, you may lose valuable information through hardware damage or an abrupt shutdown.
• Safety risks: Power surges can increase your risk of electrocution if you’re using a device during the voltage spike. Surges can also shut off or even break critical medical devices like ventilators.
• Shorter device life span: Even if your appliance doesn’t immediately break during a power surge, repeated small surges can accelerate wear and tear and shorten its life span.

How Do You Prevent Power Surges?

While your home will always be at risk of power surges from inside and outside your property, you can protect your wiring and appliances from their harmful effects. These five power surge prevention tips will help you save money on replacing appliances and repairing damaged wiring. They’ll also help keep you and your loved ones safe.

1. Unplug Appliances Before Electrical Storms

If you know an electrical storm is approaching, unplug all non-essential electrical appliances before the storm begins. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), doing this before and not during the storm is crucial for safety reasons. Only plug your appliances back in once the lightning has completely stopped, and don’t turn them all on at the same time.

2. Use Energy-Efficient, Updated Appliances

Older appliances use more electricity to do the same job, putting unnecessary pressure on your wiring when switching on and off and hiking up your electricity bill. Newer, energy-efficient appliances usually have surge protection mechanisms and protective insulation built into their circuitry, helping them withstand power surges for longer. Consider replacing your worn refrigerators, washers, dryers and air conditioning systems with newer, more efficient, better-protected technology.

3. Maintain Your Home’s Electric

All electrical systems experience wear and tear over time, and decades-old components may need to be replaced with modern, safe alternatives to support the energy demands of 21st-century living. With regular maintenance by professional electricians, you can ensure that your internal wiring and appliances run safely and efficiently.

4. Get Surge Protectors for Appliances

You can buy individual surge protectors for devices in your home to protect them from voltage spikes. Surge protectors only protect the appliances directly plugged into them. They’re handy for only a few electronic devices and are relatively cost-effective. Installing dedicated surge protectors on heating and cooling equipment is possible and recommended to protect your investment. If you want to protect your outlets and wiring as well, consider whole-house surge protection instead.

5. Install Whole-House Surge Protectors

Modern whole-house surge protection prevents voltage spikes from damaging all appliances, wiring and outlets in your home connected to the electrical panel. A skilled electrician will install the surge protection device directly into the electrical panel, providing a much higher level of safety. Whole-house surge protection is an excellent investment and a far more convenient solution than buying dozens of power strips for every room. It will also add value to your home.

Protect Your Home From Power Surges — Contact Zimmerman!

If you’re located in Pennsylvania and want to keep your property, appliances and loved ones safe from power surges, contact Zimmerman Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning for whole-house surge protection installation and maintenance. Zimmerman has been recognized as Harrisburg Magazine’s “Simply the Best” award because of our dedication to delivering exceptional quality work with outstanding customer service every time. Choose safety — get in touch for a free quote today!