(Updated Feb. 20, 2021)
Anyone with a house full of people trying to get ready for school or work knows the drill. Eventually, everyone ends up in the kitchen, turning on the coffee, making toast, or using the microwave to heat up a quick breakfast sandwich. All of a sudden – poof! No power, no coffee, no toast, and no breakfast.
But that’s better than no more power in the entire house, or worse yet, a fire. That’s because code requires GFCI outlets/breakers in kitchens and bathrooms to prevent too many appliances from overloading a circuit. It’s a failsafe to make sure the rest of the electronics in the house run smoothly.
Now multiply the power load in your home by 10 times or more when it comes to an industrial plant. Whether from poorly designed power systems or intense electrical storms, a power surge can come at any point and wreck your systems. While they last only a fraction of a second, a surge can potentially destroy hundreds of thousands of dollars of sensitive equipment.
This could be computers, networks, high-tech machinery or equipment, and more. Business owners could lose years of customer information, production analytics, sales data, and inventory tracking. Surge protection devices, such as those found on multi-outlet cords, may not offer the level of protection you need.
When it comes to protecting your business equipment, surge suppression is key to ensuring that your electronics operate smoothly, and to prevent costly damages. A building without power surge protection is undefended against power spikes and possible short-circuiting. This could lead to electrical fires caused by electricity that jumps by thousands of volts in mere milliseconds.
Now imagine if you’re working in the healthcare field. In addition to protecting against lost patient information, you may have to contend with life-saving equipment that requires an uninterrupted power supply. Off-the-shelf products won’t offer the protection that commercial surge protectors do to protect against power surges.
How surge suppression protects your equipment
Surge suppression is key for any business that utilizes sensitive technology or heavy machinery. Especially so in cases where both are present. The destabilization of the electrical currents can occur when a piece of large machinery is turned on or off unexpectedly.
The amount of electrical power needed to start the machine can cause a surge in other electrical devices. Making sure that your electrical system is covered by power surge protection is key to ensuring you don’t lose thousands of dollars in productivity and damaged equipment. You’ll also be protecting your crucial data against loss from hard drive damage.
Installing surge suppressors at the main electrical distribution panel for your business can act as a secondary line of defense against power surges. It will redistribute dangerous levels of current and help even out more powerful machinery use over the entire system. This will prevent flooding the electrical network all at once.
However, surge suppressors do not act as emergency failsafe systems for power outages. In the case that your business is struck by a storm or other catastrophic power outages, it may be beneficial to invest in a backup generator. This way, heavy machinery can be shut down safely, and technology can be backed up before crucial data is lost forever.
Electrical contractors Vancouver, WA
Interested in protecting your business from electrical surges? Contact Prairie Electric to find out the best surge suppression system for you. Whether you run a small business or a large company, we can help you design and install a power surge protection system. This will ensure your business is safe from dangerous spikes in power output, as well as nature-based incidents, such as lightning strikes and power outages.
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