The typical voltage in an American home is 120 volts. A surge occurs when the voltage is higher than that amount. That overvoltage can occur because of external sources, such as a lightning strike, but also internal ones, such as faulty wiring. Surges can cause substantial damage to your home. In fact, Americans spend billions on repairs annually. The National Lightning Safety Institute estimates $5 billion on lightning damage alone. Let’s explore the steps you can take to avoid these damages.
Schedule an Inspection of Your Home’s Electrical System
Schedule a regular inspection of your home’s electrical system. Our electrician can inspect and test every aspect of your system. We can identify worn components and replace them if you’d like. Our electrician can also identify the aspects of your system that are not up to the National Electrical Code (NEC). Updating a home to the current code is not a requirement, but we do highly recommend it. It will make your home more energy efficient and less susceptible to surges and fires.
Upgrade Your Outdated Electrical Panel
If you live in an older home and have never upgraded the electrical panel, consider doing so. One reason is that the NEC has updated the safety requirements for breaker boxes multiple times just in the last several decades. The other issue is that you should replace your electrical panel at least every 40 years. If your panel is older than that, it could cause power surges.
Install Type 1 Whole-Home Surge Protection
The best way to protect your home against electrical surges is whole-home surge protection. There are multiple types of surge protection devices used to provide a site-wide shield, including Type 1. Our electricians use Type 1 devices for both residential and commercial applications. We install them on the supply side of the electrical system, which is between your electrical panel and the grid. These devices provide excellent protection against lighting but also anomalous power from your supplier.
Many homeowners are unaware that bad power from the grid is their problem. Consider a scenario in which an overloaded transformer near your home explodes. That can produce a surge that enters your home’s electrical system and causes extensive damage. Your electric company may offer help. You can submit a claim to them, but there are no laws requiring them to be responsible. Your homeowners insurance may cover some of it, but even then, many people pay significantly out of pocket.
An update to the NEC in 2020 requires all newly built homes to have surge protection. Even if your home is that new, schedule an inspection. Builders have the option of either Type 1 or Type 2. Type 2 is far more common, and it’s rare to have both unless you specifically request it and pay for it.
A Type 1 surge protector, also known as a primary or high-level surge protector, safeguards against catastrophic damage and fire. These systems work by monitoring voltage and activating when that voltage reaches their clamping threshold. Once activated, the protector has a component that diverts that energy to the ground wire. The particular component used varies between brands and models, but a metal oxide varistor (MOV) is the most common.
Install Type 2 Whole-Home Surge Protection
Our experts encourage homeowners to opt for multilayered protection. That includes Type 1 and Type 2 along with local surge protection, which we’ll discuss in an upcoming section. There are a couple of reasons to use a Type 2 device in addition to a Type 1. The first is that a Type 2 surge protector has a lower clamping threshold. In other words, it’s more sensitive, and it will activate at levels a Type 1 will not. As mentioned, the purpose of a Type 1 surge protector is to safeguard against a catastrophic event. There can be surges that bypass this protection that are still powerful enough to cause some damage.
The second is that power surges from internal sources are a greater cause of concern than many homeowners realize. They occur at much greater frequency than the big surge events do. If you have old or faulty wiring, they may happen all the time. Major appliances in your home can also cause surges. What may surprise you is just how powerful those surges can be. They’re often strong enough to damage electrical panels and subpanels, wiring, outlets and electronic appliances. The other concern is degradation. Surges can degrade wiring, electrical components and electronic devices over time.
Our electricians install Type 2, also secondary or low-level, surge protectors on the distribution side of the electrical panel. That means that we position them between your panel and the rest of your home’s electrical system. An appliance in your home may create a surge, but the Type 2 device will prevent it from going to the electrical panel. This also means that the system won’t redistribute it to wiring, outlets and devices. It works much like a Type 1. The Type 2 monitors voltage. When it detects overvoltage, it activates, and the MOV or other component directs the power to the ground line.
Upgrade Your Outlets and Switches
Old and malfunctioning switches can cause power surges by putting too much stress on the circuit breaker. Update your outlets to the latest standards, including GCFI in areas where water is present. Make sure not to overload circuits. If you have too many devices on a circuit, consider installing additional outlets.
Use Local Surge Protection
Earlier, we recommended a multilayered approach to residential surge protection. There are three layers, and Type 3 is the third. A common example of Type 3 is a surge protector power strip that you use for your computer or television. This provides local surge protection for all the devices you connect to it. Local surge protectors will degrade over time and may die in the process of diverting a powerful surge. Be sure to test them regularly and replace as needed. Also, take care not to daisy-chain power strips, or use extension cords that could interfere with the surge protection. You can also opt for outlets with integrated Type 3 surge protection. This provides you surge protection at outlets where you do not use power strips and the like.
Schedule Annual Inspection of Appliances With Motors
Other common causes of power surges are powerful motors. Common culprits include air conditioners, heat pumps, refrigerators and generators. Have these appliances professionally inspected annually to ensure that they’re operating within safe parameters.
Your Local Surge Protection Specialists in Florida and Virginia
Absolute Electric is an electrical contractor that’s been in business for over 15 years. Our company serves Virginia homeowners out of our Sterling location and Florida homeowners out of our Fort Myers location. We perform electrical safety inspections and provide our customers additional peace of mind through our Absolute Family Plan. Our electricians upgrade electrical panels and install whole-home surge protection. We perform electrical repairs and also install EV chargers, indoor lighting, outlets, switches, ceiling fans and attic fans. If you have any questions about our services or would like to schedule an appointment, call today, or contact us online.
