Electrical Surges in the home | General Topics | Forums

It"s that time of year again when those storms come rolling through ready to knock out all your computer and electronic equipment. What do you do when all your gadgets are at risk from an early grave? Some of the things I like to do is go around unplugging all the gadgets I can but this is just me and I probably love my gadgets a bit more than most people, so what should you do if you don"t have that option of running around the home?

What Are Power (Voltage) Surges?

A power surge is one form of electrical power disturbance. There are four main types of power disturbances:

• Voltage dips (also called "sags" or "brownouts")
• Electromagnetic interference
• Radio frequency interference
• Power surges (also referred to as "voltage surges" or "transient voltages")

Power surges are generally considered to be the most destructive of the four types of electrical power disturbances.

Power surges are spikes in voltage.

They are very brief, usually lasting millionths of a second. Power surges can vary in duration and magnitude, varying from a few hundred volts to several thousand volts.

No matter where you live, your home experiences power surges.

Tips on How to Prevent Electrical Surge Damage

• Use an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) for computer equipment and sensitive components

• In addition to whole house surge protection, use quality power strips/ surge protectors for computers

Ensure surge protection devices are Underwriters Laboratories (UL) rated. Look for "UL" on packaging

Buy the best quality you can afford. Surge protection extends the life of components and computers

If unprotected from surges, unplug sensitive computers and electrical devices during lightning storms

• Use a power conditioning/surge suppressor unit for home theater protection

• Install a whole house surge protector

After researching for hours I found myself buying a few things after losing my Home Theater Computer which is going to set me back about 2 grand I think I will spend the 300 on a hole house surge protector.

Tell me some of your good ideas because I would love to hear from some of those experts out there to keep my gadgets safe.