A modern home is equipped with the latest electronic items for our convenience. But with new electronic devices coming up in the market, different electrical safety concerns are also elevating. The power surge is one of them! It happens when a sudden and acute power spike occurs in the electric connection of your home. It is dangerous for your home appliances.

The Reason for the Power Surge?

Power surge sometimes happens when you switch on your high-powered electronic devices such as AC and refrigerator. They require more power to switch on. To get that power supply, they sometimes trigger the spike in electric current.

A power surge can also be a result of a malfunction in your home’s electric connection. Your electric company might also accidentally trigger a spike during maintenance and repair work. A rare reason for power surge is the strike of lightning as well. Although it’s rare, it is the most fatal.

Dangers of Power Surge

Generally, your electronic home appliances are designed to handle 120 volts of AC power. The reason being the regular electric outlets supply that amount of energy. But with a power surge, the voltage fluctuates between 0-169 volts. It is natural for electronic devices to get damaged if they receive such a high amount of current.

If this spike doesn’t get contained, it can form a dangerous arch. This high voltage arch can cause heating, melting, and eroding of other appliances and wiring. They might catch fire in the worst-case scenario.

Surge Protector to the Rescue

You must’ve spotted the surge protector device in communication structures, control systems, industries, and power distribution panels.

What is a surge protector?

A surge protector is a device that protects your expensive high-powered electric equipment from power surges and current spikes.

Whenever the voltage crosses 120, it switches the connection to ground voltage or blocks the excess current. In this way, your home appliances don’t feel any effect of a power surge.

Parts & Characteristics of the Surge Protector

A surge protector contains an iron core transformer. It transforms the alternate current. It also includes MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) that significantly limits the voltage. It will sometimes self-destruct in this process. A surge protector also supplies power to the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) batteries.

It also protects against power fluctuation due to circuit breaker failure. Its zener diode deals with the spike in the circuit breaker.

The Functioning of Surge Protector

The MOV in a surge protector plug is there to get alert for high pressure. It quickly reduces resistance when it detects high voltage levels and increases resistance when the voltage gets low. The metal oxide in the MOV is connected to both the power line and the grounding line. The semiconductor connecting the MOV is of variable resistance. They can make the electrons change their course with voltage going high or low.

The Necessity of the Surge Protector

Electric surges can occur at any time. It may have happened in your home, but it didn’t damage anything, so you didn’t notice. Thus it is essential to keep your electronic devices connected to a surge protector plug all the time, primarily to protect your expensive ones from the damage caused due to power fluctuation.

Signing Off!

A surge protector might not work against a lightning strike because its impact is in thousand volts, sometimes more than that. A surge protector plug can manage all the other fluctuations scenarios. Get hold of a good quality surge protector right now to save your electric equipment and to prevent any electrical fire accident in your home.