Lightning and Surge Protectors
Understanding the significance between Lightning and Surge Protectors
Lightning poses a significant threat to the home, emerging as the primary cause of damage and destruction to electrical components and equipment. Its formidable impact lies in the generation of electrical transients—fleeting events with the potential to inflict harm through power surges, lightning strikes, or over-voltage.
The pervasive nature of lightning’s influence underscores the importance of protective measures to safeguard against these short-lived yet potentially devastating occurrences.
Learning the difference between lightning strikes and issues can help you to learn how to better protect your home and personal belongings. At AC Repair Garland, we want to assist you in learning how to better protect your home from lightning issues.
Direct Lightning Strike
When a direct lightning strike occurs, it possesses the formidable capability to generate millions of volts of electricity. Simultaneously, the impact of the strike is marked by the creation of hundreds of thousands of amps, coupled with over-voltage.
This extraordinary combination of voltage and current underscores the immense power and potential hazards associated with a direct lightning strike. The forces unleashed during such an event highlight the need for caution and awareness in dealing with the unpredictable and potent forces of nature.
This can lead to damage to the structure of your home as well as destruction of equipment in the home that uses electricity. With lightning and power surges, electronics are easily damaged if no protection is in place.
Indirect Lightning Strike
With an indirect strike, the lightning involves a low-level transient event. The strike will be in the vicinity of your home and can damage powerlines that lead to over-voltage inside your home. This can be less damaging than a direct strike but still damaging nonetheless.
Surge Protectors
Because lightning can cause major damage to the electrical components as well as devices in the home, it is important to have protection in place. A surge protector, also known as a surge arrester, will help to protect power distribution points as well as systems from a surge of high electrical voltage that can occur with a lightning strike.
The surge is arrested at the point of installation and discharged so that the critical equipment is not damaged. There are advanced systems that can dissipate the electrical charge from the building to help lower the chance of a lightning strike taking place. Lightning and surge protectors go hand in hand to be able to provide a safe environment for your electrical devices and components.
Surge Suppression
A device known as surge suppression will protect the home from electrical as well as lightning surges. This unit can be installed in-line or parallel. When a panel-level surge suppressor is installed, the device will interrupt the circuit and isolate equipment from the source of the power surge. For homeowners, there is a whole-house surge suppression system that can be installed for maximum coverage. This type of system will consist of in-line devices as well as surge suppressors. This type of system can be more expensive to install.
Importance of Lightning and Surge Protectors
Protecting your home is important. You want to be sure that your electrical system is in top condition from the outlets to the circuit panel. You want to ensure that a strike of lightning and surge protectors go together to protect your home. At AC Repair Garland, we are ready to assist you with your electrical needs, including lighting protection. Contact our office today to learn more about surge protection and what we can offer the electrical systems of your home.
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