Houston Home Transient Surge Protection
What is Residential Transient Voltage Surge?
It is a spike in electrical voltage that exceeds 2000V and 100 amperes in current. There have been a number of documented instances where TVS has been as high as 20,000 volts and has exceeded 2,000 amps in current. You can only imagine how devastating this can be to anything electronic in your house.
What causes TVS?
Transient voltage surge is precipitated by two categories of causes.
Lightning
When it strikes high power lines or transformers, it can travel up to 3 miles with enough force to destroy every major appliance in the home. While this is a major cause for concern, it is not the only concern to consider when gauging the level of protection needed to protect home electronics. Many forms of equipment can cause power fluctuations that will similarly damage sensitive electronics, climate control systems, and data lines coming into the home.
Electrical devices
Many devices in your home can actually cause transient voltage surge. The electric motors in refrigerators and air conditioners can precipitate an incident. Ballasts in fluorescent lights can trigger it. Even portable power tools can trigger TVS. Perhaps the most overlooked, but nevertheless common cause is faulty wiring in the home circuit panel.
Lightning has never struck near my home, but I do have many of the devices you have mentioned. How can I find out of any of them are causing TVS?
Relatively low power surges often damage equipment rather than destroying it outright. You may notice high performance equipment that is supposed to perform at exceptional standards suddenly experiencing unexplained downtime or a noticeable drop in quality. This often occurs high-end stereo and television equipment, but you may also notice it in your AC, your kitchen appliances, your phone system, or your computer and peripherals.
What do I do if I see clear evidence of transient voltage surge?
Do not try to troubleshoot it yourself. Investigating circuitry can be dangerous, or perhaps even deadly, without extensive training and experience in electrical engineering. Call Illuminations Lighting and Design and request a visit from one of our licensed electrical experts. We will run a series of tests on your home circuit panel and compile a quality assessment report on your home wiring. If we find any problems, we will recommend a professionally configured, custom-installed home surge suppression system.
That already sounds expensive. Why can I not just install AC surge suppressors on all my equipment and appliances?
There are two reasons not to do this. First, the average retail AC suppressor cannot withstand the power of a full-on assault from something like a lightning strike. Second, not everything in your house runs on an AC circuit. Your phone and data lines, for example, are different types of circuits that can and will blow out from TVS.
How expensive do you think it will be to lose your computer, all of your data, your television and stereo, and possibly your AC system all on the same bad day?
What type of surge suppressors do you recommend then?
Commercial, specification grade surge suppressors are the most reliable protection for your home. Many different types and sizes exist to protect the many types of circuits that constitute the entirety of your home electrical network. Our work as electrical engineers consists of matching the most appropriate suppressor to a specific circuit type, power load, or device type to ensure maximum protection. This layering of multiple device types is called whole house surge suppression and is an electrical design specialist of Illuminations Lighting and Design.
Contact Illuminations Lighting Design (713) 863-1133 and schedule an onsite evaluation of how to best protect your home and electronics investments.
It is a spike in electrical voltage that exceeds 2000V and 100 amperes in current. There have been a number of documented instances where TVS has been as high as 20,000 volts and has exceeded 2,000 amps in current. You can only imagine how devastating this can be to anything electronic in your house.
What causes TVS?
Transient voltage surge is precipitated by two categories of causes.
Lightning
When it strikes high power lines or transformers, it can travel up to 3 miles with enough force to destroy every major appliance in the home. While this is a major cause for concern, it is not the only concern to consider when gauging the level of protection needed to protect home electronics. Many forms of equipment can cause power fluctuations that will similarly damage sensitive electronics, climate control systems, and data lines coming into the home.
Electrical devices
Many devices in your home can actually cause transient voltage surge. The electric motors in refrigerators and air conditioners can precipitate an incident. Ballasts in fluorescent lights can trigger it. Even portable power tools can trigger TVS. Perhaps the most overlooked, but nevertheless common cause is faulty wiring in the home circuit panel.
Lightning has never struck near my home, but I do have many of the devices you have mentioned. How can I find out of any of them are causing TVS?
Relatively low power surges often damage equipment rather than destroying it outright. You may notice high performance equipment that is supposed to perform at exceptional standards suddenly experiencing unexplained downtime or a noticeable drop in quality. This often occurs high-end stereo and television equipment, but you may also notice it in your AC, your kitchen appliances, your phone system, or your computer and peripherals.
What do I do if I see clear evidence of transient voltage surge?
Do not try to troubleshoot it yourself. Investigating circuitry can be dangerous, or perhaps even deadly, without extensive training and experience in electrical engineering. Call Illuminations Lighting and Design and request a visit from one of our licensed electrical experts. We will run a series of tests on your home circuit panel and compile a quality assessment report on your home wiring. If we find any problems, we will recommend a professionally configured, custom-installed home surge suppression system.
That already sounds expensive. Why can I not just install AC surge suppressors on all my equipment and appliances?
There are two reasons not to do this. First, the average retail AC suppressor cannot withstand the power of a full-on assault from something like a lightning strike. Second, not everything in your house runs on an AC circuit. Your phone and data lines, for example, are different types of circuits that can and will blow out from TVS.
How expensive do you think it will be to lose your computer, all of your data, your television and stereo, and possibly your AC system all on the same bad day?
What type of surge suppressors do you recommend then?
Commercial, specification grade surge suppressors are the most reliable protection for your home. Many different types and sizes exist to protect the many types of circuits that constitute the entirety of your home electrical network. Our work as electrical engineers consists of matching the most appropriate suppressor to a specific circuit type, power load, or device type to ensure maximum protection. This layering of multiple device types is called whole house surge suppression and is an electrical design specialist of Illuminations Lighting and Design.
Contact Illuminations Lighting Design (713) 863-1133 and schedule an onsite evaluation of how to best protect your home and electronics investments.
Labels: Advanced Electrical Installations, Houston Electrical Contractors, Houston Residential Surge Protection, Transient Surge Protection Systems, Whole House Surge Protection
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