Electrical surges can cause £1,000’s worth of damage to electrical equipment and appliances

In modern homes and businesses we use a lot of power-sensitive equipment. Electrical surges can damage or even cause electrical equipment and appliances to catch fire accounting for £1,000’s worth of damage to equipment such as:

• Phones          
• Laptops        
• Computers    
• TVs                
• Routers
• Servers          
• Dishwashers                
• Kettle            
• Microwave  
• CCTV              
• Chargers      
• Fire Alarms  
• Lights            
• Fridges          
• Photocopiers              
• Printers          
• Heating Systems        
• Extension Leads        
• USB Ports

Dangers of power surges

Electrical equipment going down can interrupt essential business operations and leave you vulnerable to the loss of irretrievable data. No one wants to spend their budget on buying new computers, TVs or servers before its necessary.

With the recent lightning Daniel Gardner Electrical Contractor have attended numerous jobs including:

• heat pump main circuit board, light fittings and lamps damaged and in need of replacement in a farmhouse
• lamps knocked out and in need of replacement in a letted property
• no heating due to a damaged heating controller which had to be replaced in a property
• vital electrical systems including tills, computers and customer databases down in a local business

How does surge protection work?

Surge protection is specifically designed to prevent transient over-voltages appearing at the terminals of sensitive equipment by re-directing the energy into the ground. Due to the nature of surge protection devices (SPD’s), all three of the following surge protection types - or at least type 2 and type 3 devices - are needed for adequate protection:

• Type 1: Whole House Protection

Installed on incoming services (e.g. mains power and data) if a lightning protection system is present and overhead lines are at risk of a lightning strike

• Type 2: Whole House Protection

Installed at the main incomer. Further SPD’s will need to be fitted at boards more than 10m away. The modern property with an underground cable supply would typically use a type 2 unit

• Type 3: Point-of-Use

Smaller protectors at wall outlets where you plug-in appliances

Is surge protection worth it?

A risk assessment must be carried out to determine whether or not surge protection is advised. The survey will assess the cost of fitting a surge protection device (SPD) against the value of equipment which could be affected.

Insurance companies are typically asking claimants who have suffered damaged due to lighting strikes and/or power surges if a surge protection device (SPD) is present.

Only as good as your electrical installation and earthing

Older homes with ungrounded electrical accessories or homes with sub-standard wiring and earthing will not be helped by a SPD without the necessary upgrades. Even the best SPD will fail if there is no proper escape route for excess electricity to go. If your home and/or business has wiring and earthing issues, have them addressed quickly, as wiring repair or upgrade costs will pale in comparison to replacing appliances and the cost of downtime of business services.

We can also carry out electrical inspection or testing to check electrical installation within the property. Find out more information about our testing services here.

How can Daniel Gardner Electrical Contractor help?

At Daniel Gardner Electrical Contractor our trusted team can provide advice about surge protection and risk assessment’s to safeguard your home and business.

Daniel Gardner Electrical Contractor are an NICEIC accredited contractor and are also registered with Trust Mark giving you confidence that all inspection and testing will be carried out to BS 7671, the UK standard for the safety of electrical installations.

Call us today on 01334 656378 or email info@dgec.co.uk to discuss how we can help.