Does Your Office Experiences Frequent Power Surges?
Whether large or small, every power surge has an impact on the electronics and appliances that you have plugged in. In an office space, the cumulative toll of frequent power surges could prove costly indeed.
If you often have flickering or dimming lights, tripped circuit breakers, or outlets warm-to-the-touch, it’s time to take action. Point-of-use surge protection isn’t enough. At Mr. Sparky, we’re sharing everything you need to know about responding to and preventing frequent power surges.
What Is a Power Surge?
Power surges are short but intense increases in the voltage that flows through electrical systems. Although power surges last just fractions of a second, they can cause significant damage to electronics, electrical wiring, outlets, and circuits. These events place undue stress on everything connected to electrical systems. Even if the resulting damage isn’t immediately apparent, it’s both cumulative and lasting.
Common Signs of Power Surges
In addition to flickering or dimming lights, a power surge can cause all computers, VoIP phone systems, and servers in your office to reboot. You might hear hard-wired alarms or appliances beep or chirp as they restart, too. In the event of a longer and more powerful power surge, you may need to reset your main circuit breaker. Following long-duration and extremely high-voltage power surges, you could have singed or smoking outlets or other signs of an overheated electrical system.
Common Causes of Power Surges
Every time the flow of electricity from your utility company is interrupted, your electrical system will experience a power surge. This spike in voltage will occur the moment power is restored. Power outages, utility grid failures, and lightning strikes are common causes of power surges, but they’re hardly the most common causes.
Between 60% and 80% of these events are internal power surges due to:
- Electrical faults or short circuits
- Turning large appliances off or on
- Using high-power machinery
- Overloading circuits
What Are the Short and Long-Term Effects of Power Surges?
Even short-duration power surges can disrupt business continuity. The sudden rebooting of computers, phone systems, and other essential electronics can diminish your team’s ability to provide quality customer support. These events increase operational downtime and can cause data loss and data safety concerns.
Depending on the severity and underlying cause of recurring power surges, they may have an impact on your building’s ongoing electrical safety. Power outages can render alarms, lighting, exhaust systems, ventilation, and other critical infrastructure temporarily unusable. They can also permanently damage circuit boards, operating systems, and more.
It May Be Time for an Electrical Upgrade
Recurring power outages could be a sign that you need an electric panel upgrade. Your current panel might be too old or too worn to handle your electrical load. If you recently installed a new copy machine, server, lunchroom appliance, or computer workstation, a sudden increase in power surges is a likely sign of electrical overloading. You can correct the issue with a new electrical panel, a secondary subpanel, or dedicated electrical circuits for new installations.
Schedule an Electrical Inspection
The surest way to determine the underlying cause of recurring power surges is by scheduling an electrical inspection. As a general rule, you should schedule electrical inspections every one to five years. However, it’s also important to schedule these assessments when experiencing recurring problems such as frequent power surges.
During your inspection, your electrician will check for:
- Proper grounding
- GFCI outlets in high-moisture areas
- Loose, exposed, or frayed wiring
- Shared circuits for high-power appiances
- Malfunctioning appliances or machinery
Following your inspection, your electrician can recommend the correct electrical system refinements for limiting future surges and protecting your electronics.
Install Surge Protection
While point-of-use, outlet-specific surge protection isn’t enough to protect your business and its assets against recurring power surges, it’s still an important part of your surge protection plan. You can leverage three types of surge protection devices (SPDs) for the best results.
Point-of-use surge protectors provide targeted protection for computers, servers, and other personal or standalone devices. Installed on electrical panels, whole-building surge protectors direct excess voltage into the ground before it enters electrical systems. Also known as service entrance SPDs, whole-building surge protectors will limit the impact that power surges have on your wiring, outlets, circuits, and panel
Your third options in SPDs are distribution panel SPDs. These devices protect against internal power surges as well as external panel surges that bypass whole-building surge protectors.
With this multi-layered coverage, you can greatly limit surge-related damage. For some businesses, regular electrical system inspections paired with multi-layer surge protection can even result in reduced insurance premiums.
Consider Installing an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)
To keep your business up and running during power outages, consider installing an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). A UPS will near-instantly supply power during a surge to prevent sudden equipment shutoffs, data loss, and equipment safety accidents. If you have a backup generator, a UPS will effectively bridge the gap between power loss and generator startup.
Upgrade or Replace Surge Protectors at Individual Workstations
If you already have point-of-use surge protection at all work stations, replace or upgrade these devices as needed. Just as power surges increasingly degrade electronics, outlets, circuits, panels, and wiring, they take a toll on SPDs, too. With frequent power surges, all your SPDs will have shorter lifespans. Each surge decreases their protective capacity.
Contact Your Utility Company
If your electrical inspection doesn’t reveal internal issues, the problem may lie with your utility company. Report recurring power surges to your utility service provider if you suspect that damaged power lines or transformers are the cause of frequent surges.
Keep your business protected from internal and external power surges at all times. Mr. Sparky offers effective, multi-layered surge protection, expert electrical system upgrades, and comprehensive electrical inspections. Don’t put up with any malarky, call Mister Sparky!
