Why do we need to fit domestic surge arresters?
Surge protection has made it’s way into the Wiring Regulations over the past few years, which has left everybody questioning the need for surge protection devices, and quite rightly so.
Surges are temporary rises in over-voltage and can also be referred to as spikes. These spikes are happening all the time within a domestic environment, e.g. when lights are turned on, a washing machine / tumble dryer starts up and especially when the power goes off and comes back on again. Now, these short spikes in the voltage will run around the electrical system and degrade the components inside domestic appliances. This basically means that appliances are only lasting a fraction of their lifespan due to seeing surges.
We are not really experiencing any more surges than we did 30-40 years ago, the problem we are having in this day and age is our technology. TV’s in the 70’s / 80’s were huge, they had massive components inside them that could withstand surges, and ultimately they lasted a long time (I can remember my parents having the same TV for 20+ years). TV’s built today are so thin, and they enable you to do so much more than just simply watch TV. These features mean the technology inside these TV’s has to be so much more sophisticated and faster. Technology in itself though is becoming smaller and more sophisticated, and most electrical equipment nowadays has very delicate micro-processor’s inside. These micro processor’s are very sensitive, especially to over-voltages (surges). The surges prematurely degrade these components, which leads to device failure.
In a domestic situation, this means expensive equipment having to be replaced more often than is necessary.
A Typical TV from the 1980’s
Compared to a TV from 2019
TASK…
Add up the value of the electrical equipment in your house and you make your own mind up if it’s worth protecting it all for about £60.
Please be aware that the SY2-D is a Surge Protection Device, not a Lightning Device. This means it will not protect your electrical equipment against direct Lightning strikes. You only need to install a combined Lightning & Surge Device if the domestic property is fed directly by overhead power lines, or it has an external lightning protection system on the building (copper tape and earth rods). To read more about Lightning Protection in Domestic installations please look out for our next article, which will be released next week.
To view the technical specifications or purchase the SY2-D please follow this link: http://www.surgedevices.co.uk/product/sy2-d-type-23-universal-pluggable-surge-arrester-2-pole-spn/
