What is a surge? 

A surge is a random, high energy, short duration electrical disturbance.  It is a voltage increase that lasts three nanoseconds or more.  This differs from a spike that is a voltage increase that lasts 2 nanoseconds or less.  Sources of surges include:

• Lightening
• Power Companies Switching Loads
• Internal sources such as air conditioning and power tools

How Can Surges Harm our Systems?

If the surge, or spike is high enough, it can inflict some heavy damage on equipment.  The effect is very similar to applying too much water pressure to a hose – if there is too much water pressure, the hose will burst.  The same thing will approximately happen when too much electrical pressure runs through a wire.  The wire “bursts”.  (Actually it heats up like a filament and burns, but the general idea is the same)

Even if increased voltage doesn’t immediately harm your equipment, the increased strain on the components will wear them down over time.  While lightening is the most familiar source of a surge, the more common, subtle internal causes of power surges come from the operation of high demand devices such as central and room air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and other similar motor driven devices.  The switching off and on of these devices creates sudden and brief demands for power, which upsets the steady flow in the electrical system.  While these surges are no where near the intensity of a lightning surge, they can be severe enough to damage components, immediately or gradually, and they occur regularly in most home’s electrical systems.

Other sources of surges include faulty wiring, problems with the utility company’s equipment, and downed power lines. 

What is surge protection?
Special devices protect electronic equipment from voltage surges.  The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers recommends 2 stages of surge suppression.  This two-stage surge suppression should be provided for all cables entering a home, including power, Internet, coaxial and telephone.

Stage 1 Protection – the best place to install surge protection is at the electrical entrance point to your home.  The service entrance (also known as the load centre or breaker panel) is often where the a/c, telephone lines and cable lines are located.  Applying a Surge Suppression product to your service entrance will reduce a voltage surge to an acceptable level for appliances and surge strips.

Stage 2 Protection – secondary protection for point of use.  A quality surge strip is recommended for sensitive electronic loads like computers and entertainment centres.  Using a quality surge strip reduces any voltage remnant down to an acceptable level.