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Surge Protectors

If you have delicate electronic equipment like computers, a home theatre or late model home appliances with computer features you will certainly want to protect them from Voltage Spikes (also called Power Surges) with some kind of protection device.

A voltage spike is an event when for some reason the electricity coming into your house or office briefly increases its voltage. The increase is brief but can be very great, on the order of double the correct voltage. It is an uncommon but occasional occurrence and is unpredictable. It can be caused by wind storms, lightning strikes, ice on power lines. As well, accidents like car crashes into power poles, accidents at power generating stations, even conditions on the surface of the sun can affect the power grid and cause voltage spikes and power surges. Voltage spikes often damage all types of electronics. Fairfield Electric has attended several cases right here in Victoria BC where computers were damaged beyond repair by voltage spikes. The power utility was not considered responsible. Its the homeowner’s responsibility to protect against power surges.

To protect your electronic equipment from voltage spikes we provide and install a variety of devices called Surge Protectors and they are all designed to protect your electronic equipment of all types from damage when a power surge occurs.

Previously  surge protection required an individual plug-in device for each device wanting surge protection, creating messy solutions like that pictured above.

Now the solution is to install one surge protector with large enough capacity to protect every device in the house or office. This is usually installed in or next to the main electrical service panel like in the picture below.

In the above picture we see a Whole-House Surge Protector installed in the main panel. In the event of a voltage spike, the surge protector automatically shunts the excess voltage to ground instantly. The consumer is unaware of the occurrence as the surge protector does its work without any power interruption, and requires no resetting; it is fully automatic.

For single family homes of late construction Fairfield Electric can usually provide an automatic surge protector for under $500.00

Here is a link to CBC article detailing a case of damage from voltage spike of the sort that is unfortunately to be expected anyplace, anytime.

Call anytime for a quote. If we move fast, we can probably install your new Whole-House Surge Protector before something like this occurs: