Many home electronics are very sensitive and can be damaged during a power outage. Here are some precautions you can take to protect sensitive equipment:
- Purchase equipment with built-in surge protection or a battery-powered back-up system.
- Use electrical surge suppressors or arresters on your electronic equipment on properly grounded circuits. Most are designed to be plugged into a wall outlet.
- Plug your computers and other sensitive equipment into a separate, grounded circuit to isolate them from fluctuations caused by major appliance restarts.
- Consider having a lightning arrester installed at your main circuit panel.
- If you own a business, or have a home office, you might consider installing an uninterruptible power supply for temporary backup power for your electronic equipment.
- During a power outage, turn off all electric appliances to avoid overloading circuits when power is restored to all appliances at once. Leave one lamp on so you will know when your service is restored.