Never underestimate the demand for power in your place of business. When doors open at 8 am, office computers wake up, coffee is brewed, and machinery springs into action. Your team is working hard and so is your building’s electrical system. Then, all of a sudden – poof! No power, no productivity, no coffee, and no customers, at least until your breakers have been reset. So what’s the solution? Commercial surge protection.
The story could be much more dramatic. Fortunately, your building’s well-maintained surge protective equipment isolates the power surge to one circuit. These measures prevent a widespread outage and can even save you from a hazardous fire breaking out.
Whether from poorly designed power systems or intense electrical storms, a power surge can come at any point and wreck your industrial systems. While they last only a fraction of a second, a surge can potentially destroy hundreds of thousands of dollars of sensitive equipment if not properly protected against. This could be computers, networks, high-tech machinery or equipment, and more. Business owners could lose years of customer information, production analytics, sales data, and inventory tracking.
It’s vital to ensure that you have commercial surge protection at all times, which requires working with an experienced commercial electrician to get everything up to date.
Surge suppression vs. Surge protection
While these terms are often used interchangeably, they refer to different aspects of protecting your electronics. Surge suppression specifically involves devices that are designed to reduce the intensity of voltage spikes, minimizing their impact on your electrical system. This is just one component of the broader concept of surge protection, which includes various methods to shield your equipment from harmful power surges. Surge protection might also involve grounding, bonding, and the use of surge protection devices (SPDs) that redirect excess voltage away from sensitive electronics.
Upgrade from off-the-shelf solutions
Standard surge protection devices, such as those found on multi-outlet cords for residential use, will likely not offer the high level of protection your business needs. You need to invest in stepping up your surge defenses. Commercial-grade surge protection is worth it to ensure peace of mind, uninterrupted operations, and a safe work environment. The cost of a professional surge suppression installation could actually save you money on equipment repairs, and also protect your reputation with customers. After all, the long-term impact of lost data or interrupted digital services can be far-reaching.
When it comes to protecting your business equipment, surge suppression is key to ensuring that your electronics operate smoothly, and to prevent costly damages. A building without power surge protection is undefended against power spikes and possible short-circuiting. This could lead to electrical fires caused by electricity that jumps by thousands of volts in mere milliseconds.
Commercial surge protection is critical not just in industrial facilities or data centers, but also retail stores and the healthcare field. If you’re a healthcare professional, you should not rely on off-the-shelf devices to protect patient information or life-saving equipment from power surges.
Is your surge protection up to code?
If you manage a commercial building, it is important to keep up to date with new regulations put in place to ensure your business is safe and up to code.
For example, the National Electrical Code (NEC) introduced new standards for surge protection as recently as 2023. Here are the key points:
- Mandatory Surge Protection: Surge protection devices (SPDs) are now required for all services supplying dwelling units (e.g. hotels, nursing homes, dormitories). This ensures that electrical systems are protected from unpredictable customer electronics and appliances.
- Location of SPDs: SPDs must be installed at the service entrance. This protects the entire electrical system of the unit from surges originating outside.
- Type 1 or Type 2 SPDs: The NEC specifies that the SPDs used must be either Type 1 or Type 2. Type 1 SPDs are installed between the utility service and the service disconnect overcurrent device. Type 2 SPDs are installed on the load side of the service disconnect overcurrent device, including the main panel.
- Coordination with Existing Systems: When replacing service equipment, the SPD must be installed if it is not already present. This ensures that upgrades and replacements bring older systems up to current safety standards.
These changes aim to enhance the safety and reliability of commercial and residential electrical systems by mitigating the risks associated with electrical surges. Consult the National Electrical Code to learn more about the current requirements for surge protection and other electrical safety measures.
Commercial lightning protection
One bolt of lightning from an electrical storm can damage electronic equipment beyond repair. Installing a commercial-grade lightning protection system can help disperse a power surge and prevent potential damage. Expert commercial electricians can recommend and install the best lightning protection solutions for your facility so that you are ready to keep operating safely through any weather.
How surge suppression protects your equipment
Surge suppression is key for any business that utilizes sensitive technology or heavy machinery. Prepare your commercial building’s electrical system for large equipment to turn on or off unexpectedly. The building needs to handle the resulting destabilization of electrical currents. The amount of electrical power needed to start the machine can cause an internal surge in other electrical devices such as servers, computers, climate control, and more.
Make sure that your electrical system is covered by power surge protection for the safety of key equipment, and to prevent the loss of critical data and productivity. When hard-drives lose power unexpectedly it can cause irreversible damage to data.
Power surges can damage servers and hard-drives in a number of ways, including:
- Hardware damage: The intensity of large power surges can melt metal and plastic components. Circuits get “fried” so completely that the data stored becomes irretrievable. The repair and replacement of this complex equipment comes with a hefty price tag.
- Data loss: Customer data or services can go down in a power surge. You risk losing the trust of long-term clients and customers, ultimately impacting the future of your business.
- Overheating: Power surges can damage the HVAC systems which are vital to keeping servers and data centers functioning. Without proper cooling the temperatures of perfectly functioning IT equipment rises quickly and can cause damage. Data storage devices can go into meltdown if they reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Overheating can also cause internal damage that leads to shorts in devices.
Commercial surge protection solutions
Data and heavy machinery form the backbone of so many businesses. Therefore, it is important to consider a secondary line of defense against power surges which goes beyond the individual devices used. Installing surge suppressors at the main electrical distribution panel for your business can act as an all-encompassing measure against power surges. It will redistribute dangerous levels of current and help even out more powerful machinery use over the entire system. This will prevent flooding the electrical network all at once.
However, surge suppressors do not act as emergency failsafe systems for power outages. Invest in a backup generator for the best protection when a storm or other catastrophic power outage strikes your business. Run a generator during an outage in order to shut down heavy machinery safely and back up stored data before crucial information is lost forever.
Also tie surge protection into a strategy of ongoing maintenance. Then, your building’s electrical system is always prepared for the unexpected.
Commercial Electricians in Vancouver, WA
Interested in protecting your business from electrical surges? Contact Prairie Electric to find out the best surge suppression system for you. Whether you run a small business, a large company, or are constructing a new business in the Vancouver, WA area, we can help you design and install a power surge protection system. This will ensure your business is safe from dangerous spikes in power output plus unexpected lightning strikes and power outages.
