Electricity Department officials confirm Electricity fluctuations can damage electronics
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
~~Adz:Right~~BASSETERRE, St. Kitts- KEVIN Bennett, Superintendent of the Needsmust Power Station, recently confirmed to SKNVibes.com that “it is possible that electrical fluctuations and surges can damage electronics or electrical circuitry in homes and offices”.
He also advised that the public should take proper precautions to protect themselves from such occurrences.
Bennett hypothesized that as “more persons have and rely far more on electronic equipment than they have in the past” more people are also becoming aware of the damage that fluctuations in the electrical supply can do to expensive electronics”. One Sandy Point resident made a similar claim late in February when he reported that a single power surge in the area caused damage to “a refrigerator, a DVD/VHS player and a television set”.
Bennett noted that “the cutting of trees limbs from around electrical wires forms an integral part of the [Electricity Department’s] activity to prevent power fluctuations and surges,” but added that “excessive rainfall and high winds increase the probability and frequency” of these types of events.
Because electrical outages continue to plague St. Kitts’ developing electrical infrastructure, Bennett suggested that there were several things a person could do to protect their investments, chief of which was that proper grounding of homes and offices.
“It is always recommended that a qualified electrician carry out the necessary checks for proper grounding and wiring. If a person receives mild electric shocks from touching appliances such as refrigerators or computers, it is often a good sign that the house is not properly grounded.”
Other suggestions that Bennett had for protecting electronic devices included purchasing voltage regulators that shut down the power supply if a 220v or 110v current is not maintained, installing uninterrupted power supplies (UPSs) that act as batteries if power is interrupted and unplugging important electronics during outages so they are not damaged when the supply returns.
Another common method for shielding electronics is to purchase surge protectors, but Alliant Energy (a large energy provider in the US) warns that a consumer should be aware of exactly what they are purchasing.
The energy company cautions that “a power strip and surge bar can look very similar, but they perform very different functions and a person should inform themselves about the difference in the two devices before making the purchase.”
