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Power outages can be a nuisance. Without electricity, everything from watching TV to cooking can be made impossible. Power cuts could even be deadly in some cases if things like medical equipment or tropical fish tanks are reliant on power. While there are many ways to cope with a power cut, the best defence may be to prevent them altogether. But just how can you do this? This post explains a few ways in which it may be possible to prevent power outages.
Make sure your home is suitably grounded
A lightning strike or a fault with your electrics could cause a huge power surge through your home’s wiring. Such power surges won’t just trigger your circuit breakers – they could permanently damage outlets and even cause fires/electrical shocks if your home is not suitably protected. On top of circuit breakers, the best protection you can have is a grounding system. This involves running a wire into the earth, allowing excess electricity to dissipate into the ground rather than circulating around your home. Almost all modern homes are grounded, but grounding systems can become damaged over time (frequent power surges could quickly wear away certain grounding systems). You can use a multimeter to test whether your home is suitably grounded.
Consider cutting back trees near power lines
Trees falling on power lines are a frequent cause of power outages. Trees are most likely to cause fall if they are already dead, damaged or leaning – all it could take is a strong wind to knock them over. In other cases, branches may grow into power lines and cause issues. It’s worth checking the power lines running to your home and seeing if there are any trees that are precariously close. Trimming these back or cutting these down may be worthwhile in some cases. You should always get planning permission when removing a tree and you should hire professionals to do it.
Replace old appliances
When it comes to circuit breaker trips, one of the most common causes is old and broken appliances. While you may be eager to get as much use out of your appliances as you can, there may come a time when it’s best to replace old appliances. Operating ancient appliances won’t just increase your risk of experiencing a power outage, but it could also be causing high energy bills. This post tells you the average lifespan of many household appliances so that you know when you should be looking for a replacement.
Don’t ignore circuit breaker trips
If there’s been a circuit breaker trip in your home, it’s usually because some kind of electrical fault has triggered it. This could be a faulty appliance or faulty outlet. Whatever the case, you shouldn’t ignore it – as you’ll likely experience more circuit breaker trips in the future until the problem is solved. Your risk of experiencing an electrical fire also increases once you start experiencing circuit breaker trips, as it’s likely an appliance or outlet is overloaded and overheated. Call out an electrician to take a look if you’re not sure of the cause.
Watch your energy usage
Excessive electrical consumption in your home can also overload the system and cause an outage. This is most common in the summer when air conditioning units may be working overtime – if multiple people in your household are using appliances, it may be too much electrical demand for your home to handle, and you may experience an outage. If the air conditioning unit is blaring away, consider limiting how many appliances you use at the same time to avoid an outage.
Install a backup generator
Power outages can sometimes be due to mains supply failure due to a damaged power line that is not on your property or power station faults. When the mains power fails, the only solution is to have your own backup generator to produce your own power. You can learn more about backup generators online – there are many different types of generators that can use different power sources and run for different amounts of time.
Run your entire home’s power off-grid
If you experience frequent mains power outages, you may find that you’re better off switching to an off-grid power source. Solar panels are some of the most popular and sustainable off-grid power options. While they can be expensive to install, you could eventually make your money back in the long run by never having to pay an electricity bill again. Consider if this could be a worthy investment.
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