Beyond the Lighting Strike: Why Power Management is So Important

Protect your systems from everyday power spikes for improved performance and longevity

We’ve all heard the catastrophic tales of lightning strikes critically disabling a home’s electronic systems. To add to the frustration and expense, these overwhelming losses are seldom covered under your warranty as the failure was not the fault of the equipment and because additional damage caused to circuits is nearly impossible to detect. And the issues with power extend beyond the occasional lightning strike. “Dirty” power, power abnormalities that include voltage or frequency variations, low power factors and surges, critically impacts your system’s performance and longevity.

Digital Performance

Dirty power creates “noise” across your sensitive audio and video equipment. While the external power source may be partially to blame, so is every appliance, motor-driven and “connected” (Internet of Things) device throughout your home as each are drawing power as they cycle on and off. These drops and spikes across a shared circuit result in poor quality and performance.

It’s what you don’t see

Damage is sometime instantaneous and obvious, but often slight damage can occur and go undetected, weakening the equipment and impacting its performance. Over a period of time, this drain will shorten the unit’s lifespan. The use of inexpensive power strips can lead to this type of failure. Not commonly known, many of these devices are “once and done,” meaning that it may be able to protect the connected equipment against one surge, but not against subsequent spikes. So, what if the homeowner were unaware that the power strip had been “hit”, rendering it useless thereafter?

Back it up!

Control processors and other sensitive equipment will experience an immediate shutdown during power outages. As power restoration is attempted, perhaps repeatedly, the system will attempt to reboot. This can affect the software and firmware, potentially losing stored content. By providing a battery backup, the processor can power down on its own and successfully reboot. Lamp displays and cooling fans can continue to run, preventing lamp burnout and overheating. And for the gamer, unsaved “levels” will not be lost!

So, how do we achieve “clean”, constant power? Starting with a robust network, we follow best practices, installing power filters, professional-grade surge suppression and battery back-up. The results are reliable, safe power that improves your system’s longevity and performance while protecting your investment.