PUT IT SIMPLY..... WHAT IS POWER QUALITY?

Ideally, your power should come in at the proper voltage and distribute efficiently throughout your facility. When addressing the economics of power quality, businesses should consider three main factors: transient activity, noise, and power factor.

Power factor measures the strength and consistency of your power, and it gets the most attention because you’re charged directly for it. Your power factor is the difference between how efficiently your equipment CAN use power and how well is DOES use power. When you have a low power factor, your utility feeds your machines more power than they actually need to run. So you end up paying the costs. Operating with a low power factor also has adverse effects on your circuit breakers, wiring, and on the insulation of motors and transformers. It can contribute to high neutral currents, which result in false breaker tripping, computer problems, and over-heated wires and electrical distribution components. The effects are cumulative and seldom cause immediate failures, but over time, they can cause many problems.

Noise is usually the result of power supplies, rectifiers, and switching devices. It can cause problems with telephones, trigger communications failures between electronic devices, and trigger erratic operation of equipment.

Transient activity is very common, and over time it can degrade your electrical equipment. Every electrical system is prone to transient voltage surges, which occur thousands of times an hour in our homes and up to half a million times an hour at industrial facilities.

Read on to find out how Power-Savings surge suppressors can address transient activity, noise, and power factor.

WHY SHOULD I ADDRESS SURGE SUPPRESSION ? 

Surge suppression takes care of the lion's share of problems and it's easily the most cost effective method for power quality correction. Transient protection offers unparalleled protection and, unlike other solutions, it doesn't create problems that you'll have to deal with later. Installing power factor correction equipment provides less efficiency, plus you will have to install surge suppression equipment to deal with the problems it causes. On the other hand, if you install surge suppression equipment first, you'll take care of most of your problems now, and you’ll address your power factor issues through the savings generated by surge suppression.

WHY SHOULD I DO ANYTHING SPECIAL ?  I'VE BEEN FINE UP UNTIL NOW...

How important is it to protect your equipment? Especially when it is the heart of your business? It’s very important. Most computer equipment does virtually nothing to protect its own devices from voltage fluctuations. And practically every "guarantee" or "warranty" provided by manufacturers includes a provision that voids the warranty if damage is caused by over-voltage. Most of the damage on your equipment RIGHT NOW is cumulative in nature, which means you don't see the results immediately. You've probably had numerous failures already that were caused by transient activity but went undiagnosed.