How to keep your home safe during Eskom load shedding

A majority – 63% – of people surveyed do not switch off their appliances before load shedding to prevent power surge damage to them when the power comes on again‚ according to the survey‚ done on behalf of insurance company Santam.
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Well, if we could ACCURATELY KNOW WHEN it will STRIKE then we can turn it off, no...
 
My precious electronics are on UPS which should help with surges. Can't really bank on switching stuff on and off
 
Why does on have to switch it off before loadshedding starts?

Why not during loadshedding? I just switch all the plug switches off on the DB when loadshedding starts and then switch it back on when a few minutes after the power has come back on.
 
Koosi said:
Well, if we could ACCURATELY KNOW WHEN it will STRIKE then we can turn it off, no...
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You needn't switch anything off before load shedding starts, the article phrases it wrong. You only need to switch it off before the power comes back on, that's when there are power surges that fries your electronics.
 
werfie said:
You needn't switch anything off before load shedding starts, the article phrases it wrong. You only need to switch it off before the power comes back on, that's when there are power surges that fries your electronics.
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Will your normal Ellies surge/lightning protection plugs and adapters suffice to protect from the surges when power comes back on?
 
AdrianH said:
Will your normal Ellies surge/lightning protection plugs and adapters suffice to protect from the surges when power comes back on?
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I'm not sure, they sell it as such, but somehow I don't trust it. I was also looking at them a bit this morning, trying to figure out how these "surge protectors" work exactly.
 
AdrianH said:
Will your normal Ellies surge/lightning protection plugs and adapters suffice to protect from the surges when power comes back on?
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Remember that it isn't just your normal plugs, about 5 houses in our street all lost their geyser isolator switches to a surge a few weeks ago.
As for the surge protection plugs, I'm not honestly sure, but even if they do they are only good for a certain amount of surges i.e. you are actually meant to replace them after a big lightning strike, so I'm not sure its something to rely on.
 
Arthur said:
Possibly (from your grid supplier). But how will you prove it?
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We previously (2007) claimed for spoiled food after a substation got crashed into and took 6 days to repair. We waited almost a year but got around R1700 for spoiled food. Legal expenses were around R900 via a lawyer-friend.
 
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Surge arrestors to protect your electrical equipment

Ellies surge arrestor plugs are class 3. For them to protect cottecly you also need a class 2 surge arrestor in your DB board.

You only get protection when you have both Class 3 arrestors operate quicker but have limited diversion capacity. Class 3 take a few milli seconds longer to respond to overvoltage but can divert more when required.
Simply put get an elecrician to put an arrestor in your DB and save your self big bucks. ( and unplug computers & TV's during load shedding )
 
voipnow said:
Ellies surge arrestor plugs are class 3. For them to protect cottecly you also need a class 2 surge arrestor in your DB board.

You only get protection when you have both Class 3 arrestors operate quicker but have limited diversion capacity. Class 3 take a few milli seconds longer to respond to overvoltage but can divert more when required.
Simply put get an elecrician to put an arrestor in your DB and save your self big bucks. ( and unplug computers & TV's during load shedding )
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How good are these surge arrestors in terms of lifespan? i.e. Is it something I can expect to last basically forever or will it perish after a few surges?
 
mmacleod said:
How good are these surge arrestors in terms of lifespan? i.e. Is it something I can expect to last basically forever or will it perish after a few surges?
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It will go after a while. They have clear indicators of when they have blown though, and it's a replaceable cartridge, that you just pull out and replace with a new one. No electrician required for that.
 
Surge protector Multiplugs for the win :)

and for all your other electricals (add a UPS to the mix)
 
mmacleod said:
How good are these surge arrestors in terms of lifespan? i.e. Is it something I can expect to last basically forever or will it perish after a few surges?
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First appreciate that load shedding is completely unrelated to surges. Load shedding means appliances power off. That power off never damages an appliance.

Second, power restoration means voltage slowly increases due to the massive restart load. No surge or high voltage spike exists (other then in speculation). That slowly increasing voltage is ideal for electronics. And may be harmful to motorized appliances. Best to unplug motorized appliances until power is restored and stable after a few seconds.

Third, some power loss (not load shedding) can be created by a surge. IOW damage occurs during a surge and before power is lost. Then when power is restored, many who use observation as fact then assume power restoration caused that damage.

Fourth, an adjacent protector (or UPS) only claims to protect from a type of surge that is typically not destructive to appliances. It does nothing for load shedding. And does nothing on power restoration. Worse, it can sometimes make nearby appliance damage easier during a surge.

Protection from destructive surges requires something completely different. Also called a surge protector - creating much confusion. Whereas an adjacent plug-in protector can be grossly undersized to fail on a first surge (that promotes sales). The other and proven solution will harmlessly earth many direct lightning strikes without damage. This superior solution is also much less expensive since it is doing protection; not profits.
 
We have the best protection. Power off when load shedding starts and generator on. Generator off when load shedding ends and power on.
 
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