Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Did you ever stop and think about the number of things you’re able to do because you have access to electricity? If you’ve ever encountered a power outage for any length of time, you received a rude reminder of how much your life is dependent upon power and why you need power protection. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; but it can be annoying when the power goes out.

Let’s take my cousin in California as a prime example. As the state has been in drought conditions for the past couple of years, extensive measures have been taken in an attempt to try to preserve this most precious resource. This means where my cousin lives, they are limited on the amount of water they can use in a given week.

Monitoring usage is an important part of water restrictions and most take advantage of the systems they have to help them stay on track. My cousin sets her sprinkler system according to the days of the week she can water her lawn. The sprinklers will only run for a set amount of time as the power turns them on and back off again. The system is flawless as long as the power works.

During a recent camping trip, the power went out at my cousin’s home. Without any real power protection in the home, everything defaults back to factory settings when the power comes back on – including the sprinkler system. For the remainder of her camping trip her lawn got a nice cold drink every day. At the end of the month, my cousin got a nice threatening letter from the water company.

This is just one of many examples of how power protection can make a difference in everyday lives. For my cousin and her family, it would have meant the sprinklers stayed on their programmed settings and she never would have exceeded her allotted water usage. The power wasn’t off for very long – just long enough to cause the problem.

Had she installed power protection devices in her home, the issue would have been avoided. In this case, she simply had to pay a fine. In larger environments, however, the consequences may have been more severe.

Schools, for instance, are making investments in power protection devices in an effort to protect information and keep classes business as usual. In an effort to keep power protection costs down, however, some facilities are making investments in counterfeit electrical products and having to pay a higher price.

In fact, the United States Fire Administration reports that roughly 25 percent of all non-confined school building fires are due to electrical malfunction. To that end, it’s important to work with a proven provider and ensure the products you put in place are safe for their intended purpose.

As for my cousin, she’ll have to check out products for her home offered by Minuteman and since she’s also a teacher, she might be able to spread the word on the importance of authentic power protection at all times.