Remote work is on the rise, with more people than ever now choosing to work from home. If you’ve set up a home office to work from, you’re going to need to make sure you have all the right equipment, Aside from electronic devices like desktop computers and furniture such as office chairs and desks, don’t neglect devices that can help increase protection and safety.
At work, there are lots of laws and regulations in place to help keep you safe, but the same isn’t necessarily true of your own home. Making sure you’re safe while you’re working is crucial, and surge protection should be installed if you’re running power from your mains sockets to your devices.
What is Surge Protection
Surge protection essentially protects you and your devices against possible power surges. While the electricity supply tends to be steady at a certain number of volts, it can vary from time to time. Typically, the maximum number of volts available in the mains power supply is 250 volts, but this can increase if a surge occurs.
Power surges, also known as transient overvoltages, are often very small but can cause serious damage to electronic devices, especially if they’re sensitive. These changes in voltage are normally due to increasing voltage load in the system or the switching of motors or transformers. Larger surges can also be caused by lightning strikes, though these are obviously much more rare.
A strong surge may cause a device to instantly stop working, but smaller surges can also lead to damage that builds up over time, eventually leading to the same result. In addition, very powerful surges may do enough damage to cause an electrical fire.
Not only does a power surge damage the files and equipment in your home office, but it may also result in you losing your home. While this type of fault is rare, it’s still worth protecting against if you want to have peace of mind while working from home.
A surge protection device, also known as an SPD, is a small piece of equipment which can be fitted to your electrical supply. There are three main ways of installing them depending on your needs, allowing you to protect the entire house from surges or a specific room or piece of equipment.
Installing Surge Protection in Your Home Office
In the event of a bad surge, your home office could potentially lose thousands of pounds worth of equipment, not to mention all the hours of lost work if your files cannot be recovered. This could be a disaster and could be a reason why you’d need to stop working from home. However, it’s possible to use a surge protection device to reduce the potential risk and make your office safer.
The surge protection device will essentially block out all excess voltage, ensuring that your equipment only receives the power it needs. You can choose to cover your entire home with surge protection, although it’s worth noting that surges could still happen within the house due to high-voltage appliances.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to place them throughout your home, especially in your home office, where they can keep your equipment safe. This will also reduce the risk of shocks and electrical fires that may occur when your electrical equipment is damaged.
In addition, some insurance policies actually require you to have SPDs in place. Failing to do so could end up costing you far more in the event of an accident, as the insurance company may be unwilling to pay out.
