Equipment that powers up, like HDTVs, computers, lights, and network switches, does not mean that it has not been damaged and degraded by transient surges. A single lightning strike or large surge event is known to cause immediate destruction of electronics and their circuit boards. Some surges and transients, however, may not be large enough to destroy an electronic device or individual circuit board, but lasting effects over time will cause lockups, glitches, and premature failure in electronics. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) explains that “…a single larger surge or several repetitive exposures to lower magnitude surges often cause a gradual performance deterioration, which may finally be associated with intermittent equipment operation as opposed to immediate catastrophic failure of the semiconductor device. In such cases where the semiconductor itself has had its performance marginalized, it is often difficult to differentiate between software-and hardware-induced errors.”
Even if lightning and power company surges did not exist, circuit boards and power supplies will prematurely fail over time due to an accumulative effect of transients generated internal to the home, church, office, or facility. This is the reason IEEE recommends staged protection with both surge protection (for large impulses such as lightning) and high frequency filtering (to prevent gradual degradation to circuit boards and electronic loads due to transient surges generated within the home/facility). Find out more IEEE recommended practices.
It’s well-known that, typically, over 85% of all surges and transients at a breaker panel are generated from equipment fed from that breaker panel. In other words, equipment inside of the home or facility is the leading cause of surges within the building. This means that only a small percentage of damaging surges at the breaker panel come from utility power or lightning strikes. A Transient Protection Design panel mount surge suppressor installed on breaker panels is the most cost-effective way to protect expensive electronics and appliances from immediate damage and long-term damage from degrading transients which cause electronics to glitch and significantly shorten their life span. TPD protection products can be installed during new construction or on a retrofit basis.
A Transient Protection Design system gives homeowners and businesses a quick return on their investment. Additionally, the longer the life of all electronic components is extended, the bigger the payback in the long run.
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