Blackout damage: prevention better than cure
The announcement by B.E.L. that it would compensate consumers for blackout induced damage to their electrical devices has been met by a good deal of scepticism…but as Patrick Jones discovered, however you view the gesture, prevention is better–and cheaper–than cure.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Repair shops around Belize City have started to see an increase in the number of electronic appliances that are being brought in for fixing. And while Oscar Herrera of Electronics Plus isn’t complaining, he says that there are a number of things that consumers can do to keep their possessions out of the repair shop.
Oscar Herrera, Manager, Electronics Plus
“The basic way to protect your equipment, especially if you work and then leave in the morning, it’s best you plug out your televisions and your smaller components like stereos and those stuff. That is one of the basic ways to protect your equipments.”
Up until a couple of weeks ago, most Belizeans went about their business, seemingly without a care in the world as to how electricity or the lack thereof would affect their daily lives. But with blackouts now as common as a tacos stand on the streets of Belize City, the issue of protecting home appliances and equipment has become an important consideration.
Ernest Betson, Electrical Supervisor at Associated Engineering Services, says it is crucial that the entire system in the home is properly grounded.
Ernest Betson, Electrical Supervisor, A.E.S.
“We have line conditioners that would keep the voltage, which is this right over here. That would keep the voltage constant in the event that there is a fluctuation in the voltage, it will keep it at a constant one hundred and twenty volts. If it goes down to ninety-five comes back up to one hundred and twenty, the voltage goes to one hundred and thirty, one hundred and fifty volts, it brings it back down to one hundred and twenty volts. So that really protect your appliance and your equipment to keep it between the voltage constant.”
But most people cannot afford a line regulator and are stuck instead with the much cheaper surge protectors, often included on strip outlets. While these do offer some protection both Betson and Herrera say that one should not be lulled into a false sense of safety.
Oscar Herrera
“You could have problems with low voltage that could damage your equipment. This will not protect from low voltage. So not only surge could damage your equipment. You have low voltage as well that could damage your equipment.”
Ernest Betson
“You have different types of surge protectors that you can use. This particular surge protector is the one that cost about nine dollars. Most people would have this in their homes. With this particular one here, basically have a reset button. In the event that you use too much current it will trip off but it will not protect your system as good as one of these here. These here, there are two types. If you look at here, this one, this surge protector has a maximum of seven hundred and fifty joules. This here is pretty adequate for what you would want to protect your appliances. But the greater the joules, this one’s good for one thousand, two hundred and seventy joules. This will be better for what you want because the higher the joules, the more protection you have against the surge that comes within your appliances.”
But if you can’t afford one of these, Betson says you can always invest in a timing devise that could take your appliances off line until the power stabilizes.
Ernest Betson
“These timer here, we have, these are voltage monitors. They are very efficient. These work in three phase systems and they also sell them in two-twenty, one-ten volt system. What this does, is whenever there is blackout, it cuts off the voltage from your unit. And in the event that it goes off, it has a time delay on it that you can actually set the settings, so whenever power comes on back, it doesn’t come on back right away, there is a time delay for five minutes, three minutes, depends on what time you set the time on.”
While there are no foolproof ways to fully protect appliances from brownouts and spikes, some protection is better than no protection at all. And compared to the cost of replacing a major appliance, industry experts agree that many of these small gadgets are well worth a try. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Depending on the size, high quality voltage regulators can cost up to a thousand dollars.
