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Finally there’s a solution to calm the fury of Mother Nature — only now, with a revolutionary breakthrough in technology, are household electrical appliances and computers safe from lightning and power surges.
While the advance in new technological devices such as computers and other electrical devices has increased significantly, protection against lightning has not — until now — caught up to this modern age.
Why South Africa is affected the most
South Africa is doubly affected by lightning and power surges because of its geographic, climatic and economic reality.
Power Surges
Load switching and shedding is the main cause for electronic devices to “age prematurely” because of the surge exposure these devices encounter, which in South Africa, is not an uncommon occurrence.
The solution has always been to protect the external structure at the Mains — and by doing this it will protect the entire internal structure from the power surge. Although this method is effective to a degree, it holds no match against the brute force of lightning.
Lightning
South Africa is rated as one of the highest lightning-prone areas in the world — and this rate is swelled by fatality reports, which show South Africa four times higher than any other country.
Dr. Toan Phung, a senior lecturer at the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of New South Wales, says, “… a lightning bolt can produce tens of thousands of amps and exceed 100,000 volts…” which, Dr. Phung adds, “… can inflict serious damage on electrical devices.”
Simply put, the Law of Physics means that the surge of electricity travels “until it finds the least-resistant object”, which is usually the very sensitive household electrical devices.
The revolutionary solution
Technology in electrical engineering has finally found an all-in-one solution to the problems all South Africans face — and a leading company in this field, Voltex, is fully-stocked with products to shield your valuable devices against lightning damage.
“The solution was to approach this problem holistically,” says Hugh Ward, group commercial manager at Voltex; explaining that since electrical devices can be damaged by both lightning and power surges, “the best solution, we found, was to solve the problem by attacking both causes — providing an external protective element as well as an internal one will protect the device unquestionably.”
Voltex covers this end appropriately with its Surge Protector Plug, which has a built-in circuit breaker for extra protection against power surges and lighting strikes.
“Voltex supplies various products, such as a Multi-pin plug, which is especially important for computers,” adds Ward.
The verdict
Dr. Phung advises that since “…you can’t always predict when a storm is going to break…surge protection devices are a good investment.”
What’s more, the Voltex multiplug has a two-year product warranty as well as a R20 000 warranty against damages caused by lightning and surge-related incidents (terms and conditions apply).
It is this confidence in the quality of the product that sets Voltex at the forefront of electrical protection devices and products.
For more information about surge protection products, contact Voltex on 011 879 2000 or email [email protected]
