How To Avoid Power Outages: 4 Tips
Are you looking for ways to prevent power outages in your home? Some power outages are a serious inconvenience and may even result in losing lives and property. There are various ways to prevent power outages and prevent damage.
This blog article will focus on how you can avoid power outages in your home, particularly through the use of solar energy. In addition, we will also outline the methods of preparing for a power outage and the various precautions to take after a power loss.
Between 2020 and 2021, solar energy contributed around 10% of the total electricity in Australia.
What Is A Power Outage?
Sometimes referred to as power failure, a power outage refers to a momentary loss of electric power in a particular area. It usually affects single houses, buildings, or even cities, depending on the outage cause.
The various types of power outages are:
- Blackout: a total power loss in a particular region due to a damaged power grid. Depending on the damage extent, it may last from minutes to days or even weeks.
- Brownout refers to a drop in system voltage causing the lights to dim. It also causes specific electrical equipment to perform inappropriately.
How To Prepare For A Power Outage?
A power outage is almost easy to predict, especially during the warmer months around November to February, when there tend to be more electrical storms. Therefore, you should always keep an emergency kit on standby if you suspect that a power outage can happen. The kit should include a torch, candles, batteries, a first aid kit, matches, bottled water, and non-perishable foods.
You should also make sure that you maintain your front and backyard by pruning trees to prevent the branches from damaging any overhead power lines. If you require electrical medical equipment, ensure that you have a backup energy plan when blackouts occur.
You should also keep your electrical outlets safe by installing a surge-protected power board in your home. It would also be diligent to collect all the emergency numbers you might need during a power outage. This may include the contacts of your power provider, local SES, and energy distributor.
If there is a weather warning, ensure that your phone is fully charged and remove all outdoor furniture and equipment. In addition, consider leaving at least one light turned on during the entire outage to determine when the power is back on. You may also need a safety switch to disconnect your home from the power grid if the outage seems malicious.
What To Do After A Power Outage?
Assume you’re watching the footy or a movie on your TV, and the lights suddenly go out.
1). First, you should consider locating the source of the outage. The problem might only be in your house. Perhaps there is a faulty appliance or a blown fuse. Or maybe the main power supply has been turned off.
2). Check the trip switches and fuses to determine if there is a fault with the wiring or the TV or cable box.
3). The next important thing to do during a blackout is to switch off all the electrical gadgets in your home. Ensure that the electrical cooking appliances are off and clear debris like towels and papers that could ignite from a spark.
Most of these gadgets will be fine even in the absence of electricity, but the freezer and fridge may start thawing. Keep fridge and freezer doors closed to avoid this while keeping the contents cool for long periods. Once the power is restored, ensure that the foods in the fridge are in good condition before consuming them.
4). If you are not adept at handling such situations, you should seek assistance from qualified electricians.
How To Avoid Power Outages
There are different steps to ensure that severe power blackouts do not hit your home in the first place. Installing a solar panel is the obvious choice in helping to avoid a power outage crisis in your home. There are two types of solar installation processes, grid-connected, and off-grid:
Option 1: A grid-connected solar panel usually switches itself off during an outage to prevent energy from flowing into the power line, causing damage. Consequently, an off-grid system independent of the power grid remains unaffected by a power outage. Another way of avoiding a power outage is using a generator, especially a diesel generator.
A generator will supply electricity to enable you to run some of your appliances even when there are blackouts. You might also want to get a blackout stopper to program your grid from switching itself off during a power loss. A blackout stopper is a new type of inverter in the market today that ensures you still use your solar panel energy even during grid downtime. Adding this feature to your solar energy system will ensure that your day to day activities remain unaffected by a blackout.
Option 2: The final solution to avoid a blackout in your home is installing backup batteries. Consider backing up your solar system with a battery bank to fully use your electrical gadgets even when the power is down. The extra energy produced by the panels across the day is accumulated in the batteries and then sent to the battery bank. You can later consume it when the panels are not producing any energy, especially at night.
Final Thoughts
Power outages can be fatal and drastically affect our day to day lives. They most happen during storm seasons which makes them relatively easy to predict. If you suspect the possibility of a power outage, it is essential to prepare yourself as you face the blackout. You should ensure that you have basic materials, such as a torch, bottled water, and non-perishable food.
There are various ways you can ensure that the power outage does not hit you. The first way is to use solar energy by installing solar panels in your residence. If your solar panels are connected to the grid, use a blackout stopper to ensure that you can use the solar energy even during blackouts. Failing this, a less environmentally friendly alternative is a generator, which is cheap to buy and maintain, especially a diesel generators
Prevent Outages With Solar Power
Solar power is the absolute best way of curbing power outages in the future. A solar panel can be designed to work when the power is down, when there is power, and when the solar energy is unavailable. This makes solar panels the best solution for power losses.
At GCR Electrical Systems, we deal in residential and commercial power installations. We can install you with a grid-connected or off-grid solar system depending on your needs. Contact us now and get a free instant solar quote.
Please contact us today on (07) 4120 7004 or leave an enquiry if you would like more information about our solar installation services.