Created by: Glen Zhu | Updated Date: March 12th, 2025
Under what circumstances do you need to use surge protection devices (SPDs)? Voltage surges are a hidden and dangerous electrical phenomenon that can destroy equipment or even threaten safety without you noticing.
They come from various sources and affect everything from homes to industries. Here is a more comprehensive scenario analysis to help you determine when you must rely on surge protection devices to protect your property and life:
Thunder and lightning are the most classic application scenarios for surge protection devices. Voltage surges generated by lightning strikes can reach up to hundreds of thousands of volts. Even if the power lines near your home are not directly hit, distant thunderstorms may still transmit high voltage through the electrical grid.
For example, data from the China Meteorological Administration shows that in 2022, there were over 5000 power accidents caused by lightning strikes nationwide, with significant losses for households and small businesses without surge protection devices installed. During the rainy season, surge protection devices can quickly divert overvoltage to the grounding system, protecting your washing machine, air conditioner, and even smart home systems from damage.
If you live in a high-risk area for lightning (such as coastal or mountainous regions), SPDs are not only emergency measures but also essential protective tools throughout the year. Additionally, even during the recovery period after a thunderstorm passes, unstable voltages may trigger secondary surges; at this time too, surge protection devices are indispensable.
With the popularization of technology, high-value electronic devices have become an indispensable part of life. A high-end laptop may be worth tens of thousands, and a home theater system even more. The circuit design of these devices is extremely sensitive to voltage fluctuations, with a small surge of 500 volts enough to damage the motherboard or chip.
Imagine you are shooting wedding videos with a professional camera or hosting an e-commerce website on a server, one surge not only destroys hardware but also may cause you to miss important business opportunities.
Surge protection devices act as “personal bodyguards” for these devices by limiting voltage peaks and ensuring their stable operation. For photographers, programmers, content creators, or any professionals who rely on electronic devices, installing surge protection devices is a wise choice to protect investments and productivity.
In many old urban or rural areas, the power grid infrastructure may have been in existence for decades, with problems such as aging transformers and worn-out lines leading to voltage fluctuations becoming the norm.
For example, residents of a remote village reported that during peak electricity usage periods, household appliances often experienced abnormal restarts and even burned out fuses. An investigation revealed that the lack of widespread surge protection devices in the area had resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in losses due to small surges.
In contrast, neighbors who had installed SPDs had equipment that remained unharmed. Surge protection devices can act as “stabilizers” in this environment, filtering out daily voltage anomalies and preventing long-term wear from eroding equipment lifespan. If your home’s lights frequently flicker or there is frequent construction nearby, surge protection devices are your secret weapon against unstable power grids.
For commercial and industrial users, the necessity of surge protection devices rises to another level. Think about a hospital operating room: if critical medical equipment stops working due to surges, the consequences are unimaginable; or a manufacturing workshop, where precision CNC machines are paralyzed by voltage spikes, potentially causing hours of downtime and hundreds of thousands in economic losses.
According to industrial safety reports, globally more than 15% of equipment failures caused by surges each year contribute to abnormal shutdowns, while companies that install surge protection devices can reduce this risk to below 2%.
In data centers, surges not only threaten hardware but also can lead to customer data loss, triggering legal disputes and brand crises. Whether it’s a POS machine in a small retail store or an automated production line in a large factory, surge protection devices are the “lifeline” for ensuring business continuity and security.
During certain specific periods or in certain areas, a surge in electricity demand may also trigger surges.
For example, during the peak period of summer air conditioning use, voltage instability is likely to occur when the power grid is overloaded; or during festivals, a large number of decorative lights starting simultaneously may cause local surges.
In one city, an increase in electricity consumption during the Spring Festival led to damage to appliances in many households that did not have surge protection devices installed. Surge protection devices can play a role in these “power pressure tests” and protect your equipment from seasonal fluctuations.
If your community often experiences power problems due to holidays or extreme weather conditions, SPD is a preventive measure worth deploying in advance.
When you have just moved into a new home or upgraded your appliances, it may also be a good time to use surge protection devices. Newly renovated homes may have loose wire connections or poor grounding issues, and newly added high-power equipment (such as dishwashers or electric ovens) may cause internal surges when they are first operated.
Some users have reported that newly installed smart home systems burned out control modules due to surges during the debugging phase, resulting in losses of thousands of dollars. Surge protection devices can provide additional protection during this transitional period, ensuring that your new investment smoothly transitions to daily use.
If you choose not to use surge protection devices (SPDs), you may be putting yourself at a series of serious risks, even pushing your daily life and work to the unpredictable edge of crisis.
Voltage surges may seem like brief power anomalies, but their destructive power can quickly escalate, from damaging equipment to causing safety accidents, and then causing dual economic and emotional impacts. The following is a more comprehensive analysis that reveals the multiple consequences that lack of surge protection devices could bring, making you understand that ignoring it costs far more than imagined:
Without surge protection devices, a single voltage surge can completely “scrap” your electronic devices. For example, for a smart TV worth 5000 yuan, if the mainboard is burned due to surges during thunderstorms, repair costs may account for 50%-70% of the original price, or even force you to replace it with a new machine due to parts being discontinued.
More seriously, modern equipment is often the core of home or work – a burnt router may cause days of internet outage affecting remote work; a damaged refrigerator may lead to food spoilage and increase living costs.
According to statistics from the State Grid Corporation of China, there are over 100,000 cases of household appliance damage caused by surges in China every year, with over 80% of users not installing surge protection devices.
For example, after a thunderstorm in a southern city in 2022, nearly 30% of residents had to replace their appliances due to lack of SPDs resulting in total losses reaching millions. Without surge protection devices not only facing direct repair costs but also potentially triggering subsequent chain expenses that could burden your wallet beyond measure.
For individuals and businesses that rely on digitalization, the risk of not installing surge protection devices is far more than just hardware failure, but rather the complete loss of data.
Imagine a freelancer editing video materials on their computer for weeks, suddenly a power surge hits, the hard drive crashes instantly, and all non-backed up files are lost; or a small e-commerce company loses order records due to server damage, leading to customer complaints and business stagnation.
This kind of loss cannot be simply measured in terms of money. Time, effort, customer trust, and even professional reputation may never return. According to estimates from data security agencies, global economic losses due to data loss caused by power issues exceed $5 billion annually, with surges being one of the main reasons.
Surge protection devices can protect hard drives and storage devices by limiting overvoltage but if absent you may face irreparable catastrophic consequences.
What is more worrying is that not using surge protection devices may cause fires, and even threaten life safety. Surge-induced overvoltage can cause wires to overheat, insulation layers to melt, or internal short circuits in equipment, especially in old houses or poor-quality sockets, where this risk increases exponentially.
There have been cases showing that a family did not install surge protection devices, and lightning strikes caused surges that ignited the power strip board, quickly spreading the fire and burning half of the living room. The property loss exceeded 100,000 yuan but fortunately no casualties occurred.
There are also reports of a factory where surges caused a control cabinet to catch fire, resulting in millions of indirect losses due to production stoppage.
According to statistics from the fire department, about 15% of electrical fires are related to surges, and surge protection device can safely divert excess electrical energy into the ground to prevent current from getting out of control. Without it, your home or workplace could become potential fire hazards with nowhere to hide.
The cost of lacking surge protection devices for commercial users may rise exponentially.
A coffee shop’s POS system failure due to surges resulted in several hours of inability to process payments, cutting daily revenue in half; damage to automation equipment in a small factory could lead to production halts for several days, with hidden costs such as supply chain delays and overtime exceeding the value of the equipment itself.
According to an industrial association report, global manufacturing industries lose over $10 billion annually due to unplanned downtime caused by power surges, with a majority of businesses not using surge protection devices.
For example, a logistics warehouse had scanning equipment damaged by surges, causing goods backlog for a day and customer claims reaching up to $500,000. Without surge protection devices, companies not only face direct repair costs but also long-term consequences like customer loss, contract breaches, and damaged reputation.
In contrast, the installation cost of SPD is minimal compared to avoiding these “snowball effects”.
Another often overlooked risk is that not using surge protection devices may result in insurance claims being blocked. Many home and business insurance policies require users to take “reasonable protective measures” to reduce the risk of electrical damage. If losses occur due to the lack of installation of SPDs, insurance companies may refuse compensation on grounds of “negligence.”
For example, a company had its servers damaged by surges and did not receive insurance compensation because they did not follow power protection advice, ultimately having to pay tens of thousands out-of-pocket for equipment repairs.
Additionally, in certain industries (such as healthcare or leasing), accidents caused by surges that harm others could be seen as liability issues if surge protection devices were not installed, leading to legal disputes.
Surge protection devices not only protect hardware but also provide a legal and insurance safety net for you.
Finally, not using surge protection devices may also bring invisible psychological burdens.
Each time there is a thunderstorm, you may be on edge, fearing damage to your household appliances; each time there is equipment failure, you have to spend time running around for repairs, and even regretting the loss of data.
This continuous sense of unease can erode your quality of life, while a small surge protection device could have put your mind at ease. Ignoring SPDs means you are not only gambling with the durability of your equipment but also with your own emotional stability.
LSP’s reliable surge protection devices (SPDs) are designed to meet the protection needs of installations against lightning and surges. Contact our Experts!
Copyright © 2010-2025 Wenzhou Arrester Electric Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy
