Surge protection
Surge Protection
From lightning strikes to faulty wiring, power surges can damage the electronics and appliances in your home or business in an instant. Our licensed electricians assess your property and install the right combination of surge protection devices across Brisbane and Logan.
The basics
What Is a Power Surge?
A power surge is a sudden, brief increase in voltage travelling through your electrical system. They're commonly caused by lightning strikes, faulty or ageing wiring, and large appliances such as fridges and air conditioners cycling on and off. Surges can also follow a grid outage or fault, arriving without warning through the wiring that feeds every outlet in your home.
Without protection, a surge can damage circuit boards and other sensitive components in electronics and appliances, and in more serious cases contribute to electrical fires. Because surges are usually over in a fraction of a second, the only real defence is having the right protection already in place before one happens.
How it works
What Does a Surge Protection Device Do?
A surge protection device (SPD) sits between your electrical supply and the equipment it's protecting. It contains components designed to detect a sudden rise in voltage and divert the excess safely to ground, rather than letting it pass through to your wiring or appliances.
In effect, an SPD acts as a safety valve for your electrical system — reacting in a fraction of a second to limit how much voltage reaches your circuits or devices, so a surge that would otherwise cause damage is absorbed before it gets there.
Whole-property protection
Switchboard-Installed Surge Protection
Whole-property surge protection is installed at your switchboard, giving every hardwired circuit in your home or business a first line of defence against surges before they reach the rest of your wiring. It's the broadest form of protection available, covering fixed appliances and equipment that individual power boards simply can't reach.
Because it's installed at the point where power enters your property, switchboard-level protection works alongside any plug-in devices you already use, rather than replacing them. Many switchboard upgrades are a practical time to add this layer of protection at the same time.
Appliance-level protection
Power Boards and Plug-In Surge Protectors
Power boards with built-in surge protection, and compact plug-in SPDs that sit in a single outlet, offer a more targeted layer of protection for the electronics plugged into them — computers, TVs, gaming consoles and other sensitive equipment. They're a sensible and affordable way to protect individual items, particularly anything expensive or always left plugged in.
It's worth understanding their limits, though. A power board's surge protection is the last layer in the chain, protecting only what's plugged into it, and it isn't a substitute for protection installed at the switchboard. If a large surge overwhelms it, or if it has already absorbed damage from a previous event without you realising, it may not do its job when it's needed most. For that reason, plug-in protection is best used as a complement to whole-property protection, not as the only line of defence.
Levels of protection
Type 1, Type 2 & Type 3 Surge Protection
Surge protection devices are classified into three types, based on where they're installed and the level of protection they provide.
Type 1 SPDs offer the highest level of protection and are designed to handle direct lightning strikes and the most powerful surges. They're generally recommended for properties in areas prone to frequent storms.
Type 2 SPDs provide a mid-level of protection against indirect lightning strikes and internal power surges, and are installed in distribution boards to protect the appliances and equipment throughout a property.
Type 3 SPDs provide the final layer of protection for individual devices such as computers, TVs and gaming consoles, and are the type built into plug-in power boards and outlet protectors.
Our licensed electricians can assess your property and recommend the right combination of these to suit your circumstances. We supply and install surge protection equipment from established brands including Hager, Clipsal, Novaris and Schneider.
Not sure what you need?
Get your property assessed
Our electricians can look at your existing setup and recommend the right combination of surge protection for your home or business.
When to consider it
When Should You Consider Surge Protection?
Surge protection is worth considering for most homes and businesses, but it's especially useful if any of the following apply:
Older switchboard
An older switchboard may not have any surge protection installed at all, leaving hardwired circuits with no first line of defence.
Storm-prone location
Properties in areas that experience frequent lightning and storm activity face a higher risk of surges entering through the supply.
Valuable electronics
Computers, entertainment systems, smart home devices and other sensitive electronics are all vulnerable to surge damage.
Business equipment
Commercial and industrial properties often rely on equipment where downtime or data loss from a surge is costly to recover from.
New appliances
Adding new large appliances, or renovating, is a good time to review the surge protection already in place.
What's involved
Surge Protection Assessment and Installation
We start by assessing your existing electrical system, including your switchboard and how your home or business is wired, to understand where a surge could enter and what it would put at risk. This is often carried out alongside a broader electrical inspection, since the two go hand in hand.
From there, we talk you through the options that suit your property — whether that's a switchboard-installed SPD, protection for individual outlets or specialised equipment, or a combination of both — and provide clear, upfront advice on what we'd recommend and why. Once you're happy to proceed, our licensed electricians carry out the installation and test everything to confirm it's working correctly before we hand the property back to you.
Why choose us
Surge Protection for Homes and Businesses
Triforce Electrical and Air is a 100% Australian family-owned business based in Shailer Park, servicing Shailer Park, the surrounding Logan suburbs, greater Brisbane, Bayside, northern Gold Coast and Redland City. Our licensed electricians can assess your property and recommend the right surge protection for your home, business or industrial site.
If you'd like advice on surge protection for your property, call our team on 07 3520 7135 or get in touch through our contact page.
Want to understand more about what causes power surges and why they matter? Read our guide, Why Surge Protection Is Important.
Common questions
Surge Protection FAQs
Do I need whole-house surge protection if I already use power boards?
Power boards with built-in surge protection are useful, but they're only the last layer of defence for whatever's plugged into them. Whole-house surge protection is installed at your switchboard and gives every hardwired circuit in your property a first line of defence, which a power board can't provide on its own. Most homes benefit from having both.
What causes a power surge?
Power surges are commonly caused by lightning strikes, faulty or ageing wiring, and large appliances such as fridges and air conditioners cycling on and off. Surges from the grid itself, such as after an outage, can also occur.
What's the difference between Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 surge protection?
Type 1 SPDs offer the highest level of protection and are designed to handle direct lightning strikes. Type 2 SPDs are installed in distribution boards and protect against indirect lightning strikes and internal surges. Type 3 SPDs provide the final layer of protection for individual devices, and are the type built into plug-in power boards and outlet protectors.
Can surge protection cover my TV, internet and phone lines as well as power points?
Yes. Surges can also travel in through coaxial cable, phone lines and data cabling, not just power points. Coaxial and data-line surge protectors are available to help shield modems, routers and connected entertainment equipment from this path as well.
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Ready to protect your property?
Tell us about your home or business and any concerns you have, and our team will get back to you to talk through the right surge protection for your property.