Summer causes an increased need for electronics protection, If you have a computer, you should definitely use a
surge protector. It is filled with voltage sensitive components that a power surge could damage very easily. At least, the damage will shorten the life of your computer, and it could very easily wipe out all of your saved data or destroy your system. Computers are very expensive items, and the data they hold is often irreplaceable, so it's only good economic sense to invest in a quality surge protector.
It's a good idea to use
surge protectors for other high-end electronic equipment, such as entertainment centers. A surge protector will generally extend the life of these devices, and there's always a chance that a big power surge will causes severe damage.
The most familiar source is probably
lightning, though it's actually one of the least common causes. When lightning strikes near a power line, whether it's underground, in a building or running along poles, the electrical energy can boost electrical pressure by millions of volts. This causes an extremely large power surge that will overpower almost any
surge protector. In a lightning storm, you should never rely on your
surge protector to save your computer. The best protection is to unplug your computer. The more common cause of power surges is the operation of high-power electrical devices,
air conditioners and
refrigerators.
Fun FactsThe National Weather Service indicates that there are up to 1,800 thunderstorms in progress somewhere on the earth at any given moment.
Each year,the earth hosts over 16 million storms and 3 billion lightning strikes.
The United States experiences approximately 100,000 thunderstorms with 20 million lightning strikes annually.
Compiled with information from The Weather Channel,How stuff works.com, Currents, Automated Weather Service, Global Atmospherics, Inc and Lightning Talks.com.
On Wednesday, July 25th, children at the Waterford Public Library learned how to become master bubble-ologist (soapy scientist)
The children learned how to make square bubbles, spherical bubbles and how to blow bubbles inside of bubbles.
