There are hardly any homes that do not have a refrigerator, and it has become an integral part of our daily life. However, like all electrical appliances and gadgets, proper maintenance, upkeep, and adhering to safety standards is a must. We need to protect our refrigerator from sudden and violent fluctuations in a power surge. Therefore it is important to find an answer to the question is a surge protector necessary for a refrigerator.
The surge protector is necessary for a refrigerator because surge could cause irreversible damage to the compressor of refrigerators and other moving and fixed parts that run it. To prevent surges, surge protector plays a critical role
That is what we will try and answer over the next few lines. It also will be perhaps able to answer the question will a power surge damage my refrigerator and many other doubts.
What exactly is a Surge Protector?
A surge protector is also known as a surge suppressor. It is basically a device or appliance that is capable of protecting electrical appliances, gadgets, and devices from sudden electrical and voltage spikes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector
It helps protect damage to electrical appliances and also limits the voltage that is supplied to electric appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, Television sets, etc.
It does so by shorting or blocking any excess or unwanted voltages above the safe threshold.
Hence, it protects expensive electrical appliances from sudden surges in electricity or voltage.
Refrigerators, television sets, and air conditioners are prone to such violent fluctuations. Hence there is no doubt that spending money on the best surge protector for refrigerator is not a choice but a necessity.
Why Should You Use a Surge Protector?
Surge protection could cause irreversible damage to your electronic and electrical appliances in general and refrigerator in particular.
Please bear in mind that air conditioners contain many sophisticated electrical spare parts that also includes a compressor.
The compressor works well, and its durability and longevity depend on many factors. The quality of the electricity that is supplied to it has a major role to play. Most of us would be aware that the compressor is the most important component and it contains, amongst other things, an electric motor.
In many homes, refrigerators have to be junked because of damage to compressors. Quite often electrical and voltage surges and spikes are considered to be the main reason for this.
A surge protector for your entire house may not be feasible, affordable, or perhaps even not required. But, you must understand the importance of having a surge protector for your refrigerator.
When a refrigerator starts up, it requires quite a bit of starting power, and then the power requirements reduce and stabilizes. If you do not have the right experience, you must understand a few important things.
The starting currents required for the starting of refrigerator compressors are around three to seven times more than many other office appliances such as television sets, washing machines, dishwashers, etc.
Hence, you must buy the right surge or voltage protectors.
The recommended power handling capacity of refrigerators is around 1500 volts.
This should be enough to protect the refrigerator both from high and low voltage risks and the dangers associated with it.
Importance of Joule Rating
There are many factors that should be considered when choosing a surge protector. These include the number of outlets that the surge protector will handle, the cord length, and other such options.
However, the most important thing is perhaps to find the right answer to the question, how many joules do I need for a refrigerator surge protector.
Joule rating is nothing but a rating that shows how much electricity and energy the surge protector can handle before it crashes.
You must always look for a surge protector with a higher joule rating. This will automatically increase the protection that it perhaps can provide.
When you are protecting an expensive refrigerator, you must not cut corners. You must do your research and then buy the right make, model, and specification of the surge protector.
You should always go in for a surge protector with around 2000 to 2000 joules. This should be enough to protect your refrigerator from violent and deep voltage fluctuations.
There are surge protectors with smaller joule capacity in the range of 1000 to 2000. They could be good enough for blenders, digital clocks, lamps, and computers.
While technology has changed as far as surge protectors are concerned, you must always focus on joule capacity and power as the two most important characteristics.
- Do not hesitate to spend money on the best surge protector for refrigerators.
- Going for poorly rated surge protectors will mean that you are putting your expensive refrigerators to the risk of voltage fluctuations and electricity surges. You could damage either the whole unit or some parts of it completely and irreversibly.
Will My Refrigerator Be Completely Damaged By Power Surges?
Many customers may ask the question as to why there is a need for an external power surge protector. This is because most refrigerator manufacturers claim that they have a built-in surge protector. While this may be true with most refrigerators, the inbuilt surge protector alone may not be able to offer complete and total protection.
We need to understand that the compressor is designed to operate in a cyclic mode. In other words, it has to start and stop constantly. Each starting cycle requires a supply of high starting currents.
As mentioned above, the current required at the starting is several times higher than the nominal one. This means a power surge protector is required even if your refrigerator manufacturer or dealer says so. It is better to be proactive in protecting your refrigerator rather than being reactive.
Any Other Ways to Protect Refrigerators from Surge Protection?
There are other ways to insulate the refrigerator from surges. Connecting it to a UPS or Uninterrupted Power Supply device would be a good idea.
It will help in providing continuous power supply of the right voltage and surge, even when there is a power outage or when there are violent power fluctuations.
However, the problem with UPS systems is that they are extremely expensive and they also require constant maintenance and battery replacements may also be needed.
The Final Word
We believe that the above would have given our readers a reasonably good insight into the importance of surge protectors for refrigerators. There is no doubt that it is a small price to pay for increasing the health and durability of your refrigerator. There are many options and choices available, and if you spend some time, you will be able to shortlist and eventually buy a surge protector of the right make, model, and capacity. Never compromise on this because of the various reasons mentioned above.
References:
https://blog.tripplite.com/what-are-surge-protector-joules-and-how-many-do-i-need
https://www.echogear.com/blog/how-many-joules-of-surge-protection-do-i-need/