Should I unplug my light?

[Salsa777]

Hey all,
Should I unplug my light if a big storm is about to hit, and i don't have surge protector? I dont want to fry my light, but I pretty ignorant about this subject. How does a surge work, (in layman's terms) and can it actually "fry" an LED light fixture?

 

[cjd]

Power surges occur when something boosts the electrical charge at some point in the power lines. This causes an increase in the electrical potential energy, which can increase the current flowing to your wall outlet. A number of different things can cause this to happen.

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 electronics. The best protection is to unplug your electronics.

 

[Playa-1]

That sounds like wise advise to me.

 

[Salsa777]

Unplugged it all night... storm is not gone yet, but I have made it this far without losing power... Come on matthew just blow out to sea now.

 

[Awesome Dennis]

SquareD and leviton make excellent surge suppression systems for the whole house. They are mounted close to the main panel/ service and connected to the panel and help absorb spikes and surges.

 

[mcarroll]

Yeah I wouldn't plug anything in that you value without a surge suppressor inline.

Literally.

I've lost refrigerator motherboards (not a typo), AC motor computer controls and other things to basic power surges. I even put an APC line conditioner on my computer gear.