What constitutes vital machinery in your business will be different from anyone else’s, but it generally falls under at least one of two rules. Losing it makes running your business difficult or impossible, and losing it can create a significant financial loss. Depending on your industry, your vital machinery may be:
- Walk-in refrigerators and freezers in a restaurant
- POS registers in a store
- Medical equipment in a nursing home, clinic or hospital setting
- Computers in an office
- Espresso machines in a coffee shop
What constitutes a vital piece of electrical equipment in one setting can be a luxury in another, and only you know what’s on your list. The important thing is to keep your vital machinery running, with no shutdowns for emergencies. The more types of electrical protection you have, the better the odds that you can keep your business open.
Possible Electrical Problems
Power outages are a larger problem here in south Florida than in many other regions of the country. Our weather is a big contributor to loss of power, causing thousands of micro-outages each year. Every time your power blinks, there’s the possibility of damage being done. Storms aren’t the only reason for the power to go out. Damage from traffic accidents or construction site mishaps can cut power for a long time, while older city wiring can tire out before being replaced.
Even if the power is steadily feeding into your building, you can still have a problem with your supply. Every building is wired based on its average expected use. The wiring in your building is rated for what’s expected on an average day. If your power usage increases dramatically for any reason, it can overload the system. Your circuit breaker will shut down the power to the part of the building that’s overloading it.
Forms of Electrical Protection
The most common reason for vital machinery going down is loss of electrical power. In south Florida we’re subject to more lightning strikes than any other state in the country, plus problems with tropical storms, hurricanes and an aging infrastructure. All this adds up to thousands of commercial electrical south Florida business owners with blackouts that may happen at any time.
The problem here isn’t usually the loss of power; most power outages last only seconds. The trouble happens when the power suddenly comes back on, surging through the system. This power surge can burn out computers and fry circuits in any number of crucial machines in your place of business. Your best protection against this is to have your electrician install surge control devices in your building. A surge controller is a buffer against a sudden sharp spike in electrical power, allowing the machinery to turn back on without the damaging effects of the spike. Some surge protectors even have short-term power supplies, allowing your machines to stay on for five to thirty minutes. This gives you enough time to turn your machinery off, eliminating the danger from power surges.
Even if the city power stays on, you can still have a problem by overloading the system. If your vital machinery is located in one central area of the building, such as a group of computers in one office, it’s smart to have your electrician install a dedicated circuit to that one area of your business. Having important machinery on a separate and dedicated circuit means it won’t be affected if a breaker goes off in a different part of the building. It’s another layer of protection, designed to wall off the most crucial machinery from lesser machines such as coffee makers and lamps.
Maintenance Agreements Can Make All the Difference
The smartest form of electrical protection is setting up a maintenance agreement with your electrical contractor. Every piece of electrical equipment, from your circuit breakers to intricate medical machinery, has maintenance needs and schedules. Following those schedules will reduce or eliminate emergency repair calls due to key machinery breaking down. If a machine is in poor repair, it’s more likely to suffer major damage if it goes through a power spike or outage. Your licensed electrician will replace frequently-worn parts before they need changing, as well as inspecting your equipment to look for potential problems that can come up in the future. Prevention is always smarter than repair, and it’s generally much more cost-effective for your business, too.
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