Unplugging could save appliances

• Source: Global Times
• [14:11 August 19 2010]
• Comments

By Liu Dong

As the rainy season continues experts are asking residents to unplug their electrical appliances during lightning spells to reduce the chance of damage to households and computers.

When lightning strikes power circuits that supply electricity to households, home appliances can easily be damaged, or worse, sparks can fly, and in rare cases, ignite fires.

Nearly 50 cases involving residents whose home appliances were damaged from such an occurrence have been reported over the past two months, said Huang Xiaohong, engineer for the Shanghai Lightning Protection Center. He added that several cases were reported from the heavy rainstorms on Tuesday, when the city was struck by some 4,000 bolts of lightning.

According to Huang, electrical circuits belonging to older homes have a greater possibility of being hit by lightning due to less sophisticated wiring used for their electrical circuits compared to those of newer homes.

While lightning-proof sockets, which can be purchased at stores around the city and online, can help protect home appliances during lightning strikes, the devices offer no guarantees, he said.

"The effectiveness of lightning-proof sockets are dependent on the quality of the products, and whether they are properly installed," he told the Global Times Wednesday. "But even good ones that are used correctly aren't as reliable in preventing damage than simply unplugging the devices."