PRINCIPAL ISSUES
When Lightning Strikes A look at the importance of power protection by: Bob Sostilio, Sostilio & Associates International Inc.
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here appears to be a lot of attention given to the $30 million surge protector device market this spring and summer with the emergence of Innovolt (www.innovolt.com). Marketing its power protection devices for the first time to the office equipment channel, Innovolt was established in 2005 from Georgia Tech’s Venture Labs. The company is trumpeting in its literature and on its website that its technology “guards against damage from 99.5 percent of all power disturbances” that are known to cause damage to electronics in a variety of ways. Innovolt is trying to penetrate a market that has been dominated by other power protection device vendors like Electronic Systems Protection (ESP, www.realpowerprotection.com), Smart Power Systems (www.smartpowersystems. com) and Panamax (www.panamax.com). ESP is a North Carolina-based company founded in the early 1980s for the specific purpose of providing “clean” power for micro-processor-controlled copiers and has expanded into a worldwide supplier of patented power protection technology in B2B markets. Smart Power Systems of Houston, Texas, opened in 1984. It develops and manufactures its power protection products for point-of-sale devices, MFPs, IT/networking, etc., within the office equipment market. Panamax, founded in 1975, makes power protection devices for industrial and commercial customers. In 2006, it was acquired by Furman Sound and today maintains two product lines: one for the audio/video market and the other for remote surge protection. Common Sense Sostilio and Associates International Inc. (SAI) is not a testing lab and, so, is unable to prove or disprove any of the power protection device suppliers’ claims. But by looking at some empirical data, my belief is that I have been diligent in the past to protect my office equipment from lightning strikes and power disturbances (surges and sags) and have no need to abandon common sense. I have talked to executives at both ESP and Innovolt who make compelling cases for the value of their products and
why they are worthy of consideration. Since this article is about office equipment and its damage attributed to lightning strikes, or the effects of lightning strikes or voltage sags, I thought it best to start with what I already know. I know that a single bolt (strike) of lightning can deliver up to one billion volts, 200,000 amperes and travels at 96,000 miles per second. So, nothing I do to any office equipment product is going to protect it from the damage of a direct lightning strike or the resulting voltage surge when it strikes a transformer on a pole outside my business. But I know that I can take steps to minimize lightning strike-induced effects and, in many cases, install devices that can offer structural and equipment protection. Some Facts Because I live and do business in north central Florida (90 miles north of Orlando and 60 miles west of Daytona), which is the lightning capital of the United States, utility companies here urge home and business owners to use surge protectors on anything that has a power cord, transformer, AC or DC motor, phone lines, and cables from satellite dishes and cable companies. The reason is obvious: We have changed how we hook up and use office equipment and electronic appliances. I found a report by the Insurance Information Institute stating that in 2010 there were more than 213,000 lightning claims throughout the United States, up 15 percent from 2009, but down 23 percent since 2004, perhaps due to the influence of power protection devices. The average claim in 2010 was $4,846, up 13 percent over 2009 and 83 percent higher than 2004’s average because of the higher value of claims. Those claims are for structural losses and the replacement costs of alarm systems, intercom systems, microwave ovens, plasma/ widescreen TVs, home entertainment centers, gaming systems and multiple computer systems. Another report found that in 2004, only 18.2 million U.S. households had networked their entertainment and computer systems, whereas today, more than 38.3 million households have networked their TVs, computers and entertainment centers. They are all susceptible to effects from lightning strikes. In yet another study, I learned that in 2004, only 41 million www.officetechnologymag.c o m | September 2 0 1 1 | 35
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