What is a Power Outage? The Causes and Ways to Prevent It

With electricity being such an integral part of our daily lives, making us very dependent on electricity. Therefore, sudden power outages may affect us negatively in all aspects, starting from halting business operations, office work, activities at home, to difficulties getting access to news and entertainment. What’s even more important is, power outages may hinder us from seeing better at night.

Basically, all electrical networks provided by PLN has been designed in such a way to withstand any physical damages and human errors that may potentially turn the system off. Although for the most part the system works just fine, there are cases where there may be system failures causing power outages. Therefore, to avoid this, it is best for us to prepare ourselves other potential causes of power outages and steps you can take to prevent it.

Understanding Power Outages

Power outages is a situation where there is no electrical power. There are a range of things that may be causing this, but whatever the reason, power outages will usually affect a whole area or district, not just one singular home. If there are cases of only one house experiencing power outages, there is a big chance that the problem lies on the circuit breaker or other problems on that home itself.

Causes of power outages and ways to prevent it

Power outages may be caused by many unexpected things. Here are some of the causes of power outages that are most common and steps you can take to prevent it.

1. Trees that are too high

Trees that grow too high may disrupt the cable networks transmitting electricity and cause the power to go out in your home. Luckily, you may minimize this risk by always keeping an eye on the trees around your home. If you see a tree that is starting to grow towards electrical wires, you may seek services to cut down the tree. Remember, don’t attempt to cut down a tree on your own since it may be dangerous.

Also read: What is Electrical Power Cable?

2. Increased energy use

Did you know? An increase in energy use may be overloading the electrical distribution system, which in the end may cause power outages. To avoid this, you may reduce electric consumption in your home by doing the following.

• Switching off all electronic devices that are not in use by unplugging it from the wall outlet to ensure there are no extra energy given to devices not in use.
• During day time, turn off all lights that are not needed. Instead, take advantage of natural sunlight as your source of light. You may switch the lights back on once it starts to get dark outside.
• AC is one of the electronic devices consuming the most energy. If possible, use AC only when you need it. When the weather is cool outside, open the windows and let the wind cool down the room.

Also read: 3 Main Causes of Power Outages and Ways To Prevent It

3. Natural disasters

Natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes, thunder strike, and many more may cause the disturbance on the electrical transmission. Unfortunately, since the following are outside of our control makes it inevitable. However, you can manage the power outages caused by natural disasters by using a backup generator. Depending on its capacity, some generators may last up until two days to support your electrical needs in your home whilst PLN technicians work to fix the damaged electrical network. However, don’t forget to also refill the fuel for your generator once the electricity is back on as preparation for when the power goes out again.

Some causes of power outages such as natural disasters or system failures may be hard to fully prevent. However, by following the tips above, it may help you avoid power outages even when the electricity is out.