What is a power failure?
A power failure (also known as a power cut, power outage, power loss, or blackout) is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.
When the fault is resolved, the power is automatically restored.
Major Reasons Of Power Failure At Home Or Office
Damaged Wires: Damaged wires, if remained unattended, may cause a power failure at your home or office. If you see any damaged wire at your home, call an electrician.
Faulty Appliances: Do you have any faulty appliances at your home? Get them fixed by an electrician or throw them away. They could be one of the major reasons for a power cut or power failure.
Short Circuits: A short circuit is the most commonly used term to describe the cause of a power failure.
Spikes: A temporary increase in the electrical supply voltage can result in a power failure or power outage. Its usually caused by tripped circuit breakers or short circuits.
Overloading: One of the common reasons for no electricity is overloading of the electricity mains. This is caused by using electric equipment that draws more power than what the circuitry can handle.
Momentary circuit interruptions: A fault is caused when electric lines come in contact with some object. Breakers, similar to the ones found in your office or home sense the fault and cause momentary interruption of power to clear the lines and check the system.
Transformer Failures: Transformers form a very important part of the power distribution systems and can take a while to replace if they malfunction.
Scheduled Maintenance: Power generation and distribution companies need to schedule maintenance work from time to time. Though this may be frustrating, it is needed for lone term viability of the system.
Rolling Blackouts: Rolling blackouts or load shedding may be done by power companies if consumption is more than generation.
Power Surges: Power surges are a curse for the electrical system. Power surges lead to overheating and loss of expensive equipment.
Aging Of Cables: The serving life of a cable is greatly reduced when it is operated outside of optimal operating environment that it was originally designed for. Such an aging process typically results sin cracking, embrittlement and ultimately failure of the sheathing and insulating materials which exposes the conductor and may lead to short circuit or even fire.
Heating Of Cables: The heat may be a result of some external source or it may be generated due to the resistance to current – this is more likely to occur if the cable is overloaded or underrated.
Faulty Circuit Breakers: If your office or home face power failure frequently, or it the circuit breaker cuts off power to the entire home/office instead of just the circuit it is protecting, then you may have a faulty circuit breaker.
