The number of electrical appliances in the homes of citizens is growing every day. If earlier people in the house had a refrigerator and a TV from electrical devices, today you can count dozens of different elements of digital and household appliances. As a result, the demand for electricity is also growing. At the same time, many people live in old houses that were built 40 or even 50 years ago. But why do you need a voltage stabilizer? And everything is simple. The wiring in these houses and the power lines to them are designed for low energy consumption by the residents. This means that voltage fluctuations in the mains cannot be ruled out. Even in large cities there are similar problems, but in villages and small towns the situation is horrendous.
What is a voltage stabilizer for?
Household and digital appliances (in most cases) cannot boast of resistance to power surges. Any drop or sharp rise can becomethe cause of breakdowns of electrical appliances (refrigerators, computers, TVs). By the way, it is household appliances (not digital) that suffer from this problem the most. Large electrical heating appliances such as boilers, which are extremely sensitive to voltage stability, are at particular risk.
You can avoid such situations - use a special device that can always provide a stable voltage to the electrical network of the home. That's what a voltage stabilizer is for.
Who doesn't need this device?
Not all people need it, because in most Russian cities the voltage in the network is stable. It makes no sense to buy this device if 230 V is constantly maintained in the house without any fluctuations in any direction. Why do you need a voltage stabilizer in this case? Even if you install it, then its work for 99% of the time will be useless. Perhaps someday he will save the TV, because in theory, network drops are possible.
Who needs it?
However, this thing is really necessary for those people who suffer from unstable electricity in the house. And although in theory it is possible to sue the company that provides electricity and compensate for the damage if the refrigerator or other equipment in the house breaks down, this is difficult to do. At a minimum, you will have to fix the fact of a power surge and prove that the refrigerator burned down precisely because of the poor quality of the service provided.
Benefit of using stabilizer
Are you still wondering what a voltage stabilizer is for? When using it:
- All electrical appliances in the house will be powered by the network for which they are designed. Therefore, their service life will increase and power consumption will decrease.
- All appliances in the house will be protected from power surges, and even if it happens, computer and household appliances will not fail.
Note that powerful devices that are installed at the entrance of the electrical wiring to the house are quite expensive. Sometimes it makes sense to use a cheap and low-power stabilizer that can only power one computer, for example. This solution is often used in private homes and even offices. Also, many users are interested in whether a voltage stabilizer is needed for a gas boiler. If the voltage in the house is unstable, then this device is necessary for the boiler. The automation of the boiler is powered by the mains, and a power surge can disable it. If this happens in winter, then the heating system of the house provided by the boiler will stop. Now you know whether a voltage stabilizer is needed for the boiler, but which one is already an urgent question.
Varieties of stabilizers
Output voltage stability is achieved in many ways. There are dozens of options for network stability schemes, but not all are effective. The following stabilizers are currently sold in stores:
- Steppeddevices based on mechanical or solid state relays - they are based on a standard transformer. Everything works simply: current is supplied to the primary winding, and the output voltage is removed from the secondary winding, the relay switches the voltage between them. Typically, the switching step is 10-15 V, which allows you to correct fluctuations from 5-7%. This is a very weak indicator, but such a scheme is cheap and common. Most stabilizers on the market work exactly like this.
- Electromechanical. A transformer is also used here, but instead of a relay, the movement of the brush along the winding is used as a switch for the turns of the secondary winding. These devices are reliable, but are more expensive. Moreover, they have a serious drawback - a slow reaction rate. Sharp power surges in the network will simply not have time to smooth out.
- Ferroresonant - these devices are very expensive and large, so they are almost never used in everyday life. These are the most reliable and accurate units, and they are used only where sensitive and expensive equipment works.
- Device based on double current conversion. Like ferroresonance, these stabilizers are also expensive, but also effective. Here, the alternating current is converted to direct current, after which the direct current is transformed back into alternating current. This allows you to smooth out the smallest fluctuations, as a result of which we will get a stable voltage at the output.
What should I choose?
Speaking about what kind of voltage stabilizer is needed for a gas boiler or other household appliances, we can only recommend choosing electromechanical stabilizers. Stepped ones are also suitable, but they are only effective when the voltage is only slightly unstable. Therefore, it is best to focus on more expensive, but effective electromechanical devices. As for ferroresonant regulators or double current conversion devices, they are very expensive and often unavailable.
Conclusion
Now you know which voltage regulator is needed for a refrigerator or other household appliances. Finally, it is appropriate to warn you against low-quality Chinese stabilizers, which only create the appearance of work. It should be understood that this device must be extremely reliable and of high quality, because how efficiently expensive digital and household appliances in the house will work, how long it will last depends on its operation. A stabilizer is a prerequisite for dwellings in which at least once a month there is a change in voltage in the mains. You need to complain about this and seek a solution from the company providing electricity, and in case of damage to the equipment, you even need to sue it. But it is much easier and cheaper to buy a stabilizer.
