Can the house wiring carry more voltage than its designed too? How are surges handle and what about surge protectors?
Is it possible that a surge can melt the house wiring and cause fire?
It is pretty common to confuse over voltage with over current.
Your household wiring’s specifications are established to handle a certain amount of electric current ( amperage).
When a device, let’s say a washer, is running well it draws 15 amps. The wiring going from your breaker to the washing machine itself will be designed to handle at least 45 amps so the breaker is a 30 amp breaker.
The only way the dryer will draw more than 15 amps is if there is a short. Let’s suppose there’s a short in the washing machine and the electric current ramps up to 30 amps. The breaker will trip and protect the wires from catching fire.
The power company does send voltage ’spikes’ but they only last a few milliseconds and will typically be only a few hundred volts. Your MOV’s in your surge protectors are primarily to suppress high voltage ( thousands of volts) lightning strikes and should be replaced once you know you have had an strike.
In a nutshell, your household wiring will be all right because they’re protected by the circuit breakers. The wires can fail if they take a direct lightning hit. The electric company will not be able to send a surge that will place your wiring in danger of catching fire, and your surge protector will protect your devices from a spike.
