At some point, we might have experienced a blackout or a brownout, but it’s a bit difficult telling the difference between brownout and blackout. Having a power outage on your first day in your new home or on moving day is something that no house mover wants to experience. Here is what you need to know about these power failures and what causes them.
What Is a Brownout?
Brownout is a type of power outage where the electricity doesn’t go out completely, but there’s a significant drop in the voltage. When a brownout occurs, you can see that the power has dropped to a low current. Some gadgets may even refuse to work during a brownout.
What Causes Brownout?
Several causes of a brownout. The first is a malfunction in the electrical pole or power supply plant. When this happens, repairs have to be made when there’s a low voltage. If there’s a high voltage, the technician simply reduces the voltage of the power plant to make repairs.
Another cause of a brownout may be that your electricity provider intentionally decides to lower power voltage due to the high-power demand. To ensure that power is distributed evenly, they may reduce the voltage. They can also choose to reduce the voltage during a natural disaster. That way, everyone gets power but at a low current
What is a Blackout?
On the other hand, a Blackout is when there’s a total loss of electricity. Unlike brownout, there is no voltage at all when a blackout occurs. Although this rarely happens, blackouts can happen on a small scale affecting just some houses or a street. On a large scale, blackouts can affect an entire city.
What Causes Blackout?
Many reasons cause blackouts. One common cause of a blackout may result from unpaid electricity bills. Once they’re overdue, the electricity company can simply cut off your power. It could also be that your electrical wirings are faulty.
If you notice your home is the only one experiencing a blackout, you can check to see if your circuits or electric fuses are working correctly. Most fuses and circuits come with a safety feature that automatically causes a blackout if an extremely high-power surge is detected. In this case, you simply have to turn it on again. If you notice the blackout happening repeatedly, it may mean that your fuse or circuit is faulty and needs repair.
Another cause and perhaps the biggest reason for a blackout is extreme weather conditions. You can experience a blackout when it’s raining heavily and there’s a strong storm brewing. Blackouts can also happen with too much lightning or a natural disaster like an earthquake.
Some power supply companies also purposely cause a blackout to reduce the amount of power demand they’re getting. They do so because high power demand can cause damage to their power plant. To prevent this from happening, they may choose to cut off the power supply completely. Lastly, a blackout may occur if there’s an accident. There are times when drivers crash into an electric pole. When this happens, power gets disrupted, resulting in a blackout.