On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:14:48 GMT, CJT wrote:

wrote:

I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

I would say not in a new neighborhood. But in an established
neighborhood it would be surprising (to me).



Actual service performance results vary by location, and, to a certain
extent, luck. For example, if you are served by the same substation
as a hospital or police station (which are considered mission critical
facilities by most utilities), you might well have the benefit of
multiple source feeders that switch over in a fraction of a second if
there is any significant fault.

If, on the other hand, you live way out in the country at the end of
the electric lines, you may not be so lucky. If you've ever seen
your lights flash during an electrical storm before going out, you may
be downstream from what the utilities call an automatic recloser.
The automatic recloser may open the line for one second or so, one,
two, or even three times... Downstream switches may be set to shed
load at any of these intervals in an attempt to clear the fault. If
you are in the first group to be shed, you will be out-of-luck and in
the dark.

Bottom line, certain customers (mostly at the end of the line and in
isolated locations) are connected with few or no redundant
connections. It is not economical for the utility to do so. But if
it matters enough to you, you always have the options of backup
generators and UPS's.

Also, to the person who suggested that 3 phase power is not supplied
to residences... not true at all. Many condominiums and apartment
buildings are supplied with 3 phase power. The actual dwelling units
may have only single phase service equipment, but often the common
area electrical equipment (elevators, blowers, pumps, air
conditioners, etc.) are 3 phase.

Beachcomber