Getting to carry on with your business without any form of interruption is everyone`s desire. Getting home to a blacked out house is the worst situation ever to find yourself in after a day full of hustling for your daily bread. This calls for a back-up plan to take care of your business or home in moments the utility company disappoints. A generator, solar power system or inverter-charger comes to mind of which forms the secondary source of power supply with the utility company becoming the primary source of power supply. How do you switch on to the secondary power supply in case of primary power supply failure?
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| A Manual Change-Over Switch |
A change-over, also known as Transfer switche, is mean`t to `transfer' your power needs from the grid connected power source to a local generator in case of failure of the primary power source of supply. They are mean`t to be reliable, compact, reliable and versatile Electrical equipment.
There are majorly two major types of change-over switches; automatic and manual change-over switches. In case you are faced with the two options , which one would you go for?
(a) Manual Change- over switch - The occupants have to flip the switch to get the power supply from the secondary source. Of importance to note is that the generator should be turned on while the switch is still on `OFF' position.
i. Advantages
- They cost less to design, fabricate and install
- It is smAller in size
- Maintenance free or little required
ii. Disadvantages
- It is not applicable in sensitive industrial environment where a millisecond of power outage would lead to massive loses
- It would be cumbersome and tiresome if an area is very much prone to power outages
(b) Automatic Change- over switch - This where by the power is automatically switched on in case of a power black-out or should there be a problem with your mains supply.
i. Advantages
- You are assured of uninterrupted power supply especially in critical applications such as hospitals
- The change-over to generator supply is very efficient as it happens without the need to locate the switch as is the case with manual change-over switch
- In case your generator is easily accesed, this is recommended.
ii. Disadvantages
- Some are known to respond to false signal. The generator might be turned on leading to wastage.
- They cost way more than the manual change-over units
- They require more maintenance compared to the manual counter parts
So, which would you go for?
Talk to us for Mechanical and Electrical Building Services design and build. Call us: +254780122255/+254735691990 or email us: info@relemech.co.ke/relemech@gmail.com.
