Power quality problems can be dangerous.
They can potentially cause home electrical fires, electrocutions, damage to appliances and electronics, and even community wildfires in dry climate regions.
Ting helps you protect your family and home from electrical fires, and while on the job can also reveal how 'healthy' the power in your home really is. While Ting is on the lookout for tiny signals indicative of electrical fire hazards, it also serves as an accurate high-quality power quality monitor.
Not all power quality problems are dangerous. Assuredly, Ting distinguishes those that are, by measuring Voltage (V), a primary unit of measurement for electricity, 30 million times every second.
Ting will notify you of quality events via an app notification on your smartphone. But, again, these events are not always indicative of a dangerous situation.
What if the situation is dangerous? If Ting determines that the nature of the events is related to a more acute and potentially hazardous issue, you'll be notified of a Utility Fire Hazard (UFH) in your app and will be contacted directly by the Ting Fire Safety Team.
Utility Fire Hazards (UFHs)
Importantly, as part of your Ting Service, we will alert you if Ting deems hazardous any power quality problems, in the form of a Utility Fire Hazard (UFH) notification.
If Ting determines power problems are hazardous...
We will alert you via the Ting Sensor app and via email, phone, and/or SMS. And, we'll guide you at every step until the issue is remediated by your Electric Utility.
Scroll down to learn more.
If Ting identifies a Utility Fire Hazard...
...this means that your Electric Utility company is sending dangerous power into your home. While we would prefer to contact your utility directly on your behalf, most utilities will only work with you, their direct customer. Not to worry, though; we'll guide you along the way.
It is imperative that you contact your Electric Utility to instruct them to correct this problem as soon as possible. To assist you, we’ve outlined a few basic steps below that you'll need to take. We also include a communication template below for reporting the issue to your Electric Utility.
Take action immediately - here's how
We've found that emailing your Electric Utility company works relatively well. Forwarding your most recent Ting Home Monitoring Email and requesting assistance is an easy way to make contact, assuming your Electric Utility has an email address for support.
What you'll need:
> Your home address
> Your Electric Utility company account number
Including your account number is not required but recommended
> Your most recent Ting Home Monitoring email
These are sent weekly to the email used to activate your Ting Service; you will be forwarding this email to your Electric Utility company
> A help or support email address for your Electric Utility Company
Most Utilities provide a support email address. However, this is not always the case. Normally this can be found on an electric utility bill, in email communications from your electric utility company, or online on their website.
Next, perform these steps:
(1) Open your most recent Ting Home Monitoring Report email, and click ‘Forward’. Then:
> Enter your Electric Utility company’s support/service email address in the “To” line
> Replace the subject line with the following: Subject: Dangerous Power Quality and Fire Hazard at My Home
(2) Next, select and copy all the text in our communication template. You can view this template by clicking the yellow button below. Once it appears, select and copy all the text.
My Account #: < your account #>
To whom it may concern:
I have installed an accurate, reliable, and high-resolution power quality monitor in my home (Ting, by Whisker Labs). Ting has been detecting dangerous electric power being delivered to my home. This is likely the result of a dangerous Loose Neutral condition on the utility side of the electric meter. Please see details in my Ting Home Monitoring Report included below. {only include this next sentence if factual}. I have also been experiencing flickering lights in my home.
I am requesting that <UTILITY NAME> send an experienced Troubleman (not a standard technician) to my home immediately to complete diagnostics and mitigate this hazard.
To be clear for the record, <UTILITY NAME> is delivering dangerous power to my home that has the potential to cause one or more of the following:
-
an electrical fire in my home
-
an electrocution risk
-
damage or destruction of devices and appliances in my home, and
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{only include #4 if your home is in a wildfire-prone area} a community wildfire
Please share this information to whomever is necessary to get this problem corrected ASAP. Please contact me with any questions you may have.
Thank you,
<YOUR NAME>
<YOUR ADDRESS>
<YOUR PHONE NUMBER>
(3) Paste the copied text into the body of your email.
After pasting the text into your email, make the proper adjustments to any text in orange:
> Adjust the orange text as required with your information. For instance, replace <UTILITY NAME> with the name of your Electric Utility company.
> Remove any text which does not apply to your situation. For instance, utilities often respond faster to complaints of flickering lights, but please only include this sentence if it is factual. The data in your weekly Ting email should be sufficient to prompt action by the utility.
(4) You're all set - click 'send'.
If you have any questions or concerns or require further assistance, our expert team at [email protected] will be happy to assist you!
Common power problems
The power delivered to your home is typically supplied at a normal voltage of 120V plus or minus 10%, or a range from 108V - 132V. However, the voltage can deviate from this 108V – 132V range for short periods and not be dangerous. Ting will send you Brownout or Surge notifications if the voltage could potentially damage appliances or devices. Occasional Brownout or Surges are power quality problems but are not of significant concern. However, recurring power brownouts (low voltage) can cause damage to your appliances and devices. Ting will separately notify you if recurring power quality problems are deemed hazardous.
The most common power quality problems are:
- Surges: events when voltage spikes to values >132V for a period of time that could cause damage to devices and appliances. The severity of a surge is determined by both the amplitude of the spike (how high did the voltage go), and the time duration of the spike. Just because voltage exceeds 132V for a very brief period does not mean that the event was technically a surge. Ting considers all factors when determining whether an event was a true surge.
- Brownouts (sometimes referred to as sags): events when the voltage drops below 108V for a period of time that could cause damage to devices and appliances. The severity of a brownout is determined by both the amplitude of the drop or sag (how low did the voltage go), and the time duration of the drop. Just because voltage drops below 108V for a very brief period does not mean that the event was technically a brownout. Ting considers all factors when determining whether an event was a true brownout.
In many cases, a single power quality event, or problem, will not necessarily cause damage (depending on the severity), but an accumulation of power quality problems can lead to damage to important devices in your home.
Learn more about power quality.
Below are a few resources about power quality and steps you can take to help prevent damage to your devices.