Top 3 Pros And Cons Of Using An Automatic Transfer Switch For Your Establishment

Consistent power supply is essential for most major establishments that are now dependent on the electric supply for the powering of major devices and security mechanisms. Often major establishments like the hospitals, banks, data centers, big corporate offices, prisons, and IT hubs put in high-power generators in place to ensure there is a consistent supply of electricity even under conditions of mechanical failures or power shortage. The establishments might have either new or used generators in place; however, the efficiency of these devices depends on the power transfer mechanism, which is the main function for these devices.

The power transfer mechanism is vastly depending on the type of load transfer switches that have been installed with your system. Many establishments continue to ponder over the pros and cons of the two main types of load transfer switches – Manual and automatic. While the manual switches need to be triggered by a personnel of the establishment, the Automatic Transfer Switch is triggered seamlessly at any indication of blackouts. Here is a look at the three major pros and cons of the automatic versions of load transfer switches.

Advantages of Automatic transfer switches

• The biggest advantage of automatic power transfer switch is that it can automatically transfer the load of the power on to the generator. This makes the transition from main power supply to the generator seamless and the establishment does not lose even a minute of time in the power break.

• The second advantage of an automatic changeover switch s that it has built in sensors to detect any fluctuations in the voltage and frequency of the main power supply. These sensors have an optimum set mark and if the power goes below his mark, the generator will automatically trigger on. If there is a power trip at any one part of the establishment, the generators will handle the shortage of power created due to that issue.

• The final advantage of the switches is that they have a time delay mechanism, which strives to protect both the generator device and your electric circuits from the fluctuations in power. The time delay strikes at between 0-5 seconds during the beginning of the power transfer from main to generator. The end of the transfer session has a time delay of 1- 30 minutes where the generator normalizes according to the main power supply before the full transfer of circuits is made on to the main.

Disadvantages of the automatic power switches

• The major disadvantage of the automatic transfer switches is that there is a higher margin of error for many establishments. There can be discrepancies in choosing the appropriate power of switch to support the number of generators an establishment has in place. This often leads to the failure of the entire mechanism.

• The second disadvantage is that the automatic switches are a tad bit more expensive than manual switches.

• The automatic switches will also need a more technical and elaborate maintenance routine as compared to the manual switches.