Powering Our Drying Equipment

1/31/2020 (Permalink)

A dryer outlet could be used for additional power for drying equipment.

When SERVPRO of Southwest Waukesha gets called out to an emergency water loss, the first thing we do after meeting the property owner is to do a complete and thorough walk-through or scope of the property to assess the extent of the damage. Then, it is time for our team to develop a drying plan. Our crew chiefs will need to account for what kind of materials are affected, potential safety concerns, and what kind of equipment will be the most effective to dry properly. We have industrial grade dehumidifiers, air movers, and axial fans that we use to facilitate the drying wet materials. In addition, we may use several other types of equipment depending on the type of job, air scrubbers, hydroxyl machines, and power distribution units are some of specialty equipment we use. Many homes only support either 100 or 200 amps when it comes to available power. What do we do if our team needs additional power to run more equipment? There are 2 options that we typically utilize:

1. We can potentially use an existing electric dryer or stove outlet, like the one seen in the photo, to allow us to setup a power distribution unit. We can plug our equipment into this unit to allow us to use an additional 50 amps of power. This option is most common and these power distribution units are always on our trucks to ensure our team can deploy this option quickly and efficiently.
2. We may call in a licensed electrician to install a temporary power panel to allow our team of professionals to place more equipment in the home. This option is perfect for large losses that have multiple levels affected or that have many rooms affected.

Call us at 262-542-0900 for all your water damage clean-up needs!