How to tell the difference between a power surge and outage

[Obsoleet]

If you have your breakers trip, this would indicate a surge ? And if you lost power, then it came back on and off but not at full strength for a second (dimmed lights) that would be a regular outage. I've had both of these and would like to know in which case I really have to check into my hardware for stability. In both cases, it was lightening outside.

 

[Blain]

Unless you've been using some type of electrical power data logger, you won't know what]s been going on with your incoming power.

If your PC got screwed up, it would be telling you by having stability issues.
If you have no whole house protection or any protection on your PC, your PS probably took a bit of a hit. It may not show up right now, but it's another chip at the stone.
You can physically inspect at the capacitors on your MB to look for any bulging or leaking.

 

[piasabird]

http://www.wholesalesolar.com/back-up-power.html

This link might be a little extreme.

Might want to try to use a UPS. It can help to stabilize the power. In some areas you might be frequently be getting brown outs when the supply of power fluctuates. It can get so bad that it is like watching a fan speed up and slow down. Computers do not like a fluctuating power source. If you had something like a backup solar power source you might be able to always get a good steady power supply. You could also have a recharger you can plug in at night while you were asleep. Unforntunately this is really expensive. I wonder if a backup power source could qualify for a Green Incentive home improvement. The concept is to charge the backup when you are asleep when power rates are not at their peak say on a timer at night. Another possibility is to couple this with a Solar panel or two to charge it up during the day or to run off of the solar during peak high rate times like in the afternoon when the power is apt to give up.