With hurricane season bearing down on the Gulf Coast, it’s easy to forget about the hazards big storms create with regard to power outages and electrical surges. Home maintenance steps before or during hurricane season should include installing whole home surge protectors to protect sensitive, expensive electronics, home entertainment enters and HVAC equipment, including central air conditioners and heat pumps.
An empty surge protector
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A typical home experiences more than 300 potentially damaging power surges annually.
Electrical surges and spikes are powerful bursts of electricity that can damage electrical and electronic equipment; they’re caused either by lightning, disruptions and surges in the regional electrical grid, or power spikes within the home.
A good whole home surge protector will protect your home from incoming power spikes and surges; so-called “bounce surges” or spikes from appliances in the home; and electrical conduction from lightning in the area. The surge in voltage gets diverted to a grounded component in the surge protector.
Top Reasons for Whole Home Surge Protection
- You won’t get surge protection from a standard electrical outlet.
- Power strips with surge protection only protect single items.
- There’s probably no better reason for effective surge protection than your home’s central air conditioning, which is probably the most expensive system in your home.
Whole home surge protectors should be installed by a licensed electrician but are well worth the cost in protecting all of your expensive electronics.
To further discuss the benefits of surge protection in the North Houston & The Woodlands area or other ways to protect your HVAC equipment during hurricane season, please contact Bradbury Brothers Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical and rest assured we are licensed to install a whole home surge protector for your home.
