Every year storms cause power surges that can damage your electronics and potentially cause damage to your central A/C unit. Damage to big appliances, like your HVAC, causes greater expense. If the damage occurs in the middle of summer, it also increases discomfort for your whole family. If that’s not enough, surges can come from inside the home such as from older equipment. If you’re interested in protecting your home and gaining a greater peace of mind this year, you might want to consider whole-home surge protection.
Risks of not Having Whole-House Surge Protection
You may experience damage to electronic equipment or big appliances like your HVAC without surge protection. The risk goes up during an electrical storm. Even if you have your sensitive equipment, such as your computer, plugged into power strips they can still become damaged during a power surge or if lightning strikes your home. In fact, the risk of electrical fire goes up during storm season because of electrical damage. A solid lightning strike can not only fry the wiring in your home but cause the surrounding structures to ignite.
Benefits of Whole-House Surge Protection
Surge protection helps homeowners protect electronics from electrical surges. This can give your electronics a longer life with less wear and tear. Whole-house surge protection helps reduce the expense of replacing big appliances, big screen TVs, and computers. As an added benefit and because not all electronic equipment is created the same, you can layer whole house surge protection to give extra coverage to special electronics such as your home theater system. A whole-house surge protection unit even helps decrease the risks caused by electrical storms. You can rest easier knowing that your house and its electronics are protected.
Here Are 5 Considerations When Installing Surge Protection:
1. We are an electronic society
Most of what we add to our household is electronic. We buy and use green tools like smart thermostats that help to regulate our home. We buy amazing electronic entertainment systems with surround sound and theater-like lighting. Our computers, tablets, and smart devices are central to our daily activities. Even our appliances are more than just plugged into the wall. Our coffee pot, washer and dryer, fridge, and range are all smart devices. The more we add electronics to our homes, the more we need surge protection. How much would it cost to replace even a portion of our electronics due to a power surge?
2. Interior Power Surges
Around 80 percent of power surges come from inside the home. When your HVAC or A/C turns off it can cause a power surge inside of your home. The reason is that the residual power in the line that would normally feed the HVAC needs some place to go. It races through your home’s wiring looking for an exit route. When it hits your laptop or big-screen TV it can cause damage. Electricity always looks for the path of least resistance. If that is to your appliances or electronics damage can occur. Internal power surges are caused when a large appliance shuts off. This can include your HVAC, A/C, washer, dryer, or refrigerator.
3. Protecting Your Home’s Infrastructure
One of the most powerful protections you gain from a whole house surge protector is that it protects the home’s internal wiring and outlets. The massive increase in electricity being channeled through your home’s wiring during a power surge is much hotter than the regular electrical load. It can melt wiring or damage outlets. It is a big expense to have to test and replace your home’s electric wires. It means pulling wire through walls to reach outlets. It may also mean digging up and threading wiring through conduits. A surge protector helps eliminate the risk of physical damage to the wiring in your home.
4. Layer surge protection
Electronics, such as your home theater system should have an additional set of protection. Layering the protection to specific groups of gadgets helps add additional protection to those electronics that are more sensitive than others. Home theaters, computers, and big appliances are prime candidates for layered protection. A good way to determine what should have layered surge protection is to look at electronics that are not covered by your homeowner’s insurance, that might cost more than $200 to replace, or that might hold information that cannot be recovered or replaced. A good example would be a home office where your electronic equipment is necessary and where data is difficult to replace.
5. Quality Is Important
Not all surge protectors are created equally. Some brands and models of whole house power surge protectors offer reduced coverage during a power surge. Others may charge more for the same coverage. A good tip is to consult with a professional to ensure you’re properly protected.
These five considerations help you determine if a whole house power surge unit is beneficial to your home. Much of this revolves around adding unexpected expenses such as deductibles for homeowners insurance policies, recovering data, and replacing essential electronics. Because everyone’s budget is different, it becomes necessary that we evaluate these considerations based on our own circumstances. Now that autumn is here, winter storm season is fast approaching. There is still time to install a whole house surge protection system if needed.
Call Integra Electrical Today for the best electrical remodel service in Des Moines and beyond!