Electrifying Monsoon Storms are Coming! Is Your Air Conditioner Protected?

by | Jun 24, 2020 | HVAC Blog

Your Air Conditioning Comfort System, like your other appliances, is designed to channel electricity and needs a steady, uninterrupted electrical current. A power surge, such as a lightning strike, endangers all the appliances you depend on daily – and for which you’ve invested a small fortune! An air conditioner surge protector can help.

What is a power surge?

A “power surge” means there’s a massive spike of current hurled through your electrical system. It only lasts a fraction of a second, but one zap can cause permanent damage. Power surges are caused by controllable and uncontrollable events and made worse by a variety of things including bad wiring and unpreparedness.

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What causes power surges?

Lightening is the most powerful, most destructive and most uncontrollable cause of power surge. Spikes or interruptions in the flow of electricity pose a particularly serious risk to your air conditioner’s compressor, a key component of your comfort system. The compressor, or the “outside” portion of your system, controls the flow of refrigerant. It’s the engine that drives your air conditioner. A lightning strike can easily compromise it. Without a surge protector there is no alternate channel for the overwhelmingly excessive current to be discharged.

Even if you avoid a direct hit during a storm, no unprotected home is immune to the effects of the power surge created when the power grid is restored. Restoration of power after downed power lines may be a welcomed relief but it is associated with damaging power surges.

As you might already know, the power grid doesn’t always function perfectly.
Interruption of service during power plant maintenance may be expected, if inconvenient. But just because it’s expected — and controllable — it doesn’t mean the subsequent sudden spike in current isn’t damaging.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, power disturbances cost homeowners a whopping $79 billion each year.

Your appliances, no matter their size or price tag, are all equally vulnerable to the damaging effects of power surge. Power surges, brownouts, and blackouts, common during periods of high energy consumption, do not discriminate between neighborhoods. If a power surge destroys your coffeemaker, you might not hesitate to replace it. But what will you do if a power surge fries your air conditioning system? All critically important and costly appliances should have some sort of surge protection.

Faulty wiring you can control!

Obsolete, damaged or faulty electrical wiring conditions offer little electrical resistance making a power surge more likely to be destructive. Since it is difficult to check your HVAC wiring without getting on your roof, Oasis checks that for you at every seasonal maintenance visit. Always tell your technician if you’ve noticed a burning smell or if circuit breakers have been tripping frequently.

An HVAC Surge Protector isn’t just an over-engineered contraption. It is real protection.

Surge protectors are designed to protect sensitive electronic components from power surges by instantly grounding additional voltage before it ever reaches them. A surge protector on your Comfort System will divert the excess electricity and shut off your HVAC system to save its electrical components.

A Surge Protector takes the knockout punch so your air conditioning equipment doesn’t have to.

With a surge protector standing guard, you can avoid the aggravation and expense of system replacement.

You can relax …

because your home will be comfortable through the hottest, wettest months of the year, no matter how many power surges or brownouts the summer storms bring!

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A surge protector isn’t invincible forever. Like any prize fighter, it can take only so many punches!

Exposure to multiple power disturbances, your surge protector must be inspected twice year. At Oasis, we inspect your surge protector routinely during your biannual maintenance service visit. Your tech will let you know if you have a surge protector in place and when it should be replaced.

Simple and effective, with painless maintenance requirements, a professionally installed surge protector eliminates worry.

You deserve a little peace of mind.
Ask Oasis to Check Your Surge Protector on Your Next Maintenance Service Visit
(520) 648-1755

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