Power outages and electrical surges are par for the course during hurricane season.

But your sensitive electronics, expensive home entertainment components, and central air conditioning unit don’t have to become casualties of mother nature’s wrath with a whole-house surge protector.

Typically, power flows through the wiring in your home at a constant level of 110 or 220 volts. A power surge is a sudden burst of current that can push thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of volts through your electrical lines and anything that is plugged into an outlet. All this extra power can melt electrical lines, burn insulation, and destroy valuable electronics and appliances.

The three most likely causes are power spikes within the home, these can usually be traced back to larger appliances like your HVAC system or refrigerator, lightning, and disruptions in the electrical grid. Regardless of the cause, effective surge protection can save you thousands of dollars.

You probably already have your computer and a few other electronics plugged into a power strip that doubles as a surge protector, but what about your washing machine, HVAC system, and water heater?

With whole-house surge protection, you don’t have to worry about unprotected electrical outlets because the surge protector is wired directly to the electrical panel so it’s ready to spring into as soon as excess voltage tries to make its way through your electrical system. A whole–house surge protector shields the electrical system itself by preventing the over-voltage from reaching your outlets.

If your hurricane preparedness plan

Power Surges and Spikes

It’s important to protect your homes electronics from power surges that could cause damage. An electrical surge may be caused by power outages, lightning strikes, short circuits and tripped circuit breakers.

Whatever the cause, a sudden increase in current can damage electronics that are drawing power from the surging or spiking outlet. It could even render them completely inoperable, the increase in current having damaged them beyond repair.

How Surge Protectors Help

A surge suppressor (surge protector) is a device inserted in the utility line to prevent damage to electronic equipment from voltage "spikes". A typical surge suppressor is a small box with several utility outlets, a power switch, and a 3-wire cord for plugging into a wall outlet, but there are also surge suppressors that can be hard wired into the electrical panel. A surge suppressor prevents the peak AC voltage from going above a certain threshold thus protecting your electronic devices.

Standard electrical outlets don’t have any protection against power surges and spikes.

Surge protectors use a variety of different methods to do this, but they generally boil down to a system that diverts energy over the safe threshold to a protective component in the surge protector itself. The surge protector ensures that only the normal, safe amount of electricity passes through to your devices.

Get a FREE Surge Suppressor with a new air conditioning installation during July -  10 Year Parts & Labor Warranty *Included with the All-Pro Series*

*Simply continue maintenance with a