How to Protect Your Oklahoma Home From Power Surges

If your home is vulnerable to power surges, this could cause immediate damage to your appliances or have a cumulative effect that might eventually contribute to system failure. Surges are created by lightning strikes, when the electric provider switches from one grid to another, or whenever power is being restored after an outage.Fortunately, there are a few options for protecting all of your electronics, whether you do it individually for each device, or as a whole-house system.

• Before you purchase or use a power strip, verify that it is, in fact, a surge protector. The packaging should state that it's a surge protector, an interrupter switch, or a fused strip. The best surge protectors carry the UL 1449 standards rating. Some surge protectors let you plug incoming cable or internet lines into them to minimize the risk of higher voltage electricity going through these low-voltage wires.

• Use single plug-in protectors for appliances that use more electricity, like your refrigerator, washer and dryer. Look for the devices that have a light that shines when the plug is working. When the light goes out, it's time to replace the plug.

• Service entrance protection devices will protect your entire home from power surges. They must be installed by a licensed electrician to prevent electrical device damage. They can also protect all of your switches, outlets and wires from any power surge damage.

• Using whole-house surge protection can prevent damage to your HVAC system, along with other valuable and indispensable appliances. During a storm, your power can go out unexpectedly, and when it comes back on, a surge my occur. A surge can damage the components inside your HVAC system, taking it out of commission until it's repaired or replaced.

To learn more about preventing power surges, contact Air Assurance. We've been providing HVAC services for Broken Arrow homeowners for more than 30 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Andrew Scherbackov/Shutterstock”

Surge Protectors Help Your Home's Energy Efficiency

A surge protector protects your electronics in the event of a lightning strike, electrical system failure, or power outage. Spikes or drops in the electrical current traveling through your home’s electrical system can damage appliances, HVAC system components, computers, and home theater equipment. These fluctuations, which may be the result of lightning strikes, tripped circuit breakers or short circuits, are unavoidable, but installing a surge protector helps prevent these surges from causing damage.

These devices can provide more than just protection, though. They can also help lower energy and maintenance or repair costs. Homeowners have a few options in terms of the types of surge protectors available. These can be divided into two categories:

1. Whole house: controls the flow of electricity into your home.

2. Point of entry or use: Controls the flow of electricity from the outlet to the item plugged into it.

A whole house surge protector is wired into your home’s electrical system to protect your entire home. Point of entry devices are connected directly to the items you wish to protect and are available in a few different types. These include:

• Computer surge protectors have inlets for coaxial cable, standard plugs and Ethernet cables.

• Standard surge protection devices consist of multiple outlets on a power strip. These should not be confused with a standard power strip, which works like a multi-outlet extension cord, but does not provide surge protection.

• Home theater surge protectors have numerous outlets, as well as inputs for coaxial cable.

• Energy conservation surge protectors protect most types of electrical equipment, and help reduce the amount of energy used in your home. They consist of two outlets that are always on, and additional outlets that can be turned off when not in use.

A combination of whole house and point of entry devices typically provides the best protection and energy savings.

For more information about surge protection and its benefits in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow area please contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

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