Spring and summer in Southwest Florida come with nearly daily thunderstorms. Florida storms are known for their numerous lightning strikes. These storms are often intense and short in nature. One minute it’s sunny, the next the sky darkens and you have a torrential downpour. Five minutes later, it’s sunny again. Welcome to Florida!

It is important to consider the power surges that can accompany these storms and protecting electronic equipment is important if you wish not to fry your investments.

A power surge doesn’t have to be caused by a direct hit to your home. A near miss also all cause electricity to travel through the ground to your home. Storms can also down power lines with heavy wind and rain. When there is a blackout, the power grid redirects power in an attempt to compensate for the outage. This can cause changes in the flow of electric current, including spikes and surges.

Power surges can also be internal. These are a result of changes in the power demands within a home.  Turning on your TV or stove can create a greater demand for electricity and cause the current to flow differently throughout the house.  A change in flow can cause spikes. The larger the power requirement, the greater the change will be.  Even smaller surges, if not mitigated with some kind of protection, can cause damage.

Power surges can damage electronic equipment by sending more electric current into equipment than it is created to handle.  Modern electronics that rely on microprocessors and related technology are sensitive to elevated electric current. The electric overload often overheats sensitive wires within the equipment, and even if a single surge is not enough to burn out those wires, over time the damage can accumulate.  Eventually, the equipment will stop working.

It is important to consider ways to protect electronic equipment from the effects of power surges.  Installed power surge protection acts by shunting any sudden excess electric current into a grounding wire and harmlessly away from sensitive equipment, maintaining the expected and appropriate power level for that equipment. Surge protectors can be implemented individually at an outlet or installed overall to cover the entire house.

Residents of Southwest Florida should be aware of the danger of power surges, especially because of the region’s frequent summer storms.  All Day Air Cooling & Heating recommends whole-house surge protection to best protect all the appliances in the home at the electric panel.  Call (239) 357-0727 to discuss your own surge protection needs with an expert. www.alldayaircooling.com.

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