March 28, 2017

Regardless of the cause, power surges can prove extremely harmful to the electronic appliances and your HVAC system.

In the past couple of decades, the number of high-tech electronic appliances for an average home has increased considerably. Previously, surge protection was considered necessary only if you owned a large screen television. However, today, large electronic appliances such as dishwashers, home phones, and of course the HVAC systems have a great amount of electricity going into them.

Our St. Louis HVAC technicians explain that power surges could be a result of a variety of factors such as power grid problems or lightning strikes. Regardless of the cause, power surges can prove extremely harmful to electronic appliances and your HVAC system. Even a single power surge can cause irreversible damage to the HVAC system and its sensitive components.

The problem with HVAC System and power surges

In times past, HVAC systems used to be mechanical in their functioning and had very few electronic components. However, over the years, with the new higher efficiency models, things have changed. The problem with power surges is that there is no way you can tell what and how much damage it will cause to your HVAC system, if and when it happens.

A large power surge can be devastating, and lead to system failure. In many cases, power surge damaged HVAC systems cannot be repaired and have to be replaced. Although some HVAC systems may withstand a power surge and continue to work without any apparent issues, there could still be some hidden damages. As time passes, these hidden problems could affect the system’s efficiency and cause premature failure. This is the last thing any homeowner would want.

A heavy burden

The problem with power surges is that any damage that results from lightning striking is usually not covered under an HVAC system warranty. Your homeowner’s insurance may include coverage for a lightning strike, but the burden of proof is on you, and so are the costs of replacement and repair following damage to your HVAC system from a power surge.

Reducing the risk

While there is nothing much that you can do to prevent power surges from occurring, there are certain steps you can take to safeguard your HVAC system and other electronic appliances in your home.

A simple way to decrease the risk of surge damage is by adding surge protection to your home and HVAC system. Surge protectors keep a check on incoming current and divert the current to ground when there is an unsafe increase in the current. The entire home power surge protection is installed at the primary breaker box to prevent the systems from damage. The surge protection prevents excessive electric current from damaging the HVAC system circuitry and components. It saves you the expense of unexpected repairs and replacement.