Summer is the sunniest and therefore the hottest season of the year. With such weather conditions, its understandable that many people crank up the air conditioner as high as possible to cool things down around the house. Along with this sunny weather sometimes comes humid conditions that can create thunderstorms. Unfortunately, AC companies recommend not leaving your unit on during weather events such as these.
In this post, Poormans Heating & Air explains the reasons why you shouldnt keep running your AC running during thunderstorms.
Lightning Strikes
While its rare for lightning strikes to hit your home, theres still a possibility that it could happen. When it does, it will cause a huge surge of power through your homes electrical system, which will then trip your breakers. The five billion joules of energy that this power surge brings could cause serious damage to an operating air conditioner, making a call to yourheating and cooling company for a repair or replacementnecessary.
Air Conditioner Damage
The main damage a lightning strike can do to your air conditioner is to melt its plug. It can also damage your air conditioners already sensitive control panel, requiring extensive repairs just to get it in working order again. The systems controls can also be corrupted if a lightning strike occurs while the air conditioner is in operation.
How Do I Protect My Air Conditioner?
The best way to protect your air conditioner is to turn off and unplug the unit for the duration of the thunderstorm. Thunderstorms create cooler temperatures, so youll still have some level of comfort even when the air conditioner isnt in use. Surprisingly enough, surge protectors dont provide the appropriate amount of protection to prevent damage from lightning surges. Instead, consider having a protection system installed or use lightning rods to create an alternate path for the lightning to reach the ground and stop it from traveling through your homes electrical system.
Turn to Poormans Heating & Air for your heating and cooling needs. We’re your leading provider of AC repair and commercial heating services. Give us a call at (260) 200-4811 or fill out our contact form to request a quote.