30 May Monsoon Season in Tucson – Why Your AC Unit Needs a Surge Protector

One of the unique parts about living in the beautiful Tucson desert is the annual monsoons we experience. These storms bring in rain and lightning, and can quickly become severe. Whether you love or hate this aspect of living here, it’s always best to prepare for monsoon season before it arrives. This year, it’s nearly here! You may immediately think about your roof or windows, or even your landscaping, but we’d recommend you also worry about protecting your AC unit with a surge protector.

These storms are capable of bringing frequent lightning that can have drastic effects on your home’s electricity. This can not only cause power outages, but also dangerous power surges. The risk of lightning striking nearby power lines is high, which can cause powerful fluctuations in the electricity in our area, called power surges. When a power surge strikes, the electrical currents in your home can rapidly fluctuate. This can potentially damage any of the electronic devices in your home– including your AC unit. 

While your air conditioner does have a built-in capacitor to help regulate the electricity running through it, a power surge may cause an increase in current that the capacitor can’t handle. This overheating could cause irreparable damage to your unit! The capacitor as well as the circuit board may be beyond saving if this occurs, leaving you with a damaged or entirely broken AC unit. Your AC unit may start to run inefficiently, or worst case scenario, it may not work at all anymore. 

Protect Your Unit with a Surge Protector

To prevent this from happening, we recommend installing a surge protector! Much like how a power strip can protect the devices you plug in, a surge protector can keep your AC unit safe. Surge protectors are designed to handle much higher electrical currents than your AC’s capacitor. So, in the case of lightning, you won’t need to worry as much. 

If you want help protecting and maintaining your AC unit– or if you’ve experienced an AC problem and need some help– give us a call! We’re happy to help prepare your AC unit for the monsoons ahead.