SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Power surge protectors can go right on the fuse box of your heating and air conditioning system. They're meant to protect your equipment when the power comes back on. Anderson Plumbing, Heating and Air has put them in hundreds of homes ahead of wildfire season.
"Without it you put yourself at a little bit extra risk of it not working properly when the power comes back on," said Edward Dabney with Anderson Plumbing, Heating and Air.
Dabney says when SDG&E powers up the grid after a shutoff, there's often a surge of electricity that can damage homeowners HVAC systems.
"How does someone know that they had a power surge?"
"They'll know because the system itself, the HVAC or even inside the house with the lights, TVs, computers, some of that won't be working properly."
This plastic box limits the amount of voltage reaching your electrical equipment. Dabney says HVAC systems installed in the last five years will already have these protectors attached to them. But homeowners with older systems would need to install them.
"Now we can put them on any system. So even if you have an older system that we installed or someone else installed 10 plus years ago, we can come out and install a surge protector for you."
The extra layer of security also prevents potential electrical fires. So when the power comes back on - it can stay on.
