Augusta, G.A. – All these thunderstorms can wreak havoc on electronic devices, but, there’s one device that can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars if you get your hands on one.
“They don’t build things like they used to and everything has a system of electronics in them they’re susceptible of being damaged by lightning for you or electrical surges,” said Mr. Electric owner John Hales.
If your property gets damaged following a storm one place that hurts is your wallet. The price tag can be upwards to the hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how bad the damage is. For your electrical devices, there is a relatively cheap way you can protect things like your TV and computer: a surge protector. While some of you may have a lightning rod on your house to protect the outside, you can also protect those electronics that are inside.
“Surge protection is very important especially this time of the year when we have summer storms in the evening time. They protect all the internal components of your home appliances, your computers, your refrigerators and all,” said Hales.
Hales added ,”Lightining and electricity finds the least resistant path to the ground and that’s how it goes when it comes from the top and goes to the bottom.”
According to Hales, in the last 2 weeks, they have gotten a lot of calls about lightning strikes and trees falling on power lines in the CSRA.
“If you’ve ever been through a lightning strike claim and had to pay a deductible, the cost of installation of one of these, it’ll kind of humble you to do that versus having to pay for that insurance claim and so the inconvenience of not having an air conditioner or your appliances. It would be worth it to call your insurance company to see if they would offer a rebate or something if you were put a whole home surge protector in your home,” said Hales.
You can find surge protectors at local hardware stores or if you need help call an electrician.
