Keeping your air conditioner protected from power surges is crucial to ensure its longevity and optimal performance. Power fluctuations and surges can wreak havoc on sensitive electronic components, leading to costly repairs or even complete system failures. To shield your air conditioner from these electrical disturbances, investing in a reliable surge protector is a wise decision. But with numerous options available on the market, finding the best surge protector for your air conditioner can be a daunting task.
In this article, we will explore the top contenders and help you make an informed choice to safeguard your air conditioning unit against power surges. Whether you’re a homeowner, business owner, or someone looking to protect their investment, read on to discover the best surge protectors that will keep your air conditioner running smoothly and efficiently while providing peace of mind.
Why Surge Protection is necessary for Air Conditioner?
Air conditioners are sophisticated appliances that rely on intricate electrical systems to function effectively. These systems consist of sensitive electronic components such as control boards, compressors, motors, and various sensors. While they are designed to handle standard voltage levels, they are vulnerable to sudden power fluctuations and surges.
Power surges occur when there is a rapid increase in voltage that exceeds the normal operating range. These surges can be caused by various factors, including lightning strikes, electrical grid issues, or even the operation of high-power electrical equipment in your vicinity. When a power surge happens, it sends a surge of excessive voltage through the electrical system, potentially damaging or destroying the delicate electronic components of your air conditioner.
The consequences of power surges can range from minor glitches and malfunctions to catastrophic failures that render your air conditioner inoperable. Repairing or replacing these components can be costly, not to mention the inconvenience and discomfort of being without air conditioning during hot summer months.
Read Also: How to Prevent Power Surge?
By installing a surge protector specifically designed for air conditioners, you can effectively mitigate the risk of power surges and safeguard your investment. Surge protectors act as a barrier between your air conditioner and the power source, intercepting and diverting excessive voltage away from sensitive components. They are designed to detect voltage spikes and provide instant protection, redirecting the excess energy to a grounding path.
In addition to preventing damage to your air conditioner, surge protectors offer additional benefits. They can enhance the overall performance and lifespan of your unit by minimizing wear and tear caused by power fluctuations. Surge protectors also provide peace of mind, allowing you to confidently operate your air conditioner without worrying about sudden electrical disturbances.
Considering the significant financial investment associated with air conditioning systems, it is crucial to prioritize surge protection. Investing in a reliable surge protector not only ensures the smooth and efficient operation of your air conditioner but also provides long-term cost savings by preventing unnecessary repairs or replacements.
In conclusion, surge protection is necessary for air conditioners to shield them from potentially damaging power surges. By installing a surge protector, you can protect your air conditioner’s delicate electronic components, prolong its lifespan, and avoid costly repairs. Don’t leave the fate of your air conditioner to chance—invest in a quality surge protector and enjoy uninterrupted cooling comfort while safeguarding your investment.
Read Also: How Much Surge Protection Do I need
TIRED OF VOLTAGE SPIKES?
Let’s Find the Best Surge Protector for Air Conditioners for Your Comfortable Summer…
Just imagine hosting a summer party in your well-lit house. The house is cozy with Air conditioners. The guests are pouring in and the ambiance is getting charged up. Just when the DJ is set to upturn the music a sudden voltage spike slumps the party mood to the floor…. Sounds Familiar?
Everyone out here is usually well-prepared to counter a blackout. It seems quite easy and simple. Not many are concerned about brownouts until they fall victim to one. Brownout is essentially a voltage drop or a voltage spike that causes the electric equipment to underperform. It may also damage the equipment permanently. Have you been there ever?
What is Brown out?
Brownout is an occasional and temporary reduction in the electricity voltages rather than a complete loss of power it is sometimes said ”sag”, “dip” and light surge in some cases.
You might ignore brownout thinking it a rare phenomenon. But the experts tell that these brownouts, sometimes unnoticed, are a cause of increased power consumption. Voltage hikes or drops cause motors and heating elements of the electronic equipment to consume more power which leads to a higher electricity bill. What’s the point of paying more for a problem?
Best Surge Protector for Air Conditioner So agonizing, isn’t it?
Read also: Symptoms of Power Surges
Role of Surge Protector
Surge Protector is there to rescue you from such unfavorable happenings. It is a simple device that helps save your Air Conditioner from brownouts. It is nothing but a simple pack that hosts handful of outlets controlled by a power button.
We will help you find a good quality surge protector that can protect your Air Conditioner from electrical surge better than ever. There are a number of surge protectors available in the market. Finding one is not even an issue but finding a good quality surge protector is. A good quality surge protector is one that can protect your Air Conditioner in all sorts of voltage issues; high voltage, low voltage and voltage fluctuations.
WHAT DOES A SURGE PROTECTOR DO?
As the name of the product suggests, a surge protector can:
- Help protect against fluctuations in voltage
- Help reduce power fluctuations especially short cycling
- Be easy to use
- Accommodate hidden wiring
- Be time adjustable
Working of a surge protector
WHAT TO SEE WHEN BUYING A SURGE PROTECTOR?
When it comes to Power Surge Protectors, there are numerous factors to be considered. Selecting a power surge protector for your house’s air conditioning is not as simple as it seems. One must think through a set of characteristics that best suit the power surge protector they are looking for. Experts have provided a lot of information on what to see when selecting a surge protector. Sometimes it becomes too tricky for a homeowner to make a decision.
To rescue you, we have compiled a set of characteristics that can become handy to see whenever one attempts to buy a perfect power surge protector for their homes.
Weight
Although not much a worry for some, still, knowing the weight of a power surge protector device becomes handy. After all the device is to be installed to the AC power output and the assembly must be well supportive of the device that is going to be installed. Too much heavier devices might not go well with the power socket or attached cable.
Size
Just like the weight, the size is also least of concern for some but can be a deciding factor for some who have limited space to install the device. Most of the power surge protector devices are handy and are smaller than an average novel book size. Pretty smart to install anywhere? But wait! There are some surge protectors out there in the market a bit bulkier than a book that need extra space to fit in. So you better watch out for that.
Voltage
This is pretty straight-forward feature. Most surge protectors work in the range of 120 to 240 V. Suit yourself and select the one that fulfills your voltage setup.
Read Also: Why is Voltage Divider used?
Clamping Voltage
There is a threshold value of the voltage that is allowed to pass through a power surge protector prior to the surge protector actually protects the target equipment from further voltage. In simple words, clamping voltage controls the maximum amount of voltage that can damage the Air Conditioner. Clamping Voltage are available in the range of 300 V, 400 V and 500 V.
Material
When it comes to material types, there is a vast range that power surge protectors are available in. While most common is the metallic one, still, there are devices manufactures in plastic. Although there is nothing much that type of material does to the performance of the power surge protector but in order to ensure the better end-of-life (EoL) of the product, one should consider this aspect as well. There are a whole lot of materials titled HAWA that stands for trading goods. Such trading goods are generally bought externally and are resold without need to be reprocessed for future use.
Usage
The usage is categorized in two broad categories; personal use or commercial use. This characteristic is quite obvious and does not require much detail. All a client needs to know is the place where they want to install it; home or commercial place.
Read also: Can A Power Surge Damage my Smartphone
Joule Rating
Technically speaking, this is the most important characteristic of the power surge protector which is actually amount of energy an AC power surge protector can absorb during a single event beyond failure. It is the quantity of energy which your air conditioner surge protector can utilized. A higher joule rating can do much better protection. More the Joule rating better is the performance of the surge protector. In order for a surge protector to work best, the Joule Rating should be beyond 1000 Joules. Joule rating up to 1000 surge protector is enough for small electronic devices. Joule rating 1000 to 2000 surge protector is enough for power tools and office equipment’s. Joule rating higher than 2000 surge protector is used for expensive gaming consoles, home theater system and computers which keeps important information’s. And things which is irreplaceable and extremely confidential
If you looking to find air conditioner surge protector try to find 1000 to 2000 joule rating that has favorable results according to many users’ reviews.
Number of Ports
The number of ports comes into action for a multiport surge protector. Usually, strip-type surge protectors hold these features and have minimum 2 numbers of ports to support multiple types of equipment.
TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONER SURGE PROTECTORS
Types of surge protectors are followings, and it is divided according to their standard.
- Type 1 Air Conditioner Surge Protector: It can be discharge partial lighting current and wave form having 10/350 μs.
- Type 2 Air Conditioner Surge Protector: It is useful when in fluctuations of voltages in electrical installations and protected equipment’s which is connected with it.
- Type 3 Air Conditioner Surge Protector: This surge having low quality discharge capacity so it can be installed with Type 2 and sensitive loads. And it is combinations of current and voltage waves.
WARNING: AVOID OFF-BRANDS
First of all one needs to be sure that it is absolutely waste of money and time to go for any cheap off-brand considering that these will work just fine. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY WRONG. There is a slight good chance that such off-brand power surge protectors might work just fine but who would like to waste their money?
There are a number of quality surge protector brands out there that are manufacturing good quality surge protectors. Following is the list of those brands:
- Eaton
- Siemens
- Leviton
- Intermatic
Now you can see what manufacturers to consider, what characteristics to see and how to select a best-suited Air Conditioner Power Surge Protector for your need.
Read also: Can power surge Damage Microwave
SO HOW CAN YOU SELECT BEST SURGE PROTECTOR FOR YOUR HOUSE AIR CONDITIONING?
Still confused? Although a lot of information has been provided in case you would like to handpick an AC Power Surge Protector based on your custom needs. Still, if you are confused and would like to just pick one, we are happy to help.
Top 4 Surge Protectors for Air Conditioners Reviewed
- Siemens FS140 Whole House Surge Protection – Surge protector Portable air conditioner
- Eaton CHSPT2SURGE SPD Type 2 – Outdoor air conditioner surge protector
- Leviton 51120-1 120/240 Volt Panel Protector – surge protector for window air conditioner
- Intermatic AG3000 120/240 VAC – Best Surge Protector for Air Conditioner
AC POWER SURGE PROTECTOR FOR WHOLE HOMESiemens FS140 Whole House Surge Protection – Surge protector Portable air conditioner
Undoubtedly, perfect surge protector for your house with 10-year product and connect equipment that is compatible with any brand of the air conditioner. Trade-mark of Siemens in Surge protectors, the surge protector weights just over 1-kg and fits in a palm. It offers very easy installation and provides protection against most loads at home.
It comes with a alarm that signifies if the surge protector has malfunctioned. The surge protector is made-up of HAWA and comes in 4 colors.
EASY TO MOUNT SURGE PROTECTOREaton CHSPT2SURGE SPD Type 2 – Outdoor air conditioner surge protector
Eaton AC Power Surge Protector is a type 2 surge protector that can connect to all types of load centers from all manufacturers. This makes it one of a very few universal surge protectors and it is best known for easy and quick installation that is mountable. It comes in a palm-sit size and it provides 4 ports. It has 2 LEDs that indicate the mode the surge protector is working in. It blinks green light when in normal while it blinks red LED when the surge protection is activated.
These are best known to take infinite number of small surges to save the attached equipment from damage. It is designed in such a way that it will destroy itself in an event of big surge in order to protect the equipment it is attached to.
LIGHT COMMERCIAL/RESIDENTIAL TYPELeviton 51120-1 120/240 Volt Panel Protector – surge protector for window air conditioner
The surge protector works efficiently on 120/240 Volts and offers 4 modes of protection. It is perfect for light commercial units and residential installments. It is most commonly compatible with Decora Home Controls and offers a finite-time warranty. It has two LEDs that show real-time visual diagnostic of surge and power status against each protected phase mode. These offer very simple installation options and have very broad compatibility options.
These surge protectors have a single port and weigh just over 2-kg. It works perfectly with 3-phase, which is actually most suited for commercial use. It is typically designed to provide protection against high spikes of voltage and is very compatible with sensitive equipment.
UNIVERSAL HVAC SURGE PROTECTIVE DEVICEIntermatic AG3000 120/240 VAC – Best Surge Protector for Air Conditioner
Intermatic AG3000 120/240 VAC
The HVAC surge protector manufactured by Intermatic Incorporated is a heavy-weight yet smart surge protector that weighs around 5.5 kg. It is made up of plastic and works perfect at 120 Volts. It offers a gentle circuit board that can destroy itself in case of a surge protecting the equipment it is attached to. The surge protector is not compatible with all types of equipment but it works very well for Air Conditioners. It has a LED light that turns green when the surge protector is working correctly and it goes off when the service is off indicating that there is some problem with the device. It is mostly suited to Type-1 and Type-2 AC.
It offers 3 modes of surge protection i.e. L-N, L-G, and L-L. The enclosure is UV ray resistant and is watertight which protects the device from rainwater.
We hope this article will be helpful for you if you have any suggestions or queries, post a comment below. We’ll be very happy to help you out.
Pro Tip:
If you want to get rid of all worries about surges and want to make a surge-free home then use this Best Whole House Surge Protector.
Conclusion:
When it comes to protecting your air conditioner from power surges, investing in the best surge protector is crucial. Throughout this article, we have explored various options and features to consider when selecting a surge protector specifically designed for air conditioners.
From advanced voltage regulation and reliable surge suppression to built-in diagnostic features, the best surge protectors for air conditioners offer optimal protection against electrical fluctuations and power surges. They provide peace of mind, ensuring the longevity and uninterrupted performance of your air conditioning unit.
Remember to choose a surge protector that meets the power requirements of your air conditioner and offers a sufficient joule rating. Additionally, prioritize surge protectors with reputable brands and positive customer reviews for added reliability.
By making an informed decision and investing in the best surge protector for your air conditioner, you can enjoy a comfortable living environment while safeguarding your valuable cooling equipment. Protect your investment and ensure the longevity of your air conditioner by choosing the right surge protector tailored to your specific needs. Stay cool and protected!
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