WEIRD ELECTRICAL STUFF YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
THIS month let’s talk about 3 items you don’t have, but NEED.
The first is a whole house surge protector. Most of you have those little surge strips that you plug your expensive electronic stuff into right? Well, those of “in the know” don’t use those. We use a WHOLE HOUSE surge protector which protects everything in the home. Mine was $50 at Home Depot which I installed in my breaker panel in about 3 minutes. It is a LOT better that what you’re using. If your home ever gets hits by lightning, you’ll wish you had one…and so will your insurance agent.
The 2nd item is a power factor optimizer capacitor, also installed at the breaker panel. It “conditions” the electrical current coming into the home and allows all inductive “motor loads” to use less electricity and produce less heat. Think ceiling fans, a/c’s, fridges, washing machines, dryers etc. etc. Sounds squirrelly but it’s documented by the EPA to actually work. Typical savings are 6%+ though some have reported savings of 30%. My 16 year old 3000sf home with the original a/c’s has bills of only $150 during the Summer. My unit came from KVAR Energy Savings inc. and cost $300.
Lastly, let’s talk about lightning rods. My neighbor across the street got hit by lightning which burned a hole in her roof AND CEILING and blew her bath mirror off the wall! After 2 more neighbors (all on the same street corner) got hit, I went out and got a lightning rod which I put on my roof and grounded via a ground rod. If you live on a hill, by a big tree or have an exposed location, I’d strongly recommend you do the same.
Finally, tested your gfi’s lately? They go bad internally with no warning which means you are no longer protected from electrical shock. Push the “test” button and the “reset” button should pop out. If it doesn’t, the unit is bad and needs replacing.