Key takeaways:
- Storm season lasts from March to May in the Nashville area, and lightning strikes are a serious hazard. They can damage your electrical infrastructure and cause fires.
- Scheduling an electrical inspection, minor repairs, and upgrades before storm season considerably lowers your risks.
- Airstream’s qualified electricians can help prepare your electrical infrastructure for storm season.
Storm season in Nashville, TN, runs from March to May, often bringing severe weather that can damage your home and lead to costly repairs or insurance deductibles.
Lightning is especially dangerous; it can fry electrical systems or even spark fires.
The best way to stay safe is to hire a qualified electrician in Nashville, TN, to prepare your electrical systems before the storms hit.
Inspecting and Securing Your Electrical Panel
Lightning striking your home (or even near it) can create a sudden jolt of electrical current – 300 million Volts.
This electricity will seek a path to the ground, but it can come in contact with your electrical infrastructure and completely overload it. It’s enough voltage to melt wires and destroy electronic components.
If it enters your electrical panel, it will trip all the breakers, overheat the panel, and create a major electrical fire hazard. Damage could also spread to other parts of your electrical infrastructure.
Before storm season begins, schedule an electrical safety inspection. An electrician can examine your panel for loose connections, outdated breakers, corrosion, and other issues to limit the damage from storm-related surges.
Installing a Surge Protection System
Surge protection systems use voltage-sensitive switches to safely divert any excess voltage to a ground wire. In other words, these systems protect your appliances and electronics by diverting high-voltage current to the ground.
Some products have built-in power surge protection, including electronics, appliances, and power strips.
You can have an electrician add a whole-home surge protection device to your main electrical panel for optimal protection.
This simple and inexpensive upgrade will protect your electrical infrastructure in case of a lightning strike. It will also absorb the many small power surges from the grid, potentially increasing the lifespan of your electrical infrastructure and appliances.
Upgrading Grounding Systems
A grounding system consists of a rod or plate made from a highly conductive material buried at least eight feet deep. For added safety, new homes sometimes use an electrode encased in concrete instead of a rod or plate.
Your grounding system connects to every circuit in your home. If excess current happens anywhere, it will take the path of least resistance and head for the conductive rod or plate. It can safely discharge into the ground without damaging your circuits or appliances.
Over time, if frequent small surges happen, electrical wiring can melt, and connections become loose, resulting in a less effective grounding system. Plus, old homes might have outdated grounding systems that don’t meet the latest version of the National Electrical Code or local building codes for Nashville, leaving you exposed to serious damage from lightning strikes.
It’s an easy fix: Have an electrical contractor inspect your grounding system, fix damaged connections, and upgrade this system if needed.
Checking Outdoor Wiring and Lighting
Lightning isn’t the only danger to your electrical system. During the Nashville storm season, heavy rain, high winds, hailstorms, and even flooding can damage your outdoor fixtures.
Your local electrician can secure your outdoor electrical fixtures:
- Any outdoor outlets should have GFCI protection to prevent water from getting inside.
- A layer of weatherproof silicone sealant is a great way to make your outdoor lights and other fixtures safer.
- If you have electrical cables outdoors (such as the one powering your HVAC unit), an electrician can check that the conduit protects them or that they’re buried deep enough.
- Installing dedicated surge protectors can make your outdoor electrical circuits safer.
- If you’re using lights and other products not rated for outdoor use, an electrician can easily replace them and add wire cages for added protection.
Testing Your Backup Generator
Do you have a whole-home generator? These emergency power solutions are safer and more reliable compared to portable generators.
If you don’t have a whole-home generator, you should know that this upgrade boosts your home value while keeping crucial circuits powered during outages. Generators can run on natural gas, propane, or diesel and come on when the power goes out.
Test your backup generator before storm season starts:
- Flip the main power switch off on your electrical panel to simulate an outage. Does your generator come on?
- Have an electrician do routine maintenance. They can perform a load test, clean the fuel line, check the carburetor, and ensure your generator is ready for storm season.
Prepare for Storm Season With an Electrician in Nashville, TN
Lightning strikes and other extreme weather events can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage.
The best way to protect your home from these safety hazards is to keep your electrical infrastructure in good shape with regular safety inspections and fix small issues immediately.
As a local, family-owned business, Airstream has deep expertise in the kind of weather conditions Nashville homeowners face during storm season. Our technicians know exactly what to look for and can prepare your electrical systems.
Don’t let storm season catch you unprepared: Schedule your electrical inspection today!
FAQ
What happens when lightning strikes your home?
A lightning strike introduces sudden heat and electrical current. This can damage your home’s roof, structure, and electrical infrastructure.
Will my homeowner’s insurance cover electrical damage from lightning?
The answer is yes. Your homeowner’s policy should cover damage from lightning, but you’ll have to pay a deductible.
How can I tell if my home has an old grounding system?
You likely have an outdated grounding system if most of your outlets use two instead of three prongs.
How can I protect my home from lightning?
Installing a lightning rod, updating your grounding system, and adding a whole-home surge protector to your panel can protect your home from lightning.
What are the signs that my electrical panel needs upgrading?
You might need a new panel if you’re using an old model with fuses instead of switches or if you experience any recurring electrical issues like tripped breakers or flickering lights.
