Football, Falling Leaves, Festivities… And Fried TVs?

You gotta love autumn. Especially in Colorado.

Autumn is the time of year when it’s easy to understand why the word “color” appears right there in the front of our state’s name.  From oaks in Aurora to aspen in, well, Aspen… the whole state seems to burst with bright shades of red, gold, and orange.

And speaking of orange, you see plenty of that color in the wardrobes of die-hard gridiron fans here in Broncos Country.  That’s year-round… but it’s even more pronounced at this time of the year.

Orange pumpkins, too – carved into beautiful jack-o’-lanterns – start to grace many a front porch all over the Rocky Mountain West.

Yes, there are so many wonderful things to enjoy about a Colorado autumn.

So I hope you’ll pardon what might seem like an abrupt transition to the topic of surge protection for your home.

If you think about it, much of the enjoyment you get from the season will depend, at least in part, on the electronic devices in your home.

Whether it’s preparing those yummy fall treats in your electronic oven, or keeping your home jersey clean and bright using your electronic washer and dryer, or gathering around the television for the annual viewing of “The Great Pumpkin” with the kids… you’ll want those devices in top working order.

A power surge, though, could wreck everything.

Don’t Let This “Befall” You This Fall

I wish I didn’t have this kind of story to relate.  But unfortunately, tales like this are all too common, especially this time of year.

Picture a hard-working, super-friendly, energetic and youngish grandma-type like one of the customers I’m thinking about.  I’ll call her “Susan.”

Susan’s planning a fun little dinner party at her house.  She’s invited several friends over for her famous baked Buffalo wings and Monday Night Football featuring everyone’s favorite team.  It’s mid-afternoon, and everything’s going great.  Eleven guests have confirmed by email that they’ll be dropping by.

As John Denver would say, there’s a storm across the valley, and clouds are rolling in… but that won’t dampen Susan’s spirits!  She’s just popped her jersey into the dryer and her wings into the oven.  She’s super excited about the evening.

Then the lightning strikes.

Oh, don’t think this can’t happen to you: your home has a much greater chance of being struck by lightning in the coming year than you might think (one in 200, according to the National Lightning Safety Institute).  And Colorado is a top-ten state in terms of lightning strikes!

Sadly, nothing in Susan’s home is protected from the severe power surge caused by the lightning.

The wings won’t be baked… because the oven is fried.

The jersey won’t be dried… because the dryer is fried.

And the game won’t be on at Susan’s… because, even though her television was plugged into one of those inexpensive “surge protecting” power strips, the extreme power spike caused by the lightning was more than the wall strip could handle.

The TV’s fried, too.

And Susan’s plans are cooked.

As soon as Susan realizes how dire the situation is, she calls an electrician.  He tells her he’ll be out promptly… but that it will take some time to restore her electronics.  She’ll likely have to replace most of those devices!  Sure hope her insurance will cover all that….

Bummed, Susan flips open her laptop to email her guests.  The party’s off.

But so is her laptop.

It’s fried, too!

Get Two-Tiered Protection For Your Valuable Electronics

Luckily, you can protect all your electronics from electrical power surges like the one that cost Susan so dearly.

In fact, it’s not that difficult… or expensive.

(Far less difficult or expensive than replacing all that important electronically-controlled stuff that makes for a happy home life!)

Give us a call.  We’ll come out and install a top-notch, whole-house surge protector right at your home’s circuit breaker box.

That’s Tier One.

But to double your protection, make sure your key devices are also plugged into high-quality surge protection devices at the wall outlet.

That’s Two-Tiered Protection.  And you can’t beat it.

Neither can the power surge every home is likely to encounter at some point, either from a lightning strike, or even from something as simple as appliances cycling on and off.

The time to think about surge protection is before you need it.  About 150,000 claims are filed each year to replace ruined electronics due to power spikes.  The surge itself takes a fraction of a second… but imagine how long it takes to put things back to rights in your home.  It’s a problem you don’t want, and a “shock” you can avoid!