When you are managing a facility, you know there are certain things that need to be done now to prevent problems later. You may test fire alarms to ensure they sound as necessary, clean gutters to protect your roof, or replace air filters to prevent HVAC system failure. This periodic, preventative maintenance not only extends the lifecycle of your systems, but also creates a safer, more productive environment. You also recognize that paying for these services with some time and a relatively modest amount of money can prevent much larger problems and costs from happening in the future.

Just as you don’t know when a fire will occur or your HVAC system will fail, you may not know when a damaging power surge will affect your electrical systems. Applying surge protection to such systems is a simple, cost-effective preventative maintenance step that can prevent costly unplanned downtime caused by an unexpected power surge. If you haven’t already included surge protection as a part of your preventative maintenance strategy, here is why you should:

These days it can seem as if budget is the primary planning consideration for customers purchasing or upgrading electrical and HVAC systems. Organizations of all kinds are watching costs more carefully than ever, and cutting back where they feel expenditures are not absolutely necessary.

However, customers who are reluctant to add costs to a Bill of Materials (BOM) will think differently about additional products when they are shown how they deliver a positive Return on Investment (ROI).
Surge protective devices are an excellent example of this. Making a case for the need to add surge protection is not difficult – and when the ROI is shown, it becomes an easy way to satisfy your customer while increasing your own revenues. The discussion quickly moves from the cost of surge protection to realizing a return on investment by protecting electrical and HVAC systems from damage caused by power surges.

Power disruptions are an expensive risk

You can make a compelling case beginning with the fact that the cost of power disruptions has risen sharply over the last several years. A 2018 study reported the total U.S. cost of sustained power interruptions at $44 billion per year (2015), a 25% increase since 2002. The majority of costs (70%) were suffered by commercial sector customers; the industrial sector accounted for 27% of the total cost.

The topic of electricity reliability and resiliency has emerged as a top-of-mind concern for many systems integrators and their end-user clients. While utilities, regulators, and policymakers struggle to protect the national grid, the average facility is more concerned about how to achieve optimal levels of electrical reliability and reduce future disruptions in power.

The reality is that the cost of power disruptions for most organizations continues to rise. In 2006, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed an end-user based framework that estimates the cost of power interruptions in the U.S. The last study released in 2018 shows that the total U.S. cost of sustained power interruptions is $44 billion per year (2015), which was 25% more than the $26 billion per year in 2002. The majority of the costs (70%) were suffered by commercial sector customers. The industrial sector accounted for 27% of the total cost.

Organizations of all types – including businesses, schools, government agencies, and non-profits depend on electronic systems such as fire alarms, security systems, and communication and data information networks. Management knows that if any of these systems are damaged or inoperable for any reason, normal operation instantly becomes more difficult, and in some cases, it may mean shutting down entirely.

Because of this importance, savvy managers look for ways to protect these systems and to decrease the potential for operational disruptions. One potential source of damage to electronic systems is, of course, electrical surges and spikes. Electrical surge events are generated from outside the facility, due to electrical grid switching, lightning activity, and the actions of nearby neighbors such as welding, among other sources. They can also be created internally by inductive loads such as motors in machinery, pumps, and HVAC equipment. Whether they are created externally or internally, electrical surges are much more common than most people believe, and most of these events pass by each day unnoticed by management and staff.

HVAC installation and maintenance businesses are demanding – and in a highly competitive market – so simply providing the basics of competent and efficient work may not be enough to be successful anymore. Customers today can post public feedback faster and more visibly than ever before, rewarding professionals that go beyond the basics to deliver both high quality installations and high customer satisfaction. Building a lasting and respected business may well depend on consistently delighting customers – and few things deflate customer satisfaction more than callbacks for malfunctioning or nonfunctioning systems.