Why Your Breaker Keeps Tripping (And When It Is Actually Dangerous)
A breaker that trips is doing its job. The question is what it is protecting you from — an overload, a short, …
Georgia storm season brings the same cluster of calls every year: surge damage, water in exterior boxes, service masts pulled by falling limbs, and generators that will not start because nobody serviced them. Most of it is preventable in an afternoon.
Layer your surge protection
Point-of-use power strips are the last line of defense, not the first. A whole-house surge protective device installed at the panel clamps the large transients that arrive from the utility side — the ones that destroy HVAC control boards, well pump controllers, appliance electronics and network equipment. It installs in under an hour and costs a fraction of one destroyed air conditioner control board.
Keep the power strips as well. Layered protection is genuinely better than either alone: the panel device handles the big hit, the local device handles what gets through.
Look at the service entrance before the season
Stand outside and look at where the utility line meets your house. You want to see: no tree limbs near or touching the line, a mast that is straight and not pulling away from the wall, an intact weatherhead with the drip loop still formed, and no rust streaks or damage at the meter base. If the mast is leaning or the weatherhead is cracked, address it before a storm does.
Weatherproof what is outdoors
Exterior receptacles need in-use covers — the bubble type that closes over a plugged-in cord — not flat flip covers that only seal when nothing is plugged in. Check that outdoor boxes are sealed at the wall and that GFCI protection is present and testing correctly on every exterior circuit.
Service the generator now, not during the outage
The most common standby generator failure is a dead starting battery. Batteries last three to five years. Check yours, change the oil and filter, confirm the weekly exercise cycle is actually running, and run a load test. For portable units, confirm the fuel is fresh and stabilized, the oil is clean, and it starts.
When the power goes out
- Switch off or unplug sensitive electronics and major appliances. The surge that damages equipment often arrives when power is restored, not when it fails.
- Leave one light switched on so you know when service returns.
- Keep refrigerators and freezers closed. A full freezer holds temperature roughly 48 hours unopened.
- Never run a generator in a garage, carport, crawlspace or near an open window. Carbon monoxide kills people every storm season.
- Treat every downed line as live. Stay well back and report it.
When power comes back
Restore your loads gradually rather than all at once. Wait a few minutes for voltage to stabilize before switching HVAC back on, then bring appliances up in stages. Simultaneous restart of every motor in the house is itself a stress event.
Then check the panel: any breaker that has tripped, any burning smell, any warmth. If anything looks or smells wrong, leave it off and call.
Afterward
If your home took a surge, damage is not always immediate. Appliances with degraded control boards can fail weeks later. Note anything behaving oddly and photograph any visible damage for your insurer.
For whole-house surge protection, storm damage repair or generator service, call (866) 651-5242 — our emergency line runs 24 hours.