It was one of those mornings: the sky was dark and the clouds were low.
A summer storm was brewing.
The air conditioning unit for my home is located in the backyard, and it’s a bit far away from my exterior walls. There aren’t many trees in my backyard. While the signs of the coming storm amplified, I decided to settle in for the day. I cranked the air conditioning unit down (in hopes of mitigating the humidity during and after the rain), grabbed a blanket, and turned on a movie. After about an hour, I heard a huge boom of thunder and a terrifyingly loud and unfamiliar sound, and saw a bright flash of lightning. The sound was so close; I looked into my backyard, worried that something was wrong. My air conditioning unit was a sizzling and charred pile of metal! Lightning had struck the unit! Obviously, my vents immediately stopped blowing, and, worried about a potential fire, I ran outside into the garage to turn off the power to the heating and cooling system. When I spoke to an HVAC technician that evening, he said that I made the right call; the ignition of the HVAC equipment could have started an electrical fire. Luckily, my home wasn’t damaged, and the technician helped me choose new heating and cooling equipment and schedule an installation. The technicians were extremely helpful, and kept me informed throughout every step of the installation process. They taught me how to use the features of my new smart thermostat, and make sure that I understood how my entire HVAC system operated. I can’t help but feel lucky; not only did my home survive this freak accident, but with the help of an HVAC technician, my home is running more efficiently than ever!