The CopperWatcher solution helps safeguard A/C condensers from copper thieves by monitoring the supply and applied voltage going to the unit, as well as refrigerant pressure.

Damage caused to air conditioning units can cost home and business owners thousands of dollars in repair costs and lost business.

As copper thieves continue to pilfer the air conditioning units of homes and businesses across the country, Bob Frederick and his Dallas, Texas-based company R.W. Frederick & Associates, have developed a new solution that could help put an end to the costly epidemic.

The solution, dubbed CopperWatcher, ties into a home or businesses’ existing alarm system and monitors the supply and applied voltage running to the A/C condenser, as well as refrigerant pressure. If it senses an unusual change in either the voltage or refrigerant pressure, the solution will then trigger an alarm.

Frederick, who has more than 30 years experience in the heating and air conditioning industry and once served as director of engineering for such prestigious Dallas-area hotels as The Adolphus, The Fairmont and The Adams Mark, said he got the idea to develop his solution after a friend of his had five air conditioning units ransacked by copper thieves.

"As I was bidding the job to replace (the units), he asked me if I knew of an alarm system to protect his equipment and unfortunately, the answer I gave him was 'No'," Frederick said. "When I left that job, I realized that someone needs to do something. There weren’t many systems out there and what I found were unreliable."

Shortly thereafter, Frederick began work on CopperWatcher and through a process of trial and error; he was eventually able to develop a near full-proof solution.

Not only is CopperWatcher tamper proof, but since it’s monitored and supervised by the existing alarm system, should there be a power failure, it can still run off of the alarm systems’ battery backup.

"Our philosophy wasn’t to reinvent the wheel…but to enhance the wheel that was already there," Frederick said. "Anything (thieves) try to do to bypass our system, we go into alarm."