Whole Home Surge Protector and Supressor -what to buy

We have surge protectors all over the house and quite frankly they are a PITA. I just learned that it is possible to have an electrician install a whole house surge protecter at the main power inlet.(this last sentence should confirm I am not electrically inclined)

This seems like a good idea. What do I need to look for and are there any recommended brands, things to avoid ?

Interested too..

Buy a Generac?

The pot has this for $69.00

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Co...u=202800798&ci_kw=&ci_gpa=pla&ci_src=17588969

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I was told that if you have lots of valuable devices susceptible to damage from surges you should have both whole home protection and protection at the receptacles. Whole home to protect from surges coming in from the line and at the receptacle to protect from surges created by other stuff in the house.

I'm no expert. But that seemed like overkill. I just went with point of use protectors where I plug in valuable stuff.

First thing I would do is have an electrician out to my house to verify all the ground and bond lugs in the power panel are tight. I seen panels where you could make 1/2 a turn on some of the lugs. Loose connections = heat and resistance = increased current flow = blow shit up

if you have two empty spaces in your circuit breaker panel (where a 240 volt breaker would normally fit) you can snap in a whole house surge protector. Pretty simple deal.

CB, I am hoping that we get some make/model recommendations on here

Yes but always be aware these are wear items.

Anyone I've seen has an external unit that you knock out a plug and attach near your fuse box with an LED that informs you to the level of protection being provided by the unit.

Same thing on wall units - they have lights to let you know if surge protection is operating.


My personal opinion is that most of the high quality surge bars are pretty darned good so long as they have a good ground. Keep the receipt from purchase and mfg warranty - as most have a value for replacement of installed devices listed on the warranty.

Beyond that - whole house surge is what you want if you get hit by lightening, but external house lighting protection is what you want to ensure that the surge protection isn't commonly utilized!

And still no recommendations of what is good and what is junk...

A couple of additional thoughts.

Plug in strips use either MOV's (metal oxide varistors) or transzorbs (dual diodes back to back) or both, since they do different things. These are self sacrificing parts that once they have done their duty (absorbed the surge or accelerated tripping the breaker/fuse) are now sources of noise rather than absorbers of said noise. Which means once that have 'popped' they should either be replaced or repaired.

And depending upon how much 'protection' is good enough and how much of a problem surging is at your home will determine how much time and $$ will be needed.

Some folks, like audiophiles, will actually spend $$ on an isolation transformer AND noise abatement equipment. These measures are designed to greatly reduce all forms of noise and voltage anomalies. Most regular folks just want to protect their computers and TV's etc from damaging over voltage surges and spikes. So simpler measures can be used.

In short if keeping just the susceptible equipment safe is the goal, it is often cheaper (but more of a hassle) to just keep replacing/repairing the $10-$20 plugin strips as they sacrifice themselves. And as others have said going for the whole house treatment will always help, but a local device (plugin surge suppressor) is usually much faster at dealing with these problems of protecting the sensitive devices.

And if it really is a 'big' problem, perhaps your local power company can get involved. They are after all responsible for the quality of the power delivered to your home. Many times fixing the source of the surges, especially if it is power grid induced, is a far superior solution to bandaid fixes.

Also as previously stated a good grounding to the earth is mandatory. You might find that if this connection is marginal, that fixing this single aspect may be a huge help, in and of itself. I have seen clamps on water pipes that are corroded which will only exacerbate surges, and are not a good thing at all.

JJ

Yeah that isn't an uncommon response to power variations, by the power companies. It is expensive to have to re-wire portions of the grid to stabilize the delivery to homes. They are way more concerned with their commercial and industrial customers, you know those accounts that pay BIG bills each month.

There are of course additional factors in play here such as 'power factor' correction (which is a big deal), and even the stability of the source of the power (at the generator) in the first place.

This is where some take matters into their own hands and install expensive power isolation and conditioning equipment to help stabilize and filter the 'raw' power feed, to optimize their homes power needs. Well that or they move, which is sometimes less expensive and a better solution in the long term.

And for those appliances that are of particular concern you can install a UPS to effectively isolate them from the surges etc. It is a more costly than plugin strips, but far more through solution, if you only have a few devices that need additional protection.

Another thing you can do, if you are so motivated and willing to go to this extent, is to rent a power analyzer and let it record the condition of the power over a sufficient period of time and use this as 'proof' or ammunition to show the power companies the extent of the problem (that they probably already know about but are loath to admit). This is a long term approach and usually only works if you find someone on the inside who is willing (and able to actually do something) to lend a sympathetic ear&#8230;

It also helps to closely examine the terms of service that the power company operates under. It usually spells out the limits of acceptability that they are legally bound to meet.

Just a few more thoughts to ponder.

JJ

Mmmmm.... Capacitor bank anyone?

Those suckers can be spendy, not just the cap bank but the install. Which is why a UPS can be way more effective for a whole lot less $$$. But if the power to your home is out of phase with itself 'enough' (it's what the caps correct), it is possible to significantly lower your power bill, assuming, lots of power being consumed, and your power is right on the edge of having acceptable (or worse) power factor. But this is an expensive job anyway you slice it.

But properly phased power can reduce surges and much of the 'reactive' nature of the power feed to your home. So it can help minimize (but is not the source of) voltage spikes and surges etc.

JJ

I've had a whole house protector for about 10 years. I have a Square D QO panel, and it requires the same space as a 2 pole breaker. Easy to install. Snap it in, then connect the white wire to the ground bus bar. Remove the appropriate knockouts and replace the panel front.

You can buy those blue surge suppressor outlets that look like GFCI's with the modules. Use it for just one or a few outlets.

I prefer a UPS myself. I just have to buy a new battery for mine...

I use one of these for my stereo. Not whole house, kind of over kill for most people. http://www.psaudio.com/shop/p5-power-plant/

Hi all ! I am with Nodabs on this one . May seem like overkill until you lose an expensive piece of gear .

In general the more you pay the higher energy surge the device is rated to handle. The rating is in joules and they seem to be rated around 1,800 to 3,000 joules for typical home units. Depending on how much lightning and overhead utilities there are in your area you can decide how much you want to pay for protection. You might ask a couple of local electricians what they recommend. In some cases they might have to chose based on what space is available around your electrical box. They might also have an idea about how much protection is appropriate for your area. Because you will be spending a few dollars to have it installed it is probably not worth getting the cheapest one because the installation might be more than the unit. I installed on in my house, but it was a few years ago and I don't remember the brand or rating I ended up with. We don't have much lightning around here, but some friends of mine did lose most of the electronics in their house when there was a nearby lightning strike.

I don't have any surge suppression and never had any electronics wig out that I know of.

Anyway, I looked at circuit breakers the other day at Fleet Farm and GFCI ones are $40-$50 bucks EACH and the same price for AFCI's too! :eek1

I live at the very end of the line for my (mostly rural) power company. And there's a big manufacturing plant just down the road from me. I live in the south and my home sits in the middle of open pasture...we have LOTS of lightening strikes.

Suffice it to say, I have had LOTS of electrical problems...like frying underground sprinkler system wiring, blowing out dish washer control panels, raising hell with my ovens, etc. Pity the poor PC or HD TV that sits around here unprotected.

I have:

- Worked with power company to ensure I am getting a proper feed...seems like they installed a monitoring device at my transformer. I don't think much ever came of this. I agree with the "deny and delay" comment.

-Re-did my grounding at home, barn and garage.

-Installed surge protection devices at my panels.

-Added UPS's to key devices such as PC's and TV's.

Of all of that the UPS's seem to have done the most. I use APC's residential UPS's...they are quiet, lots of plug-ins and seem to last for several years. The batteries are replaceable and APC's telephone tech support is good (they speak fluent English). Cost is pretty reasonable...~$150 or so.

My understanding is that a UPS provides battery backup power which gives you time to do a nice controlled shutdown in a power outage and it also conditions the power so that the surges (up and down) are smoothed out.