Good Deal on a Whole House Surge Protector

[Pelleting In NJ]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D...&SID=VmwzZll3b0tNcXdBQUxmQlRIY0FBQURo&cj=true

 

[PelletPirate]

I am a fan of Leviton 51120. Its more money but would rather place my bets with them. Please remember that a whole house surge protector will only protect against outside surges. If you have one created by something inside, you may be toast. Still a good idea to put a surge in front of your stove.

 

[chken]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D...&SID=VmwzZll3b0tNcXdBQUxmQlRIY0FBQURo&cj=true

Square D is a good brand.

 

[velvetfoot]

I've had a Reliance PanelGuard on my panel for 8 years or so. I wonder if these whole house things really do any good. Any testimonials out there?

 

[Wilbur Feral]

I've had a Reliance PanelGuard on my panel for 8 years or so. I wonder if these whole house things really do any good. Any testimonials out there?

We took a nasty hit when lightning zapped a nearby transformer a few years back. We lost a couple of phone headset chargers in the office, and as I recall maybe some other small appliance, but the thousands and thousands of dollars in other equipment was fine (granted, much of it would have been on point of use surge protectors as well, which I agree are a GREAT idea). The inside of the surge protector (cannot recall brand as original owners installed it) was completely liquefied and just a ball of goo when it cooled off, and the area around it was black soot.

We have since added an additional panel (not a sub) and both have Intermatic units on them, although any quality brand is likely fine. So there's one real world example for you...

 

[chken]

We took a nasty hit when lightning zapped a nearby transformer a few years back. We lost a couple of phone headset chargers in the office, and as I recall maybe some other small appliance, but the thousands and thousands of dollars in other equipment was fine (granted, much of it would have been on point of use surge protectors as well, which I agree are a GREAT idea). The inside of the surge protector (cannot recall brand as original owners installed it) was completely liquefied and just a ball of goo when it cooled off, and the area around it was black soot.

We have since added an additional panel (not a sub) and both have Intermatic units on them, although any quality brand is likely fine. So there's one real world example for you...

I have an Intermatic on my panel as well for the last 10 years. The lights are still green, so I assume it's working and never been dinged. And I would agree, that it's quite likely that most brands will work, as they're pretty much sacrificial lambs, aren't they, or do the more pricey ones reset after tripping?

 

[Wilbur Feral]

I have an Intermatic on my panel as well for the last 10 years. The lights are still green, so I assume it's working and never been dinged. And I would agree, that it's quite likely that most brands will work, as they're pretty much sacrificial lambs, aren't they, or do the more pricey ones reset after tripping?

Sacrificial lambs, by design, as far as I know. And worth it! And as far as I know, green lights mean you're still protected.

 

[velvetfoot]

And you know from personal experience that it worked! Talking about how many years the light has been green is just inviting disaster. Knock on wood.

 

[peakbagger]

There is no surge protector designed for a direct lightning hit. If you are real paranoid put in a separate lighting protection grid with lots of aerials and a large ground grid. Then install an underground feed to the house Surges from nearby strikes or powerline issues are another story. The surge protectots with the best ratings for home use is midnight solar SPD http://www.midnitesolar.com/products.php?menuItem=products&productCat_ID=23&productCatName=Surge Protection Devices

The big issue is clamp voltage, some units like Deltas clamp high voltage spikes at too high of a voltage to protect a lot of equipment, it keeps the panel from burning up but that about it. The SPDs have a far lower clamp voltage. I got a high voltage surge from my utility once with an Intermatic on the panel and a delta on an inverter and I still lost the inverter. I have switched over to the SPDs. I like the SPDs they have the requisite LEDs but are also transparent cases so the MOVs are right there to look at, if they fail you will know it.

If its real critical equipment there are a lot of far more expensive solutions but I still read that many ham radio operators just disconnect all the equipment and antennas and ground the incoming leads whenever lightning is nearby. The bummer is unless you could Meggar the wiring of the house you will never know the weak spots and power surges just love to the find the weak spots. A lot of home systems have marginal grounds a surge protector works by switching the surge to a ground, if the ground is high resistance, the surge may try to escape through electrical equipment connected to the panel.

Of course then there is the EMP grade protection which is a whole additional level of expense (and paranoia)

 

[Heftiger]

I work at an electric utility; a couple years ago we discussed offering a discount program for customers to install the protectors on their houses. Our engineering department was adamant that most damage done to equipment is by low voltage drops, and that these devices generally fail to protect in these instances. I never verified this, just my 2 cents.

 

[velvetfoot]

I think of it as a good luck charm.

 

[chken]

I work at an electric utility; a couple years ago we discussed offering a discount program for customers to install the protectors on their houses. Our engineering department was adamant that most damage done to equipment is by low voltage drops, and that these devices generally fail to protect in these instances. I never verified this, just my 2 cents.

And the solution to low voltage drops? AVR UPSes on sensitive equipment?

 

[Heftiger]

And the solution to low voltage drops? AVR UPSes on sensitive equipment?

We didn't get in depth with a solution, but I believe you are correct. If the UPS detects a out of range voltage, it will switch to battery to prevent damaging the electrical equipment plugged into it. However, the battery that would be needed to support a whole house AVR UPS would likely be too expensive to be practical. So putting them just on sensitive equipment like you suggest, would be the recommended solution.

The reason the topic came up was because of some damage claims that were submitted. The customer was complaining that a power outage caused electrical equipment to fail in the house. If you've ever heard that you should turn all your electrical equipment off during an outage, it's because when the power comes back on there's a huge draw to bring everything back on at once. This draw can cause a low voltage situation that can fry electronics. So this customer did not heed the advice, and ended up with some fried electrical equipment.

 

[velvetfoot]

So this customer did not heed the advice, and ended up with some fried electrical equipment.

Or, perhaps wasn't home at the time.

 

[maple1]

I lost a computer once during an outage. Last July when Hurricane Athur came through. It was plugged into a UPS when the power went off. I powered it down & switched the UPS off, but didn't unplug it. It wouldn't power back up when the power came on, think I lost a couple of capacitors. Could have been a coincidence too.