Power surge at home

[gzecc]

A week ago we had a severe thunder storm roll through. Lost power for 8 hrs. Line was down about 30 yrds from my house. When power was restored, about 1/3 of the breakers were off. A heater timer, furnace digital board and the dishwasher board were all obviously burned out.
Is there a surge protector that may have protected us from this type of damage? I'm assuming there was a close lightning strike.

 

[peakbagger]

There is no surge protection system that will do much against a direct lightning hit. If it hits nearby and the surge is coming from outside there is equipment that should protect you. The ones that have the best reputation are the Midnight Solar SPDs, read through the documentation http://www.midnitesolar.com/products.php?menuItem=products&productCat_ID=23&productCatName=Surge Protection Devices.

Major caveats are required, if your grounding system is screwed up a SPD is not going to save you. It acts to clamp the surge in the line and dumps it to the household ground, if you don't have a good connection to your main ground the surge is going to roam around the panel and find its way to some other ground.

There are some cheaper household surge protectors out there that have higher clamp voltages that really don't save equipment, they may save things from a fire. Delta units are in that category. I had a surge take out inverter at one point with an Intermatic so I don't have a lot of faith in Intermatic.

 

[fbelec]

unless you spend like 15,000 dollars there isn't much to help a direct hit. but other close by strikes are better left to the whole house surge suppression unit hooked to the main panel. you have to look for jules. the more the better and the better the more expensive. some of the better units come with a equipment warranty. read up on whole house surge suppressors.

 

[velvetfoot]

Do old-timey lightning rod protection systems help?

 

[fbelec]

from what i understand they keep the lightning out of the house but that is a close enough hit that the static in the air might fry electronics. the lightning rods doesn't draw lightning to it, it just provides a good path to ground if it is thinking of hitting your house

 

[velvetfoot]

Hopefully, then the house won't catch fire!

 

[fbelec]

that is what the rods do give the lightning a path so to not burn the house

 

[peakbagger]

Lighting rods alone do not do much, they are part of an engineered system that attempts to conduct charges outside the building to a ground point outside the structure. Even with a well engineered system, lightning may still get in the structure. Surge suppressors are a second line of defense for surges coming in via power lines. No guarantees for a direct strike that is what insurance is for.

 

[kennyp2339]

Please call your utility company and see if the offer a surge protector that goes between the utility meter and meter pan, we use to install those all the time, but the company cut back on customer offers and didn't buy anymore protectors.
This type of surge protector will not offer protection for small day to day surges, but in the event of a lightning strike or a phase to neutral primary fault the protector should protect your internal electrical system