I just had the electrical service replaced on our house and am wondering whether a whole-house surge protector would be a good idea. We recently bought a new propane stove that has electric ignitors and the salesman commented that surge protection could prevent damage to them. We have the usual computers, etc. Power here is through an underwater cable and although I have not experienced it, apparently it can be iffy. The new panel is a Square-D and the electrician says that there’s a breaker-style unit for about $100 (he didn’t think these were worth much) and an externally-mounted unit for several hundred. I’m not crazy about an external unit because of the visible location of the panel. Any comments on the utility of these things?
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The best, about $800 (2 ea Joslyn type 407-48000 3" MOV disks) , will protect against anything, including nuclear war emp (power plant gone anyway).
IMHO, go visit a few web sites and buy a low end dist panel unit for $ 20 and DIY install later; that, coupled with 'at use end' Wal-mart type surge protectors, will be all you need.
The simple units, about $20 - 40, are IMHO well worth their cost. I usually tap them off of the drier breaker keeping the leads short and relatively straight. The block itself I try to mount neatly with double-stick foam tape within the panel. I have seen one of these units fail closed so having it on a breaker makes sense. The 30A capacity of the drier breaker is easily capable of holding during any likely surge, switching or lightning, for the duration and adds an indicator, the drier doesn't run, to let you know that the surge unit is shot.
When used with plug-in surge units on electronics the combination can substantially lower damage to and extend the life of delicate appliances, most now cantain microchips sensitive to surges, and consumer electronics.
Plug in units need to be replaced, actually a process of demotion to less expensive electronics, every year or two, depends on how good the unit was to start as to how long it can reliably face any threat, to maintain maximum protection. In a few years you will have three or four of these units protecting not only your most valuable electronics but also your TV in the bedroom and the microwave in the kitchen. The more of these units operating in a house the more resistant the house is to surges.
Make sure your ground and ground/neutral, GEC , grounding electrode/s their connections and conductors are as solid as possible. None of these devices are worth a bucket of spit if the ground system fails to drain the surge current in a timely and efficient manner. Without a place to go the surge is free to run amok with your high dollar toys.