Quote:
Originally Posted by Stu from NYC
Why whole house surge protector at main circuit box?
We got one from Seco and they do it outside your house with the idea being stop surge before it gets inside.
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Stu, good question. The Seco surge protector will protect your home from any voltage spikes coming from the Utility Power Line. It will also clamp voltage spikes on your panel from any of the branch circuits to some extent. The problem is say for example there is a lightning strike near by and a large voltage spike is induced on to one of your branch circuits like in the garage with is common, if the voltage spike is fast, which most are, the Surge Protector installed in the circuit breaker panel which is usually rated similar to the Seco protector, will catch the spike and clamp it before it goes to the rest of the branch circuits in the rest of the panel. The Seco surge protector is farther away from the event so depending on how fast the spike is will determine if the Seco protector will see it and clamp it quick enough to prevent the spike from traveling to the other branch circuits in your home.
Most voltage spikes are quick enough that the length of wire beteen the surge protector and the source of the voltage spike becomes significant.
I can tell you there is a lot of discussion on this very topic meaning do I need only the Seco or the panel protector or both. My personal suggestion is to get both becasue it's a known fact that the more layers of surge protection you have the better. Remember the Seco OR the protector installed in the panel is the first line of defense and will reduce the voltage spike down to a level were your level-3 (point-of-use) protectors can manage what remains.
Also remember, what I'm saying applies most of the time meaning if the spike is large enough, it probably will overwhelm whatever surge protection you have installed but fortunately this is not common. An example is if your home took a direct hit by lightning, no surge protection system will be able to block or shunt that amount of energy. You would need a Lightning Protection Syetem to deal with that event.
I'll be talking about surge protection at the POA meeting Tuesday night, 7PM at Laurel Manor. Come by and we can talk more.