Quote:
Originally Posted by dadspet
I had the surge protection installed at the Box in the garage instead of the SECO outside at the meter. It was 10 years ago and can't exactly remember all the details but one was no monthly charge (12x$6? = $72/yr x 10 years - $720) and to be honest I couldn't determine the SECO solution was better. Fair disclosure > I'm a Electrical Engineer but probably don't know much more about lighting strikes than anyone else except if you get hit you have a problem. BTW I didn't like the lighting rod idea for a few reason: I wasn't crazy about attracting lighting to MY house and I didn't need any more holes in my roof or wires running around. I do tend to research things a lot- I only wish I could remember the information I learned and if you ask my wife she will verify I'm not always right.
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In many areas of the country there is no surge protector to install on the meter. In these cases installing a Type-2 such as an Eaton Ultra at the circuit breaker panel is your first line of defense from a surge coming from the power lines and from induced surges coming from the branch circuits. That said, you don't necessarily need the Type-1 proctector from Seco if you have a very good Type-2 protector at your circuit breaker panel. But here in the Villages we get so much more lightning than most of the country, adding the Seco protector can help by adding an extra layer of protection. When I live in NY, I only had the Eaton Ultra and while my neighbor who had no surge protection was hit and had damage several times, I had none.
And Lightning Rods don't attract lightning. They may get hit more if they are on a very high building or tower way above all other structures and even then they don't draw the lightning towards them. That's not how it works.