Surge protection of home for lightning strikes

[paullynnchetti]

Does anyone have any suggestions on an electrician who installs lightning and surge protectors for your home? I know Sumter will install them for $350 or you can pay $25 and $6 a month. Thanks

[cleanwater]

I got electricians est of $1200. SECO is better option as it costs less and they warranty their unit for 15 yrs. If it fails they replace it. Installation takes minutes and you don't have to be home as it is done outside the house.

[laryb]

I had SECO install ours and they charged $5.95 a month. A friend told me that Lenhart installed his for $149

[Paperboy]

U can rent a whole house surge protector from SECO for $5.95 per mo. or buy it outright for a little over $300.00

[Lou and Carolyn C.]

Does anyone have any suggestions on an electrician who installs lightning and surge protectors for your home? I know Sumter will install them for $350 or you can pay $25 and $6 a month. Thanks

I was quoted $150.00 by Pat (do not have his last name) from A-1 Inspection. We had a conversation about this same subject and his exact words:

"the surge protector is put in @ the main panel in garage and does the same thing as SECO's"

FYI: A-1 (Pat)'s telephone #352-205-0180

He did our home inspection for $199.00, and also was recommended by
Warranty Department.

Keep us updated and good luck!

[Snowbirdtobe]

The surge protector in the meter will only prevent surges from passing through the meter box.
It does not protect your wiring inside the house.
It does not protect your home from lightning strikes.
I view the whole surge protector in the meter box as a scam.
I signed up for the protector service anyway.
I plan to look into lightning rods when I return since the developer has them on all of his buildings. Now I'll check the electric meters on the smaller buildings to see if they turn on the surge protectors.

[Lou and Carolyn C.]

The surge protector in the meter will only prevent surges from passing through the meter box.
It does not protect your wiring inside the house.
It does not protect your home from lightning strikes.
I view the whole surge protector in the meter box as a scam.
I signed up for the protector service anyway.
I plan to look into lightning rods when I return since the developer has them on all of his buildings. Now I'll check the electric meters on the smaller buildings to see if they turn on the surge protectors.


Thank you for the headsup information regarding the meter box, etc. I will keep this in mind for future reference, and certainly will discuss with A-1 before having anything installed, not sure why the Warranty Department would recommend someone that offers "SCAMS" though.
Sure wouldn't want to be scammed. There always seems to be a method to everyone's madness. Can't get a straight answer or honest offer in this day and time. Makes for much skepticism.

[red tail]

The surge protector in the meter will only prevent surges from passing through the meter box.
It does not protect your wiring inside the house.
It does not protect your home from lightning strikes.
I view the whole surge protector in the meter box as a scam.
I signed up for the protector service anyway.
I plan to look into lightning rods when I return since the developer has them on all of his buildings. Now I'll check the electric meters on the smaller buildings to see if they turn on the surge protectors.

surge protectors are not a scam ! you sound like a either a snake oil salesman or a lightening rod salesman.

[Snowbirdtobe]

surge protectors are not a scam ! you sound like a either a snake oil salesman or a lightening rod salesman.

A little bit about my background.
I do not sell lightning rods. I'm an electrical engineer and have, in the past, been involved in testing lightning protection devices for aircraft.
Read the SECO answers for yourself.
http://www.secoenergy.com/surge.html

Ask the following questions.
1. Does your homeowners insurance offer you a discount?
2. Where does the surge come from?
3. The developer puts lightning rods on his small buildings. Why?
4. How does SECO test the MOV without destroying it? That was a problem that I always had. (We couldn't be sure we had the correct MOV installed)
5. Here is note 2 from the SECO paper.
NOTE: Response time is not recognized as a
viable SPD selection criteria by NEMA, IEEE/ANSI or the IEC.
IEEE is Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers and ANSI is American National Standards Institute.
6. Read note 11 from the paper. If the surge protector worked how would the homeowner ever know the surge took place?
7. Read note 12. If you have a poor ground the thing will not work.
It is a "less attractive path" path problem. SCAM wording

If the surge comes from the electric company shouldn't they be responsible?
The electric company wants you to buy a device that protects you from a surge coming from their power line. Sounds like a scam to me.
I did have the protector turned on by the electric company when we bought our home.

[paullynnchetti]

We ended up going with Lenhart Electric and are having them install a 72,000 Amp suppressor for $225 rather than the 18KA unit for $150. IEEE recommends a suppressor that will protect for strokes in the 40KA to 120KA range. With our area being in one of the highest lightning areas in the Country I would rather have the unit rated for the higher surge. The higher rated unit also comes with a damage protection guarantee from the manufacturer (Cutler Hammer) for damages to any of your equipment up to $50,000 due to surges.
Basically we need to protect from 3 potential problems,
1) Direct lightning hit. The surge protector won't help us for this, The only possible protection would involve a lightning rod installation surrounding your house with a grounding system that ensures everything is properly tied together. This is expensive and in my opinion, not necessary. The one in a million chance you take a direct hit doesn't justify the cost for these systems. However some people probably walk around with helmuts on just in case they may get hit with a stray meteor and wouldn't sleep unless they have 100% protection.
2) A surge from the Ulilities electric system that supplies your home. Many things can cause a surge including lightning strikes on the utilities facilities, improper grounding on the utility system and accidental high voltage energizing of our lower supply voltage. Utilities do a lot to avoid this problem but problems still occur from time to time. Utilities will generally cover any damages caused by their errors or faulty equipment on their system that cause an overvoltage but most won't cover an overvoltage traveling through their system due to a lightning strike on their lines.
3) A surge from a lightning strike next to your home that discharges through a grounded point that is tied to the ground in your home. The strike will raise the ground voltage temporarily causing high voltage on your internal wiring and possibly damaging any equipment you may have connected at the time. The strike could hit a TV dish, a fence post or anything else that may allow it to tie in with your grounding system.

Generally a surge protector at the electric service point (meter or breaker box) should give you pretty good protection if your grounding system is all properly connected. The only other extra protection you should consider is simple surge protection plugs or strips for your TV's, computers and stereos. If you put in a properly rated surge protector (72KA in my opinion and use the plug in surge protectors at some of your outlets where you have sensitive electrical equipment I would't lose any sleep.

[westom]

Generally a surge protector at the electric service point (meter or breaker box) should give you pretty good protection if your grounding system is all properly connected. Appreciate that a protector does not really do protection. Where do hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate? Earth ground. Some protection systems do not even have protectors. Many protection systems replace the protector only with a wire. But every protection system always has earthing. Either hundreds of thousands of joules are absorbed in earth. Or no effective protection exists. Even with over 100 power strip protectors.

Protectors are simple science. As posted, surges that can overwhelm protection inside appliances are typically 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector starts at about 50,000 amps. These numbers say nothing about protection. Only that the protector will remain functional after every lightning strike. Simple science only defines the system's life expectancy after many surges.

Earthing is the art. How much protection do you have? Well, how much did you upgrade the earth ground? Only item that determines how much protection exists during each surge is the quality of and connection to that earthing. Earthing is the art. Only earthing does the protection. Only earthing says how well hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate harmlessly outside.

A protector - any protector - or a wire - connects that energy harmlessly to earth ground. A protector is only a connecting device to the only thing that does all protection. That absorbs energy harmlessly. Either energy is harmlessly absorbed by single point earth ground. Or that energy is inside destructively searching for earth via appliances.

Do not spend so much time on the protector. Worry more about what is actually doing all protection: earthing. Your solution is the only one used anywhere that damage cannot happen. But don't let a 'box' attract your attention. Pay far more attention to what everyone ignores because they do not see it. Protection is defined by what most everyone ignores. Protection during each surge is only defined by the quality of an earthing system. A protector is sized so that all surges - any direct lightning strike - do not damage the protector.

Either a protector or a wire can connect a surge to earth. Neither that protector nor wire should be damaged - so you have a 75,000 amp protector. That does not say anything about the quality of your protection. The art - earthing - defines the protection.

BTW, same applies to lightning rods. Rods also do not do protection. That rod is only as effective as earthing electrodes it connects to. Those rods are simple science. The art is in earthing electrodes. It sounds like your electrician knows all this.

[Lightning]

U can rent a whole house surge protector from SECO for $5.95 per mo. or buy it outright for a little over $300.00

Be warry of the term "whole house surge protection". You may be protected from INDIRECT lightning with the SECO surge protection device on the electric meter but there is always the chance that some voltage will get through that will be enough to fry your electronics. You need secondary point-of-use protection on anythig you value like computers, TVs, microwave, refrig, tele ans machine, garage door operators, etc. Be sure that the cable for TVs and telephone lines for computers also goes though a surge protection device. Remember Lightning Loves Technology! If your concer is a less frequent but more sever DIRECT strike to your home consider a lightning protection system, commonly called lighting rods, from a qualified installer.

[Lou and Carolyn C.]

We ended up going with Lenhart Electric and are having them install a 72,000 Amp suppressor for $225 rather than the 18KA unit for $150. IEEE recommends a suppressor that will protect for strokes in the 40KA to 120KA range. With our area being in one of the highest lightning areas in the Country I would rather have the unit rated for the higher surge. The higher rated unit also comes with a damage protection guarantee from the manufacturer (Cutler Hammer) for damages to any of your equipment up to $50,000 due to surges.
Basically we need to protect from 3 potential problems,
1) Direct lightning hit. The surge protector won't help us for this, The only possible protection would involve a lightning rod installation surrounding your house with a grounding system that ensures everything is properly tied together. This is expensive and in my opinion, not necessary. The one in a million chance you take a direct hit doesn't justify the cost for these systems. However some people probably walk around with helmuts on just in case they may get hit with a stray meteor and wouldn't sleep unless they have 100% protection.
2) A surge from the Ulilities electric system that supplies your home. Many things can cause a surge including lightning strikes on the utilities facilities, improper grounding on the utility system and accidental high voltage energizing of our lower supply voltage. Utilities do a lot to avoid this problem but problems still occur from time to time. Utilities will generally cover any damages caused by their errors or faulty equipment on their system that cause an overvoltage but most won't cover an overvoltage traveling through their system due to a lightning strike on their lines.
3) A surge from a lightning strike next to your home that discharges through a grounded point that is tied to the ground in your home. The strike will raise the ground voltage temporarily causing high voltage on your internal wiring and possibly damaging any equipment you may have connected at the time. The strike could hit a TV dish, a fence post or anything else that may allow it to tie in with your grounding system.

Generally a surge protector at the electric service point (meter or breaker box) should give you pretty good protection if your grounding system is all properly connected. The only other extra protection you should consider is simple surge protection plugs or strips for your TV's, computers and stereos. If you put in a properly rated surge protector (72KA in my opinion and use the plug in surge protectors at some of your outlets where you have sensitive electrical equipment I would't lose any sleep.

Thank you for the "detailed" update, I suppose for $75.00 more it is worth going with the higher AMP supressor vs the 18 KA unit.

[Lightning]

We ended up going with Lenhart Electric and are having them install a 72,000 Amp suppressor for $225 rather than the 18KA unit for $150. IEEE recommends a suppressor that will protect for strokes in the 40KA to 120KA range. With our area being in one of the highest lightning areas in the Country I would rather have the unit rated for the higher surge. The higher rated unit also comes with a damage protection guarantee from the manufacturer (Cutler Hammer) for damages to any of your equipment up to $50,000 due to surges.
Basically we need to protect from 3 potential problems,
1) Direct lightning hit. The surge protector won't help us for this, The only possible protection would involve a lightning rod installation surrounding your house with a grounding system that ensures everything is properly tied together. This is expensive and in my opinion, not necessary. The one in a million chance you take a direct hit doesn't justify the cost for these systems. However some people probably walk around with helmuts on just in case they may get hit with a stray meteor and wouldn't sleep unless they have 100% protection.
2) A surge from the Ulilities electric system that supplies your home. Many things can cause a surge including lightning strikes on the utilities facilities, improper grounding on the utility system and accidental high voltage energizing of our lower supply voltage. Utilities do a lot to avoid this problem but problems still occur from time to time. Utilities will generally cover any damages caused by their errors or faulty equipment on their system that cause an overvoltage but most won't cover an overvoltage traveling through their system due to a lightning strike on their lines.
3) A surge from a lightning strike next to your home that discharges through a grounded point that is tied to the ground in your home. The strike will raise the ground voltage temporarily causing high voltage on your internal wiring and possibly damaging any equipment you may have connected at the time. The strike could hit a TV dish, a fence post or anything else that may allow it to tie in with your grounding system.

Generally a surge protector at the electric service point (meter or breaker box) should give you pretty good protection if your grounding system is all properly connected. The only other extra protection you should consider is simple surge protection plugs or strips for your TV's, computers and stereos. If you put in a properly rated surge protector (72KA in my opinion and use the plug in surge protectors at some of your outlets where you have sensitive electrical equipment I would't lose any sleep.

Well done. Your have provided a lot of good information. However, I would like to comment on lightning protection systems (LPS) commonly called lightning rods. Based on your "1 in a million" comment you obviously have a high tolerance for risk and you have chosen not to install a LPS and rely on your homeowners policy if the worst does happen. That is fine in your case and for others with a high tolerance for risk. There are some folks who have a low tolerance for risk and do choose to intall them for peace of mind. A direct strike that destroys a home is a very very low frequncy event but it has hapended 7 times in the last 7 years here in The Villages. It has not happended since 2009, when two homes were destroyed. But we know of several "near misses" this summer where homes were struck and fortunately for the homeowner did not result in a destructive fire. We are living in the "Lightning Capital of the US" and according to the National Weather Service we expereince on average 80 thunderstorm days a year. Each homeowner needs to access their own tolerance for risk and determine what is best for their family and home.

[westom]

Be warry of the term "whole house surge protection". You may be protected from INDIRECT lightning with the SECO surge protection device on the electric meter but there is always the chance that some voltage will get through that will be enough to fry your electronics. You need secondary point-of-use protection on anythig you value like computers, TVs, microwave, refrig, tele ans machine, garage door operators, etc. You have completely missed the point of any protector. No protector stops any surges. What does better than a protector on cable TV? A wire. Instead of a protector, a wire does the same job better. Best protection for cable TV is an existing wire - not a protector. All phone lines already have a ‘whole house’ protector installed for free. Apparently those ‘point of use’ recommendations come without even knowing what already exists. What is required even by code and Federal regulations.

An AC mains surge approaches that SECO protector. Now a surge makes a decision. Does it go less than ten feet to earth via ground rods? Or does it go much farther inside, blow through protection already inside appliances, and then obtain earth via those appliances? Instead, a surge goes harmlessly to earth by an easier path. Via the SECO protector IF "the quality of and connection to that earthing" is superior.

It sound like paullynnchetti's electrician understands this. An 18,000 amp protector is grossly undersized. 'Whole house' protectors start at 50,000 amps so that direct lightning strikes go to earth outside the building. Their electrician installed a 72,000 amp protector. And probably upgraded earthing. Because earthing (not any protector) defines protection.

You are assuming protectors stop a surge. A myth used to promote 'point of use' protectors. Protectors never stop surges. Never. Either a surge is connected to better earthing. Or a 'point of use' protector can even connect a surge to earth destructively via nearby appliances. Protection is always about the path to earth. Once that surge is inside, then nothing will stop a destructive hunt for earth ground.

[zummy]

westom, what do you do at your home?

[Snowbirdtobe]

SECO offers some free indoor protection to go with the whole house rented one. The cost is right and they don't use any power so install them.

[westom]

westom, what do you do at your home? My Intermatic 'whole house' protector was once sold in Home Depot for $35. Today, I would have to buy the Cutler-Hammer protector there for less than $50. I use all electronics during every thunderstorm. For example, to follow lightning on the internet. To compare what the internet was reporting while watching same outside. And without concern.

[Luv2travel]

I had recently heard that Pike Electric down in Sumter Landing installs these.

[Lightning]

See the Lightning Matters column on page 18 of the September 2011 POA Bulletin that can be found on the Property Owners Association website. You will find an article written by a retired electrical engineer discussing indirect lightning, primary surge protection and secondary surge protection.

[Lightning]

[QUOTE=westom;397519]You have completely missed the point of any protector. No protector stops any surges. What does better than a protector on cable TV? A wire. Instead of a protector, a wire does the same job better. Best protection for cable TV is an existing wire - not a protector. All phone lines already have a �whole house� protector installed for free. Apparently those �point of use� recommendations come without even knowing what already exists. What is required even by code and Federal regulations.

An AC mains surge approaches that SECO protector. Now a surge makes a decision. Does it go less than ten feet to earth via ground rods? Or does it go much farther inside, blow through protection already inside appliances, and then obtain earth via those appliances? Instead, a surge goes harmlessly to earth by an easier path. Via the SECO protector IF "the quality of and connection to that earthing" is superior.

I have a great deal of difficulty understanding your position on secondary point-of-use surge protection devices (SPD) in light of the standards that call for them and the experience of numerous homeowners here in The Villages. Both NFPA 780, Standard on Lightning Protection Systems, and IEEE Guide for Surge Protection Devices recommend them.

These two references mirror the expereince we have observed where an indirect lightning strike caused a surge to be either induced into the home's wiring or entered through the electric, telephone, or cable lines. Just this summer we have heard from residents of Bonnybrook, Polo Ridge, Hadley, Sunset Ridge, and Belvedere who experienced indirect lightnig surges. Where there was secondardary point-of-use SPD in place there was no damage but where there was none there was widespread electronic damage.

Further, expereince has shown that the SPD at the exterior telephone box provides little and in some cases no protection at all.

[graciegirl]

Surge protection is to protect the wiring and the equipment connected to the wiring of a house from electrical surges entering the home via the electrical lines (equipment protection). Lighting rods are to protect the structure of the house itself from lightning strikes (fire prevention).

I like to compare surge protection in a house to a seatbelt in a car, they will definitely not save you every time, but I would much rather have it on when I may need it...

bumping this thread