[Oakley]

The 2 pole surge protector will do the same thing as the meter arrester? Thank You

[Wiotte]

Originally Posted by EdFNJ

In theory that is the best idea but in practice you'll go out of your mind plugging and unplugging every time a storm is supposed to roll by. Really not practical but still good advice.

And to the other poster: As far as changing a breaker in a panel just because you have an electricians license does not necessarily make you any better or smarter than someone who knows how to remove a few screws and handle electricity. Yes, it will keep electricians employed but isn't always really necessary. IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING it really is no more difficult than many other DIY projects. If you have doubt, don't do it. I rewired virtually my entire home up north over the years, installed outlets, fuse panels and much other stuff. Also did my own plumbing including water heaters, sinks and copper piping and most auto repairs.

If you learn how to do it by doing some reading and watching you can be just as good as any licensed electrician, mechanic or plumber and save lots of money.

I do repeat though, if you're no comfortable doing it DON'T because you can kill yourself.


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[VillagerNut]

Originally Posted by Oakley

We are new to The Villages from Illinois and keep hearing a common them about power surges. Our electric is through Seco and they offer a meter based surge arrester.

Does anyone have a surge arrester on their meter, or have any suggestions/opinions concerning power surges?

Thank You

The answer to your question is absolutely you need to have protection at the meter. Seco has two choices. One is to rent on a monthly basis for a little less than six dollars per month. Or purchase for approximately $325. The problem is if you purchase out right when it needs to be replaced because of the number of hits that it takes you get to purchase it again for $325. If you rent it is replaced free of charge. So I opt to rent the device monthly. This device will protect your major items like air conditioner and air handler.

But you also have to have individual protection on all of your other items. I use a UPS that costs around $60 for all of my office equipment for my work at my house. If you have cable or a phone line you also need to have a protection on those items so it doesn't run through the rest of your wiring in the house. So for all of my living room entertainment equipment I also have a $60 UPS box which has phone and coxial cable connections on it. These boxes also can go bad because of the number of surges they take so you have to watch their status lights.

When I lived in Orlando, Progress Energy (Now Duke) kept doing brownouts during the daytime where it was like they flipped the main switch and flipped it right back on. Obviously that's not good for anything in your house to have that happen. I finally was able to get them to put a Device on to register the amount of power coming through the line at my house. Three days later I came home and my air conditioner was not working. The end of the story progress energy paid over $5000 for items that were destroyed by their power surge coming through the house. They couldn't find the problem in the electrical lines for three months before that but it took them less than three days to find a problem in the feeder line a mile away from my house.

For the person that suggested that you do not need any protection and just to run it through your homeowners insurance if you have problems they are delusional! You never want to file an insurance claim against your homeowners insurance unless it's absolutely the last defense. Your homeowners insurance will get canceled and your deductible is high anyways!

For the person that suggested to get a handyman or anyone except a licensed electrician or Seco to do the work, that is the most insane suggestion to make. If you have a fire and it is proven that you had somebody that is not an electrician mess with your breaker box your insurance claim could be denied!

[Chatbrat]

The big word is could--any person can replace a breaker or install a surge protector--there is no LOAD connected to the surge protector its akin to plugging a device into an outlet--the only problem is matching the brand to the panel

it is NOT wiring, do you need a licensed electrician to hang a fixture on an existing ceiling box, NO--a handy man can do this-- if he knows what to do !!!

[retiredguy123]

I seems to me that people buy or rent a surge protector based on a sales pitch from SECO or other contractors. But, the electrical codes already require a certain amount of built in surge protection and other installation provisions to assure a safe and reliable electrical service, without unreasonable and harmful surges. Most people I know have not paid extra for an additional whole house surge protector. Call me delusional, but I think paying for an extra surge protection device, without any real verifiable evidence that it works, is a waste of money.

[Chatbrat]

I put a surge protector in a house that I had purchased for a combat buddy of mine that had fallen on hard times, the house was hit by a big surge the panel cover the hinge part was blown open-he told me that SECO mechanics told him the plug in unit is basically the same thing that they use and it saved his major appliances.

[Sandtrap328]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I seems to me that people buy or rent a surge protector based on a sales pitch from SECO or other contractors. But, the electrical codes already require a certain amount of built in surge protection and other installation provisions to assure a safe and reliable electrical service, without unreasonable and harmful surges. Most people I know have not paid extra for an additional whole house surge protector. Call me delusional, but I think paying for an extra surge protection device, without any real verifiable evidence that it works, is a waste of money.

The $5.50 per month SECO surge protector also comes with several individual surge protectors for items such as computers. It also includes an insurance policy in case of damage from a power surge. Is it worth the $5.50 per month? Is your home insurance or car insurance or cart insurance worth their costs? Not until they are needed - at that time - YES!!

[Aloha1]

Leesburg Electric, which services south of 466A, offers what they call "Meter Treater". It's a whole house surge protector for $3.50/month. same thing as SECO but cheaper.

[CWGUY]

Originally Posted by Sandtrap328

The $5.50 per month SECO surge protector also comes with several individual surge protectors for items such as computers. It also includes an insurance policy in case of damage from a power surge. Is it worth the $5.50 per month? Is your home insurance or car insurance or cart insurance worth their costs? Not until they are needed - at that time - YES!!

Surge Protection – SECO Energy

Rent for $5.95 per month with $25.00 install fee.
Buy for $349.00 plus tax. No install fee.

They do not come with individual surge protectors anymore.

[photo1902]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

The big word is could--any person can replace a breaker or install a surge protector--there is no LOAD connected to the surge protector its akin to plugging a device into an outlet--the only problem is matching the brand to the panel

it is NOT wiring, do you need a licensed electrician to hang a fixture on an existing ceiling box, NO--a handy man can do this-- if he knows what to do !!!

Yes, we get it. It's easy to install. So is replacing a breaker. My contention was that its terrible advice to suggest to a homeowner he/she have a handyman or a neighbor do it. That advice is absolutely insane, on so many levels. If you want to do that kind of work at your own house, that's your prerogative. There are many people here in The Villages that hire people to do jobs outside the scope of their abilities. If you hire a painter, worse case is you end up with a bad paint job. If you hire someone to go into your breaker panel and install a device, worse case is he/she gets electrocuted, or you burn down your house, if the job is not properly done. The couple hundred bucks you save on hiring an electrician would seem really cheap after that.

[Chatbrat]

If you turn off the main breaker, all the busses in the panel are not energized--