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.

I had read numerous posts about people experiencing electronics failures in their TV homes, so we went ahead and obtained a surge protector as proactive protection. We also have plugged in most of our electronics into small surge protectors that plug into the electrical outlets. Just my two cents...

Nicely done Casandra!

These "point-of-use" protectors are absolutely necessary but they can get overwhelmed with a very large power surge. This is why you really need a Primary, Type-2 surge protector installed in addition at the circuit breaker panel. This surge protector will significantly reduce and or block a large power surge so the Type-3, point-of-use surge protectors can handle the surge.

Is it correct to say the more point-of-use surge protectors you have the better?

Yes, especially if the device has embedded electronics as most appliances have now days contain.

Totally agree and Primary, Type-2 should be in everyone's home as well as surge protectors for the major electronics. . .

We own our place outright so we don't have to carry windstorm insurance coverage. But we do have lightning coverage in the basic homeowner policy.

I believe most or all policies have lightning coverage in the basic homeowners policy. The problem is first, you need to make sure your dwelling coverage it correct since many are under-insured and 2) dealing with the insurance company after a large fire resulting from a lightning strike can be a major job.

Just to review, surge protection is a layered system. That means installing a Type-2 surge protector such as the Eaton Ultra at the circuit breaker panel and Type-3 point-of-use protectors on all sensitive electronic devices such as TVs and computers. If you have cable, you should install a surge protector in the garage where the cable comes into the house.

If you can afford it, finally get the Seco surge protector which is a Type-1 at the meter but this would be the lowest priority given the Type-2 will also protect you from power surges coming from the utility.

I agree, every home here in the Villages should have a Type-2 surge protector such as the Eaton Ultra installed at the circuit breaker panel.

Pikes and Lenhart electric install these. I believe Pikes is having a sale and Lenhart will give you a discount if you tell them you heard about them here on Talk of the Villages or attended one of the Villages Lightning Study Group's talk on Lightning. I'm not sure how long these "specials" will last so I would reach out to one of these companies ASAP.

Finally, there are several other Type-2 surge protectors besides the Eaton Ultra available. I've done some preliminary research and I can say with good confidence that the specs on all of them are basically close enough to each other that the extra cost for some of them may not be worth it. Some use a gas discharge tube to extend the life of the MOV components, and some have thermally protected MOVs so they don't self sacrifice in the case of a overwhelming power surge but at of the day the extra couple hundred dollars for a Siemens or Vortex or EMP shield surgeprotector for example, over the Eaton Ultra is not buying you significant additional protection. If the Eaton Ultra fails, there is a limited life time warrenty. So all this said, given the expense, the Eaton Ultra is the most cost effective device and has been around for many years and is highly rated so everyone living here in the Villages should consider at least spending the money for this surge protector along with the Type-3 point-of-use protectors which they probably already have.

Here's a point of use option to provide protection for hard wired electrical devices such as HVAC, compressor, mini split, tankless hot water heater, pool/SPA pumps, etc.

These are devices that are also most likely to induce smaller surges into other sensitive electrical devices in your home that can degrade electronics over time.




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