[pikeselectric]

Very well said, Trayderjoe!

[retiredguy123]

Most people pay more than $1,000 per year to the power company for their electricity. But then, the power company wants to charge an additional fee of $350 to install a surge protection device on the back of the meter, which requires a separate trip by an electrician to your house. And, they give you a damage warranty that basically covers nothing. If the device is needed, why doesn't the meter come with the device already attached? And, if the device is effective, why doesn't the warranty cover anything? Does this make any sense to anyone?

[spinner1001]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Most people pay more than $1,000 per year to the power company for their electricity. But then, the power company wants to charge an additional fee of $350 to install a surge protection device on the back of the meter, which requires a separate trip by an electrician to your house. And, they give you a damage warranty that basically covers nothing. If the device is needed, why doesn't the meter come with the device already attached? And, if the device is effective, why doesn't the warranty cover anything? Does this make any sense to anyone?

Yes, it does to me. I’ve learned the nuances.

Physics >> human intervention. That device reduces risk. It doesn’t eliminate it.

Economics: There is no such thing as a free lunch.

[LoisR]

We had a whole house surge protector installed in our electric panel box after being hit by lightening. I also use separate quality surge prototectors on outlets that I use for car charging, cloth washers, garage door motor, tvs. etc.
Spend it now or later. It's cheaper doing the right thing now.

[mikeberk]

You should have a whole house surge protector (220 volt) installed at the panel board or at the meter box outside the home. Depending on who your electric utility is you may be able to get it installed by them. Or you can get a license electrical contract to install it for you. I also recommend 110 volt surge protectors at the outlets of your sensitive electronics.

[goodoldan]

Originally Posted by dmwalsh33

I have a surge protector on my outside AC unit. The company now tells me I need a surge protector on the inside air handler. Is that necessary? Thank you for your assistance!

What they're telling you is that they'd like some additional profit, please. Did they happen to mention where this dreaded surge might come from? What about your TV, or even your electric toothbrush? Are you going to be heartless and leave them unprotected?!?!

Nearby lightning would be the obvious, most likely source of a surge on the power to your home. SECO offers a legitimate whole-house power line surge protector that is installed at the electric meter for either a one-time charge of about $200, or alternatively for an ongoing fee of about $5/month on your bill.

[Sully2023]

Originally Posted by dmwalsh33

I have a surge protector on my outside AC unit. The company now tells me I need a surge protector on the inside air handler. Is that necessary? Thank you for your assistance!

I had a whole house surge protector added to my home when I first moved in. It was installed on the master electrical panel which protects the entire home. The cost was about $500 and the work was done by the electrical people who installed my power box when the house was built. So far, so good.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by LoisR

We had a whole house surge protector installed in our electric panel box after being hit by lightening. I also use separate quality surge prototectors on outlets that I use for car charging, cloth washers, garage door motor, tvs. etc.
Spend it now or later. It's cheaper doing the right thing now.

Same here, additional protection near the device reduces risk because nearby lightening can induce surges direcly into house wiring - effectively bypassing the whole house protector.

Adding spa, fridge, microwave, stove, dishwasher, irrigation controller to your list.

Note: they do have a life and need to be replaced every 5 years.

Spent over 9 months dealing with insurance after lightening hit my chain link fence up north and took out most of anything with electronics in the house.

[JWGifford]

Originally Posted by Trayderjoe

I would look at the issue of surge protection as an insurance policy, and the level of protection would be commensurate with your risk tolerance level.

Let me preface this was a little story. I was a member of the Health, Safety, and Environmental Affairs division of a major chemical company, and electrical safety was part of our training program. I did some research after hearing the local power company advertise whole house surge protection on the radio, of which I was unaware at the time, talking with several of our electrical engineers. The short (pun intended) of it is I developed a safety presentation for my client base in which we recommended that people consider adding it to their homes.

Remember, as was stated in an earlier post, NO electrical surge protection will protect you from a direct strike on your home. Also keep in mind that the whole home surge protection system on your electrical panel potentially has a gap, in that ground strikes near your home can enter your home through your utility lines, such as cable service lines.

I have subsequently had installed whole home surge protection on each home I have owned. You can choose to buy or rent the unit, but whichever way you go, be sure to get a surge indicator on the unit so that you can see if a surge occurred. You may need a qualified electrician to subsequently check your system to ensure that you are still protected. I supplemented the panel surge suppressor with heavy duty surge protector power strips on each equipment with connectivity to cable service. These power strips have input/output coaxial cable connectors. The coaxial cable from the wall connects on the input side, then a separate coaxial cable runs from the output side to the electronic equipment I am seeking to protect. Lastly, I had surge suppression electrical outlets installed for my two garage door opener motors.

I am not suggesting anyone do what I did for my home. The level of, or lack thereof, surge suppression is again a personal risk assessment you need to make.

Consider the replacement costs should your electronic devices get versus the costs for protection. I would not however, dismiss electrical surge out of hand.

Makes perfect sense, thanks. As you know, risk is the product of severity and likelihood. I think most people can agree on the severity aspect (e.g., blowing up all your expensive electronics), but it’s the likelihood that gives me pause. I’ve owned a number of houses in my lifetime and never had a whole house surge protector and never needed one. Perhaps I lived in areas that had less lightening activity than TV or had more reliable electric service. I’m curious how many people suffer large losses due to electric surges per year in TV. Has to be quite small. As with everything, it all depends on one’s risk tolerance levels.

[easeonby]

Originally Posted by dmwalsh33

I have a surge protector on my outside AC unit. The company now tells me I need a surge protector on the inside air handler. Is that necessary? Thank you for your assistance!

You can have the electric company install a surge protector behind the meter which protects the whole house. I would still add surge protectors for your sensitive electronics.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by goodoldan

Did they happen to mention where this dreaded surge might come from?

A nearby lightening strike could induce a surge directly into the wiring into the air handler, before the whole house protection can help. Adding protection close to the air handler reduces the risk.

[Justputt]

Twenty years in North Texas tornado alley, T-storms common, and I never had a lightning strike take anything out. I did have surge protectors/UPS on computers/TV and a few critical items, but never the entire house. That said, with all the surge protectors and UPSs I've bought over those years, the whole house surge protector may have been a cheaper way to go, idk.

[JRcorvette]

If lightning hits your house or even right net to your house no surge protector will do anything for you! They simply can not handle that much voltage!

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by JWGifford

Makes perfect sense, thanks. As you know, risk is the product of severity and likelihood. I think most people can agree on the severity aspect (e.g., blowing up all your expensive electronics), but it’s the likelihood that gives me pause. I’ve owned a number of houses in my lifetime and never had a whole house surge protector and never needed one. Perhaps I lived in areas that had less lightening activity than TV or had more reliable electric service. I’m curious how many people suffer large losses due to electric surges per year in TV. Has to be quite small. As with everything, it all depends on one’s risk tolerance levels.

Note that the surge protector does not really offer lightning protection. It can only provide limited protection from lightning and only if the lightning enters the house through the incoming power line.

[DonnaNi4os]

The more protection you have against surges the better. I have a whole house surge protector, one on the ac, and a surge protector on every outlet that has something plugged into it…including the outlet on my garage ceiling for the garage door opener. This is truly the lightning capital of the world.