[HiHoSteveO]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfu0X8t5H58

[Villages Kahuna]

I had a whole house surge protector installed shortly after I moved in about eight years ago. On June 11 this year during an afternoon thunderstorm I must have gotten a surge. My pool pump stopped working, a regular outdoor lighting circuit no longer worked and an outdoor refrigerator was off. When I looked at the surge protector, the lighted "alarm" light was off. For sure I had been zapped.

The surge protector apparently protected the circuits inside the house, but the underground wiring outside the house must have experienced the surge before the surge hit the protective device inside the garage at the main panel. Given the layout of my house and the outdoor circuits, there is probably no way I could have completely protected myself.

Bottom line? $1,100 to have the compromised whole house unit replaced and repairs to the pool panel and refrigerator. But I was still out the $500 deductible on my homeowner's insurance.

I found that I could have avoided any expense had I replaced the whole house protection a few years ago. The unit I had installed (a DITEC unit installed by Galaxy Electric) carries both a five year full replacement warranty in the case the unit gets hit and compromised or damaged. In addition, you get an automatic $10,000 insurance policy against electrical damage caused by surges. But that policy is only good for five years.

Had I known, I probably should have simply had the DITEC unit replaced, even though it had not been damaged on it's fifth year "birthday". The cost for replacement is $550. A good way to look at it is, by replacing the DITEC whole house surge protection device every five years, it is in essence a $110 per year "premium" for insurance against all electrical damage from lightning or surges up to a $10,000 cost. Getting a new DITEC unit replaced in June of 2019 is already on my calendar.

[Allen_Michael]

Good advice.