[Sandy and Ed]

SECO is offering a “Surge Mitigator” for $349 outright purchase or $6 per month “rental”

Appears to “help” prevent surges right at the meter before it comes into your house. It only prevents spikes that would affect large appliances. They still recommend “point of use” protection for electronic equipment

I had a whole house surge protector installed inside my Pennsylvania home at the service panel itself. Was recommended by an electrician I trust who was also a volley fire captain and now a close friend.

My questions:

A) why being asked to pay extra for protection before SECO service enters the house? Shouldn’t they provide reliable service? Why don’t they include that within their pricing and give to all customers?

B). Wouldn’t a whole house surge protector at the panel be just as good ... or better?

C). Perhaps a combination of both?

Greatly appreciate any and all experience/thoughts on this from a Florida perspective. Fl and PA weather/storms a lot different

Yes. I should ask a Florida electrician to make a good cost benefit recommendation. Anyone know of such an electrician??

[retiredguy123]

I think it is a waste of money. Yes, they should be providing reliable service to your house and they do. Selling surge protectors is just another way to increase their profits. Here is an excerpt from their warranty with what it does not cover. It really doesn't even cover most large appliances. It doesn't cover damage to your electrical system or to your computers, televisions, security systems, or anything with a microchip or processor. I think most appliances have a microchip. So, what's left to be covered?

D. What Does This Warranty Not Cover? This warranty shall not
apply to any defect, failure, damage caused by improper installation,
improper use, or inadequate maintenance or care. MTI shall not be
obligated to furnish service under this warranty (a) to repair damage
resulting from connection to incompatible equipment; or (b) to service
a SPD that has been modified, altered or integrated with other
products when such modification, alteration, or integration increases
the time or difficulty of servicing the SPD. This warranty excludes (a)
bodily injury to persons, (b) defects caused by or damages resulting
from operation of the SPD under conditions exceeding MTI’s
published SPD specifications, such as continuous steady over-
voltages as a result of power delivery system damage or flaws, (c)
structural damage (d) damages to the electrical system including but
not limited to wiring, electrical outlets, breaker panels, and meter
sockets, (e) electric cars; (f) solar panels and solar equipment; (g)
elevators and elevator equipment; (h) damages to all wells, well
pumps and supplementary well pump equipment (i) generators and
any damages caused by an on-site backup generator, (j) damages
caused by negligence in the use of the SPD or (k) any damages
caused by a defective SPD other than physical damage to Standard
Residential Equipment. Under no circumstances will MTI guarantee
performance due to a lightning strike not carried down the utility power
lines and through the utility transformer and then the SPD to the
residence.
This warranty excludes all stand-alone “electronic equipment”
using microchip, microprocessor or transistor technology, such as but
not limited to computers, televisions, DVD Players/Recorders and
Security Systems.
Notwithstanding any other term of the warranty, in no event
is medical and/or life support equipment covered under this
warranty.
MTI shall only be liable to pay those damages incurred which are
covered under this Warranty and for which you have not recovered or
do not intend to recover from a third party or insurance carrier. In no
event shall you be entitled to a “double recovery”.
Any and all possible subrogation claims which may be made by a
homeowner’s insurance company are hereby waived. Homeowner
expressly acknowledges this provision and intends for its insurance
company to be bound by this subrogation prohibition.

[dewilson58]

Lightening Rods = Personal choice


Surge Protector = Personal choice


Life Insurance = Personal choice


Liability Umbrella = Personal choice


Reverse Mortgage = Personal choice


Line Dancing = Personal choice


Wearing a Mask = Unselfish choice

[DeanFL]

.
.
we had the SECO surge protector system installed at our home about 3 years ago ($6/mo) A few months ago, I'm looking at the bill and thought... hmm is it worth it? Flipped a mental coin and called them to cancel. They came out a few days later and deinstalled...whatever the hardware was...out of the meter box. I mentioned it to the lady in the house afterward, and got a bit of short-term grief... Thanks for linking the warranty detail - makes me feel better, and not simply a cheapskate. Unbelieveable what they DON'T cover, thnx again.

now...please 'power and lightening and storm god'... DO NOT hit us with a surge... I would have a lot of long-term 'splainin' to do. And years of 'I told you so'.
.
.

[villagetinker]

There was a close in lighting strike, hit to the rear of the lot next door. This was so close you saw it, heard it, felt it all at the same instant. House next door suffered several thousand dollars in damages, we had no apparent damage, about 18 months later the cable was having lots of trouble, they found the drop cable to our house was bad probably from the lightning strike. My point, the surge from the close in strike was apparently stopped by the SECO arrestor in the meter base. I cannot prove this and I have no idea if we would have had damage without it.

[JP]

I've lost TV's to close lightening strikes at the two houses I own in TV. I've since got both the outside and inside surge protectors and have had zero problems. I think they are worth the money.

[Stu from NYC]

Based on a thread I started on here just under a year ago (after we moved here) decided it was a worthwhile investment and paid it in full.

Some people said worth doing others said no and figured the protection was worth it. We also put in additional surge protectors inside on cords leading to computers and TV and other expensive electrical equipment.

[bilcon]

I agree. I paid in full 10 years ago, have had several bad lightning storms, and have had no problems. I also put surge protectors on each and every gadget in my house.

[2newyorkers]

We were also 1 of 3 houses hit by lightening and the only one with damage was the house without the surge protector. We were the middle house.

[Mortal1]

The naysayers always opt out of something because they've never has an issue with close lightening strikes. We have and opted to have seco do their thing at the fuse box. No problems and not sure whether it's due to their surge protector or not, but it's what makes "YOU" feel safe...not some clown with no experience.

[JoMar]

Also from PA, also had a panel mounted protector.....moved here had a whole house panel protector installed and put battery back ups on the important stuff (TV, Cable Box, Computer, Router etc) and surge protectors on second layer of stuff (printer, phone chargers etc. Some stuff is only protected by the whole house protector (the stuff that I really want to upgrade but won't because it still works). Several homes in our neighborhood have had near strikes and their home owners covered what was damaged so out of pocket was minimal.....but the pita getting it all replaced was huge.

[Hiltongrizz11]

Of course it's a personal choice
!!!!

Gosh I hate people who.answer that way!! Someone is seeking input

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Hiltongrizz11

Of course it's a personal choice!!! Gosh I hate people who.answer that way!! Someone is seeking input

Shouldn't hate me, you don't know me.
The point is...............if you like "insurance policies" but a surge protector.


Hate the answer, not the person.

[HJBeck]

Best protection is to have a whole house surge protector at the meter or the load center(breaker box), then surge arrestees at all your more expensive electronics devices in your house ( A/C units, tv’s , computers , microwaves, ranges, refrigerators, etc.) Reason being that surges don’t all enter via SECO system, many originate from nearby lightning strokes that induce high voltages into the home wiring directly, or entire thru the ground into ground wiring of the house. If your handy you can do just about all of these yourself (with a little electrical knowledge). Far less costly then paying to have it done).

[Windguy]

In addition to the excellent advice given above, I recommend buying surge suppressors that have a high Joule rating (how much energy it can absorb). I also recommend that you get suppressors that have inputs and outputs for coax cables where you have devices like modems and TVs. Lightning can hit your cable box and enter your house that way.

I also recommend going to Pike Electric to get the whole house suppression; they are cheaper than SECO. Don't forget that your appliances are essentially computers and have sensitive electronics in them. I've had some terrifying lightning strikes nearby and have had no problems over the few years since I had it installed.