All About Whole House Surge Protection

What does a whole house surge protector do?

Like a security guard, a surge protector protects electrical equipment from voltages that are too strong for them. A lightning bolt or a malfunction in the power station can cause spikes in the voltage inside the power lines outside. These high voltages can then enter your house and fry valuable electric devices. During a storm, this would be easy to do. Lightning carries from 200,000 to up to one billion volts of electricity. Your electrical devices are designed for 120 to 240 volts of electricity. Just using simple math, a surge protector has a big job to do. The good news is that they do it well.

Surge protector installation

Having a surge protector installed can involve covering the whole house or parts of it. Like other electronic devices, a surge protector can be small or large, protecting large areas or small. For those who want protection for every electrical device in the house, a whole house surge protector installation will be the answer. The total size of this protector will depend on the number of devices to be protected.

The largest surge protector will usually go into the house electrical box. It should be installed by one of our professional electricians. It may look like a large plastic box with lights on it. To install it, the panel of the electrical box will need to come off. The job is not going to take more than thirty minutes for one of us to finish. Once inside the electrical box, it will redirect large surges of electricity directly to the grounding element inside the electrical box. This means all surges are directed to the ground outside and not to your valuable electric devices inside the house.

Covering smaller electrical items can be successfully accomplished using a smaller surge protector. If you have the power cord to your home stereo hooked up to a power strip, this can be protected easily. There are some companies that include the surge protector inside the power strip. Be careful to choose a surge protector with enough joules to protect everything that is hooked up to it. A joule is a measurement of electrical energy, similar to watts. Smaller sized protectors will come in at 300 to 4000 joules. The exact amount of joules needed will be determined by the total amount of appliances connected and their own wattages. The smallest surge protector, coming in at 300 joules will only protect one small device.

Surge Protector Installation is also for the hidden surges

Surge protectors are not that well known for those who are not mechanically inclined. For this reason, getting the correct model involves talking to one of our professional electricians. Installation by the right person is paramount to having true security for your devices and appliances.

Protection against the unseen

One thing to remember is that surges in the electrical system happen in small amounts of time, perhaps less than one second. These can happen without anyone noticing. These stealth surges can harm electronics after enough happen. Some people choose to unplug their valuable electronics during a thunderstorm. But the unseen surges can still cause havoc.

Should you go for a large or a small surge protector?

If you are a person who just wants to cover your house in one fell swoop, it is best to get a whole house surge protector installation. It will be less time to install one than to install a collection of smaller surge protectors. It will also give you more peace of mind. Why? Everything in the house is protected right from the entrance of one hundred percent of the electrical power.