Whole-Home Surge Protection

The Value Of A Whole-Home Surge Protection In Murrieta!

Whole-Home Surge ProtectionThe importance of a whole-home surge protection is massive. Whole home surge protectors are typically hard-wired to your electrical box. Whole home surge protectors are designed to divert excess voltage from your home. A whole-home surge protection can actually prevent electrical wire fires.

The value of whole home surge protectors is immeasurable. Because whole-home surge protection is mounted in the electrical panel, they protect all electrical circuits fed from that panel. Whole house surge protectors are hooked up directly to your wiring system. For areas that are very prone to lightning strikes, whole-home surge protection is a must have as well as plug-in protectors like surge protectors, UPSes and the like.

Does the concept of a whole house surge protector have you scratching your head? Perhaps you’ve envisioned a super-sized power strip? Or maybe a large magical box capable of absorbing lightning bolts? Whatever your misconceptions about whole house surge protectors, we’ve got the 4-1-1 you need to help you protect your home and all its valuable appliances from those inevitable and frequent power surges.

What is a whole house surge protector?
Simply put, a whole house surge protector protects all the appliances in your home from voltage spikes, limiting excess electrical current by blocking its flow or shorting it to ground, much like a pressure relief valve. This includes surges occurring not only from lightning, but the 60-80 percent of surges that occur from within your home – typically from major appliances cycling on and off. With all of today’s electronics, you simply can’t afford not to protect your home with a whole house surge protector.

Where is it installed?
Whole house surge protectors are typically hard-wired to your electrical box. Proper installation is essential. A whole house surge protector must be properly grounded, since without proper ground even the best surge protector will be unable to perform its job. See more here.

The thing that you have to keep in mind when you’re purchasing for whole home surge protectors is always that you might be genuinely searching for something to protect you from a very unlikely event.

Surge Protection

Not long ago, electrical contractor Allen Gallant was about halfway through the job of completely rewiring a 3,200-square-foot house in Acton, Massachusetts, when the owners decided to save some money and not install whole-house protection against power surges. Sure enough, soon after the house was finished, Gallant got a phone call from the distressed owners: Lightning had struck a utility pole near their house, sending a tidal wave of voltage through the wires, past the main breaker panel, and into the house.

Two Types of Surges

A power surge may last for only a few millionths of a second, but at its worst, it carries tens of thousands of volts, enough to fry circuit boards, crash hard drives, and ruin DVD and home-entertainment systems. Lightning-induced surges are the most powerful and most feared: A 200,000-amp jolt crashing through a power line will burn standard 20-amp wiring like a lightbulb filament. But a lightning strike has to be less than a mile from the house to cause harm, and in fact most surge-related damage is not caused by lightning.

Far more common, if not as dramatic, are surges caused by downed power lines, sudden changes in electricity use by a nearby factory, or even the cycling on and off of laser printers, electric dryers, air conditioners, refrigerators, and other energy-sucking devices in the home. The damage inflicted by these minor power fluctuations can be instantaneous — but may not show up for some time. Check more here.

The idea of whole-home surge protection is to provide the gross power protection and any spike that gets past this unit will be less of a slam on a supplemental unit to protect against.

The Myth of Whole-House Surge Protection

Where Do Surges Come From?

For a better understanding, you need to know that:

  • 20 percent of surges originate outside a house from nearby lightning strikes, which couple surges into nearby power wires
  • Normal utility operations can cause electrical disturbances
  • Perhaps the most common external surge source is when power is interrupted for any reason – a tree falling on wires, a car hitting a pole, wind damage, utility repairs, etc. Wires conducting electricity create a magnetic field. When power is interrupted, the magnetic field collapses, inducing large voltages in the wires. A 12-volt spark coil relies on this principle to generate many thousands of volts to fire spark plugs.
  • 80% of surges come from within a building are generated every time equipment cycles on and off.

Internal surge levels are related to the magnitude of current being interrupted and the length of wire from the service entrance to the load. The longer the wire and the higher the current, the bigger the surge generated when the power is interrupted. A classic example is a coffee pot located far from the service entrance. Every time the heater kicks on and off to maintain the coffee temperature, significant surges are generated. Read full article here.

Using A Whole-Home Surge Protection Are A Good Idea!

A whole-home surge protection is devices that absorb voltage spikes that rise above a certain level and those that can harm electronic devices. Whole home surge protectors are the most effective defense systems that homeowners can invest in for preventing unpredictable electrical hazards. A whole-home surge protection is designed to protect the entire home from more extreme power surges, such as lightning strikes.

A whole-home surge protection is installed at the main electrical panel or meter in your home. The whole home surge protectors are devices designed to reduce large power fluctuations to manageable levels, protecting your sensitive electronics and appliances, call us here: (951) 805-1262. A whole-home surge protection is increasingly utilized and installed in new homes because they offer effective protection and are cost effective.

Related Articles:
Electrical Safety Tips – Being a Responsible Homeowner
Why DIY Electrical Repairs Should Be Avoided

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *