Whole house surge protection?

LejfK · « **on:** 28 Apr 2011, 02:44 am »

Hi guys. I just finished repairing a receiver which I think was the victim of some power surges. (My parents' plasma went down at around the same time with three fried boards, and they live two blocks away. Also, when my parents went to get a new tv, the sales guy mentioned they were the third folks that week from our neighborhood replacing a downed set). Anyway, I was thinking about getting one of those residential surge protectors that you install at the panel. Any suggestions?

jtwrace · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 11:21 am »

There are a few options but many of them have MOV's.

At the point of use is always best IMO so check out www.zerosurge.com

kingdeezie · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 01:34 pm »

I bought one of these whole house surge protectors at Home Depot about a year and some change ago. My father is an electrician and he installed it onto my panel.

He has had a similar one on his panel for about a decade, and has yet to lose anything in the house due to a surge.

The actual unit itself was a hundred dollars of so I think. Installation might obviously cost you a good chunk of change, I just lucked out because my father is an electrician.

So far so good. I have my system on a Synergistic Research Power Cell 10SE with no problems for about the same amount of time.

Haven't lost anything yet!

bummrush · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 01:46 pm »

Holmes on Holmes uses them on his tv show seems if they are good enough for this pro they should be good enough. Or is this just another non approved audio phile thing again,why not stop the surge, spike whatever right at the panel. Mov,s or not

Atlplasma · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 02:40 pm »

Keep in mind that surges don't always travel through the panel. A nearby ground strike can electrify your phone and cable lines.

rw@cn · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 03:13 pm »

Having gone through this about a year ago, I was amazed about how much I really didn't know.

I have an whole house suppressor which I bought from our local utility company. So far so good. But when I was going through the process many power people told me that the only bonafide way to protect from lightning itself is with a lightning rod (for airborne stikes) and a properly installed ground rod.

Most of the units we purchase for surge/spike protection are inadequate for a direct or close lightning strike (this is what many people that should know say).

Whole house units don't protect you from telephone and cable installations. Again a properly installed ground rod will help.

I don't know if this helps since there is so much information floating around.

bummrush · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 03:22 pm »

You know in town here you don't see lightning rods on houses is it just as good to let the trees take the hit?

rw@cn · « **Reply #7 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 03:39 pm »

It is the same here. That I don't know. But I think if the trees are close, install a ground rod. After all of these years, I am finally negotiating for a ground rod. We have many trees close to the house. How did we survive without proper protection?

bummrush · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 03:46 pm »

Same here and last year living next to woods and ravine we had strikes that were close and the thunder level was mind numbing.

JLM · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 04:47 pm »

Please define "MOV" and the context.

We built 6 years ago and had a whole house surge protector installed at the time with taller tress about 60 feet away. We also have underground phone and power (with our own transformer) plus satellite TV. No issues, no problems.

jtwrace · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 04:51 pm »

Quote from: JLM on 28 Apr 2011, 04:47 pm

Please define "MOV" and the context.

MOV=Metal oxide varistor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varistor

woodsyi · « **Reply #11 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 04:52 pm »

MOV is destructive in that it deteriorates the more you use it.

youravhandyman · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 05:05 pm »

I do have a bit of experience with the whole house protection products. They do a very good job for what they were designed to do which is to take a severe surge (say 6000V) and knock it down to a managable level (around 600V) thus allowing your major appliances to continue to work and incur little or no damage. 600V will damage your sensitive electronics for sure so you will still need individual power conditioning at the rack. They do not condition the power in your home as much as protect for the catastrophic surge. Still, I still think these products are worthwile. Especially for cost. But they likely would not have saved your parents plasma. At least not for long if you have power issues as I do here in the midwest.

scp2 · « **Reply #13 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 05:11 pm »

Will the zerosurge protect you? Or just in some cases? I live in the midwest and am always in fear of what could happen.

youravhandyman · « **Reply #14 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 05:18 pm »

SCP2,
Yes, but again only to a certain extent. I was blowing starting caps in my A/C condenser way too often at a couple hundred per trip. The whole house surge products would stop something like that and would take a great deal off of a large surge. But it will not completely protect every component in your house. That's why I suggested that you still have power conditioning at the rack. These will handle the smaller surges and may make up for the dips in power depending on what type of conditioning equipment you purchase.
I would be glad to make recommendations in a PM but don't want to step on everyone's favorite products and start a flame war. Some protection is better than none for sure.

woodsyi · « **Reply #15 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 05:31 pm »

This is a general circle, not indebted to any company. Spill your beans so we can entertain alternatives.

youravhandyman · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 07:48 pm »

Personally a big fan of 3. Torus, Furman and Panamax. I listed those in price order not necessarily by preference since each has a particular strong point. The big Torus models filter very nicely but are pricey for sure. Furman has some very nice stuff and is almost bullet-proof but still a little rich. Panamax has incorporated a lot of Furman's technology since buying them and come in at a better price point. They also offer individual solutions for outlets where you don't want to hook up a big conditioner but need protection and some filtering. Tripp-lite is good too but not really concerned with "audio" quality.
I'm sure there are any number of products out there that do the job properly but either I have no experience with them or they are just priced out of my ballpark to have invested time in research.
Sorry Monster fans...my momma said "If you don't have anything nice to say..."

rodge827 · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 Apr 2011, 09:40 pm »

Environmental Potentials is a good way to go. I have an EP2050 and EP 2750 Ground Filter on the pannel box with a EP2450 on my gear and living room HT system.
EP products are a little pricey, but well worth it.
No surge problems here.

http://ep2000.com/index.php?page=industrial

http://ep2000.com/uploads/EP_Ground%20Filter.pdf

Chris

LejfK · « **Reply #18 on:** 29 Apr 2011, 05:00 pm »

Those Environmental Potentials products look interesting, but where can you buy them?

rodge827 · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Apr 2011, 12:30 am »

I got mine directly from EP. Call Doug Joseph and he will either sell you something or send you on to a dealer.