In many cases, these surges of electric power can even lead to fire and destroying the entire home. Individual surge protection devices are mandated in most communities, but a whole house surge protector unit may be needed to protect against any catastrophic damage. Actually, these surge protectors are harder to find. One manufacturer was located that provides surge protection for the whole house.
Nowadays, many homeowners and home electronics users think that they are already protected from surges. Often, they believe that the eight-outlet strip hooking up all the electronic devices is a whole house surge protector designed to protect the equipment. In most cases, this is not true. It offers power but no surge protection.
Where Do Electric Surges Come From?
The most common whole house surge protector of the electric power is a lightning strike. A surge can start with a bolt of lightning striking a building or an area close to it. The current then travels into the building through pipes or lines of many types. And when it gets to a place where it can head for ground, like a computer, TV or phone; it grounds and blows the unit up.
Interestingly enough, a more likely source of an electric whole house surge protector is a stray electric charge. These stray charges may be due to a general power surge, a tree branch falling on a power or phone line, or the turning on or off of appliances like a refrigerator.
If you look at Amazon, you may be able to find a whole house surge protector at a very affordable price ($84.99). Ideally, a whole house surge protector system will protect everything. If, however, there are expensive individual electronic gadgets inside, you may want to add another level of protection. As you work with your electrician, ask about putting in elements for each individual electronic device. Peace of mind in this regard goes hand in hand with an insurance policy.
In general, a whole house surge protector will protect very well AC only devices, such as appliances, air conditioners, and so on. They are not as good for protecting electronics that are connected to more than power. You do need to separately protect your sensitive electronic equipment no matter what whole house surge protector you use.
However, a whole house surge protector can be a badly used term, since there is no manufacturer can make devices to protect everything in your home from all sources. As an example, even if you could successfully stop surges from getting into the house on a cable line, if a device connected to the cable line fails, it could send a damaging surge through the cable line within the house and fry other equipment.