For anyone interested in adding a Whole House Surge Suppressor, here are some things to think about:
1) Be sure to get one that protects all 3 surge modes - Line to Neutral, Line to Ground, and Neutral to Ground. Many of them only protect line to neutral, which doesn't help much for a lightning strike. If they don't say they protect all 3 modes, they don't. There are sort of two ranges of prices and that's the difference.
2) The surge current rating is the amount of energy that can be absorbed by the suppressor. Whatever isn't absorbed gets through to your devices. The higher the surge current rating the better.
3) All surge suppressors use Varistors (MOV) to absorb the surge. MOV's degrade slightly as they absorb surges, so must be replaced eventually. The higher the Joule rating, the higher the MOV sizes/ratings, so the more energy it can absorb and the longer it will last. Again, cheap units usually have smaller joule ratings so won't last as many years as a better one.
4) Any surge suppressor can handle the surge from a motor start/stop. But lightning is whole different ball of wax. I read once that there is enough energy in one lightning strike to power New York City for 30 seconds. So you need a good surge suppressor to dissipate that energy if there is a lightning strike nearby.
This looks like quite a good one that ticks all the boxes. I also like that it has sensors to indicate when it has stopped working properly. Its not cheap, but it doesn't have to save many Insteon devices, computers and TV's to pay for itself...
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-...oduct-overview
1) Be sure to get one that protects all 3 surge modes - Line to Neutral, Line to Ground, and Neutral to Ground. Many of them only protect line to neutral, which doesn't help much for a lightning strike. If they don't say they protect all 3 modes, they don't. There are sort of two ranges of prices and that's the difference.
2) The surge current rating is the amount of energy that can be absorbed by the suppressor. Whatever isn't absorbed gets through to your devices. The higher the surge current rating the better.
3) All surge suppressors use Varistors (MOV) to absorb the surge. MOV's degrade slightly as they absorb surges, so must be replaced eventually. The higher the Joule rating, the higher the MOV sizes/ratings, so the more energy it can absorb and the longer it will last. Again, cheap units usually have smaller joule ratings so won't last as many years as a better one.
4) Any surge suppressor can handle the surge from a motor start/stop. But lightning is whole different ball of wax. I read once that there is enough energy in one lightning strike to power New York City for 30 seconds. So you need a good surge suppressor to dissipate that energy if there is a lightning strike nearby.
This looks like quite a good one that ticks all the boxes. I also like that it has sensors to indicate when it has stopped working properly. Its not cheap, but it doesn't have to save many Insteon devices, computers and TV's to pay for itself...
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-...oduct-overview
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