SMART HOME
PROTECTION SOLUTIONS
Whole House Surge Protection and Strategy
There are many electrical surge protectors on the market today.To properly protect your home and devices you need a combination of different pieces of equipment.
Think about how many deceives you have in your home that are plugged into and electrical outlet. Most of these, if not all have electronics inside. (e.g., Computer equipment, TV, appliances, heating, cooling etc.
A single surge can take out all of these in one shot. This will be an inconvenience and will cost you. This is whey you really need to think about, and implement, a whole house surge protection strategy. If all you currently have is some surge protector enabled power strips you are not even close to being fully protected.
Power surges can originate outside your home from electric company equipment issues and from a lightning strike.
Power surge can also originate inside your home. There is a variety of ways this occurs, but it generally happens when a large electrical load comes on from things like your air conditioner, a sump or other pump, washer dryer, etc. The surge often happens when more than one of these devices come on at the same time.
There are three different types of surge protection devices.
To be fully protect yourself need all three including:
- Surge protection at the electric meter
- Surge protection at the Circuit breaker panel
- Surge protection at the equipment you are protecting
Here’s a video that lays it out for you from Leviton.
Type 1 Surge Protection Devices protect your home from power surges that originate outside the house.
Our top pick Type 1 surge protection device is Leviton’s Leviton’s 50240-MSA120120120/240 Volt 200A, Meter Socket Surge Arrester. This unit installed at the electric meter where the power enters your house.
This Type on surge protection is a very important part of the surge protection Strategy.
However, your local electrician may not be allowed to install it. Often the electric company insists on installing the Type 1 since it is connected to their meter and the power from the utility pole has to be disconnected during instillation.
Some electric companies offer their own Type 1 Surge protector solution and they install it for you.
Make sure you understand the terms of the electric companies offer.
Sometimes you are renting their type 1 surge protector and it is added to your monthly bill. In these cases, you usually get a warranty on any damage to your property if their Type 1 Surge protector fails. In these instances, we suggest you go ahead with the power company’s Type1 solution so you are protected.
Type 2 Surge Protection Devices protect you home from power surges that originate inside the home. Type 2 Surge Protective Devices are installed at your Circuit Breaker Panel, the main hub for electricity in your home.
Type 3 surge protection Devices surge protection devices protect you home from power surges that originate inside the home.
You are likely Familiar with these. surge protection devices protect you home from power surges that originate inside the home these are available as power strips or wall outlet mount.
Either way, they are connected with an electoral outlet.
If you have an uninterruptible power supply (a battery backup) this unit likely provides you with Type 3 surge protection surge protection devices should be available anywhere you have electric powered devices.
So, you plug your Type 3 surge projector device in the electrical outlet and then you plug you electric powered device into the Type 3 surge projector device.
Type 3 surge protection devices tend to be inexpensive we suggest that you use one with major and expensive appliances which tends to have short warranties and are usually expensive to repair.
Our top picks for Type 3 surge protection devices include:
ECHOGEAR Power Strip Surge Protector with 8 Rotating-Outlets, Cable Management, Flat Plug & Fireproof Technology – 2160 Joules of Surge Protection
This unit very flexible allowing you to use all outlets.
We also like Accell 3-Outlet Travel Surge Protector and it supports bulky transformers.
If you need portable then this surge protector is for you. It offers two USB ports (2.1A, 5V, 10W shared power) for charging mobile devices one electric plug socket.
Provides 612 joules of absorption capacity surge protection
Folding power plug makes carrying when on the go easy
Rugged, impact resistant housing protects during travel
Our third pick is the JACKYLED Power Strip Tower
This unit saves desk space are it is it is a vertical tower.
This tower has ten outlets, four USB slots, and a six-foot cord, so that you can plug in devices from multiple angles.
It has 780J protection and a small handle on top so you can lift/move it easily.
Our final pick is also an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS.
An APC uninterruptible power supply (or UPS) is a great investment.
This unit give you Type 3 Surge protection and back up battery during an outage.
Two in one. Other features include APC 11-Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip with two USB Charging Ports, 2880 Joules, Surge Arrest and a six-foot cord