Whole House Surge Suppression

[sholling]

Ok, I’m moving into a new home located in a somewhat more lightning prone area. With California’s power problems and the possibility of spikes caused by future rolling blackouts I’m a bit concerned. I’ve purchased a Belkin PF40 power console for my gear but someone recommended that I buy a Delta whole house solution as well. I’ve been to the site and it looks like one of those too good to be true things. It’s way out of my area of expertise so could one of you electrical engineering wizards take a peek and let me know what you think? Good idea or con job?
http://www.deltasurgeprotectors.com/products.cfm

 

[majorloser]

Whole House TVSS

There are alternatives for whole house TVSS (trans voltage surge suppression). You should even be able to get it through your power company. For a small monthly fee they come out and place the unit in the meter can behind your electric meter. It's their problem to install and they take care of it. Consider it insurance.
EXAMPLE: http://www.fpl.com/energy_services/surgeshield.shtml

I installed my own system.

I'm using this for whole house electric surge suppression:

http://www.atlanticscientific.com/products/mains/zonesentinel.htm

And these to protect the satelite coax:

http://www.atlanticscientific.com/products/networks/zonebarrier.htm

Atlantic Scientific equipment is made in the USA and is industrial equipment. Not cheap residential stuff. Worth every penny.

EDIT: Central Florida isn't know as "Lightning Alley" for nothing!

 

[Tomorrow]

We have constant brown outs (pardon the expression ), here in coastal Oregon, so we considered it mandatory when we built our home. Whole-house surge suppression is really cheap insurance against electronic catastrophe. (Everything that runs on electricity these days seems to operate on processors and CCA's). I'm with Lt. Colonel Loser....Get it!

 

[bmac]

Ok, I started typing and lost it.

This is the story IMHO.

Delta lightning arrestors are a one shot deal. The strike hits close to the house, and this thing explodes. Good....but not TVSS(I'm not saying "don't use this").

TVSS has several classes, you are looking for class C (class has to do with the area protected).

Companies like Intermatic and Square D both make them...many more I'm sure,but you need three levels of protection IMHO.

1) Panel mount
2)Wall outlets(Cooper IG1210 or others)
3)Surge Strip

Nothing is going to stop a direct hit, but this will help the "little stuff"

P.S. I use Intermatic, and have seen Square D, both are good IMO.

This is the link to Intermatic:

http://www.intermatic.com/?action=div&did=6

 

[majorloser]

Things that go BOOM

Delta lightning arrestors are a one shot deal. The strike hits close to the house, and this thing explodes. Good....but not TVSS(I'm not saying "don't use this").

When bmac says they explode, THEY EXPLODE! These are not items you want mounted in your house or garage. The items that both of us have shown you are contained in a NEMA rated boxes. This is a MUST. And rigid conduit between the TVSS and the breaker box/disconnect is another must. I'm not a freak on the Square D or some of the other residential devices since they use a cheaper means of protection.

Also look for items that use buss bars for the circuit path and have replaceable modules. Another good option is an external alarm or set of contacts you can use to let you know when the item failed.

If you decide to install one of these it is vital to check out the house grounding bond. A good ground is the heart of a surge suppression system.

If you're not comfortable with these things, look into whether your power company offers the service. Like the link I sent for Florida Power & Light, they install the device in the meter can behind their electric meter. You pay a small monthly fee and it's their responsibility to maintain. It protects your house right at the entry point.

The nice part about a "whole house" system is it protects your appliances. Anymore they have as much electronics in them as you audio equipment.

Don't forget to protect the phone and cable.

 

[sholling]

Thank you for your help. I thought the Delta was at a too good to be true price point. I checked Southern California Edison's website and didn't see anything about surge protection but I'll give them a call next week and see what they say.

While lightning is a concern in the high desert area, California's flaky power system is a much bigger one. Between drunks hitting power poles and the threat of future rolling blackouts and possible related spikes I'm going to do something. What should I expect to spend on a basic whole house system?