by Mario Traina and Amber Traina, Owners, Allied Electric
Installing a whole house surge protector on your home is a smart investment for you and your family.
It does exactly what the name suggests — protects your home against surges, significantly prolonging the life of expensive appliances and technology by as much as 30%.
A whole house surge protector gets installed onto your panel and acts as a guardian to your home. It takes any excess electricity and sends it to the earth, rather than into your home’s appliances and technology.
It’s a lot like a crossing guard redirecting traffic to a clearer path and safer destination.
This is very important to have because utility surges happen randomly to homes multiple times a day. The average North American home faces as many as 2,000-plus surges a year, according to the National Electrical Contractors Association. Wow!
Day-to-day, smaller spikes of electricity come from inside the house from the cycling on and off of large appliances, as well. This will wear down the equipment over time.
On the other hand, surges that come directly from the utility company can completely destroy everything immediately with just one surge. This type of surge can be caused by downed power lines and lightning strikes on utility equipment.
Not only do surges and lightning strikes affect your home’s appliances, but your computers and televisions too. According to the National Electrical Safety Foundation, 40% of all computer crashes and data losses come from power surges.
Whole house surge protection is not the same thing as a power strip you can plug into your wall. Though, it is smart to keep your devices on a UL listed power strip while having a whole house surge protector. This adds an extra layer of protection.
