While a point-of-use surge protector is useful to plug in a limited amount of items and provide a minimum level of protection for everyday household items, there are solutions that will protect your entire home rather then a single room or device. House surge protectors are the only way to truly protect every electrical device within your home from power spikes caused by malfunctions and lightning strikes. Finding the best device for your home wiring will be an investment that will potentially save you thousands of dollars in damage in an instant and will safeguard your electronics from potential damage.
Most homeowners feel that their extension cords and power strips have their own form of surge protector build within the device, however unless your power strip clearly states that it provides surge protection, it doesn’t. The sad thing is that a number of minor power surges occur within the average home on a daily basis without giving any sign that it’s happening. Without adequate protection, whether it be a point-of-use device or a whole house surge protector, any electronics equipment with microchips or ultra-fine connections do not stand a chance against these spikes. Most point-of-use devices cannot even provide adequate protection against lightning strikes which can reach up to 200,000 amps in power down the electric line. This is the reason most experts recommend a whole house surge protector, which may cost $200 or $300 initially but will protect up to two or three hundred thousand dollars of electronic equipment.
Once you have decided the house unit is the type for you, it is important to know whole house surge protection minimum requirements to pick the right model for your property. While there are several models on the market today, many of them actually provide little protection that does not even compare to the protection of a point-of-use device. Finding the right requirements which are generally measured in joules, will assist you in making the proper investment that will stand the test of time.
The most important factors to consider when choosing the best whole house surge protectors are the warranty details, including the connected equipment coverage, the surge current capacity, the clamping level and response time. If any of these factors are not up to par, it could mean the device will not adequately protect all of the electronics throughout your home. The hard wire unit itself should have a lifetime warranty for malfunctions, but more importantly a limited or unlimited connected equipment warranty in the event the surge protector does not save electronics against currents. The surge current is very important as it is the maximum capacity that the suppressor can handle for power strikes. While the strongest current in a lightning strike is 200,000 amps many whole home protectors only cover up to 100,000 amps. Finding a surge suppressor that can support high voltage is very important.
The clamping level is pretty universal among all of the units and will generally be measured in 150 VRMS or 310 VRMS Ratings depending on the brand you chose. An although it is expected that most units would have a fast reaction time, the response time must be either instantaneous or less than 5 nanoseconds to protect your electrical devices before the power surge reaches electrical equipment. To find a unit that will protect your home it is important to research the best whole house surge protector ratings and consumer reviews to reach an unbiased decision on the best purchase for your home.
House surge protectors are the best solution for unexpected power strikes and will protect all of your electrical devices within your home rather than just a selected few. Insure your home electronics by purchasing a unit that will safeguard all of your precious devices and will also save you time and money in the future. With special alarms, you will know each and every time when your electronics were saved by this invaluable device.
