To say that any wall surge protector is sufficient is risky. If you are in a residential area that is prone to lightning strikes, wall surge protectors of the top most quality are advisable. There are many styles of wall units. Some plug in to your current outlet and some are made to replace your outlet and fit inside the wall.
The most dependable and longest lasting wall mount surge protectors are made with series mode technology rather than MOVs (metal oxide varistors). MOVs are sacrificial semi-conductors that absorb surges until they burn out. This could mean that one power surge could take out your MOV and thus your surge protector. While most surge protectors have more than one MOV in them, you will still need to replace the device once the semi-conductors have expended themselves. Series mode technology works by storing surge energy and slowly releases it into a ground wire. Look into Zero surge for series mode products.
There are many ways to go about implementing wall mounted surge protectors but the most applied system is for wall-mounted televisions, like plasma TVs. It’s basic protection but you have to start somewhere. Unless your home is wired for whole house protection individual wall surge protectors are the next best source for protection. For items such as plasma televisions you are better off using one to two outlet wall surge protectors. This allows the device to devote full attention to your appliance and not spread the wealth, so to speak.
Even with the MOV technology, you are still protected and series mode technology will not always be available. In fact, surge protectors like those made by Zero Surge do not come as in wall surge protectors, but as bulky car battery sized units that will look odd behind your television or another part of your home.
Even if you burn out the MOVs on a $9 surge protector, it’s really a small investment to purchase another one to protect your $2500 investment, with regards to most modern televisions. Still you can pay more for protection and that is probably the best advice you can receive, but price does not always measure quality. Your best protection will come from both whole house surge protectors and a wall surge protector. Both offer a line of defense that better protects you from surges in power.
The thing with higher quality surge protection is that at some point you are no longer buying technology; you are buying insurance for the product. While this will still guarantee your appliances it’s not really protection that helps you immediately. Even your cheap surge protector will stop a power surge at least once. There are degrees of protection and any level is better than no protection. To save your high dollar equipment you can start with the best in wall surge protectors you can find.
