Know anything about whole house surge protectors?

[GuyGene]

My power company has whole house surge protection for $9.95 per month, installed at the meter. I'll still use mt device surge protectors, but anyone here have experience with these?

[testcase]

$120/year????? I'd check with a local licensed electrician to see what an outright owned unit would cost installed.

https://www.google.com/search?q=whole+ho...+protector&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS694US695&oq=whole+house+surge+protector&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i61j0l4.11064j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[Onamuji]

Can you find out the make/model? Best to see how much it would cost if you purchased outright.

My experience is minimal.

I was there when an electrician installed one for a friend and I asked a lot of questions.

One thing that was repeated over and over again: "These things are so cheap that it's nuts that everyone doesn't have them."

$10 bucks a month for a device that costs a hundred bucks is a bit much. Even if you pay someone $200 to install it you'll have covered the expense in 3 years of what's probably a 10-year lifespan.

[space-time]

A surge can also come through the COAX cable (and perhaps a telephone line, or some other wire coming into your house). You still need surge protectors for these devices. The only advantage I can see is that if there is a surge, it may be easier to deal with the power company directly. I doubt these surge protects that come with $50k warranty are worth anything.

[Harbourmaster]

Better than 50% of surges are generated WITHIN a building. A surge suppressor installed at the main power panel does nothing to protect against these types of surges.

[C(-)ris]

Harbourmaster wrote:
Better than 50% of surges are generated WITHIN a building. A surge suppressor installed at the main power panel does nothing to protect against these types of surges.

How exactly would you get a surge that originated inside the house? Nothing generates electricity.

[Carm]

Maybe he is referring to a short or a surge caused by an appliance pulling too much through the line, large motor/ AC IDK.
Anyways, its best to get one installed by an electrician and it should be easily replaceable after the initial install. Instead of paying monthly.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Whole-H...ctrical%7C&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzJbL553-1gIVxY5-Ch06dgBLEAQYAiABEgJFwPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPvPpPqd_tYCFY8VYgodFGoOcw

[max]

I had a lighting strike a palm outside the house.
The EMP fried several switches on house wiring and a TV set.....

[Bill in NC]

My in-laws used to see incandescent bulbs go "pop" during thunderstorms until they had a whole-house protector installed at the meter...back in the 1970s.

Pay for one installed by a licensed electrician, not by your power company.

[GuyGene]

Good info, thanks. I've researched all the above, the one sold by power company is not sold anywhere else and goes on at the meter, not the panel. If I were to get the panel kind, I'll install it myself. I'll still use my device protectors that protect coax cable, Ethernet, etc.