Surge Protection For Your Home.

Protect Your Electronics And Appliances.

With the increasing number of modern appliances, smart devices, LED bulbs, computers, tablets, and phones in our homes today, ensuring your information and investments protected is more important than ever.

While Your Computer will likely not explode in a grand finale type retirement. It is more likely your electronics will simply go dark in a gut wrenching realization that on top of possibly losing work, photos, and other personal information you are also needing to replace most of the electronics and/or appliances in your home.

What is a Surge?

​A surge is basically a spike in your home’s electrical system. While a surge is a very quick event (Usually less than a thousandth of a second) it could still cause irreversible damage to any electronic that is plugged in at the time.

Where Does A Surge Come From?

Power Surges come from both inside and outside the house. The Main surges that are more commonly thought of are the External type. Voltage spikes frequently occur when grid power is restored after a blackout or when there is a lightning strike or downed power line nearby.
However, 80% of surges come from within the home. Think about all the systems in your home that cycle on and off throughout the day like the air conditioner or furnace, refrigerators, garage door openers (ever notice the lights flicker or dim when the air conditioner turns on) The “cycling” causes tiny surges throughout the day. While these small spikes don’t create the instantaneous damage like the external surges from a storm or the utility company do but add up over time increasing the chance of damage and/or shortening the life of your electronics and appliances.

How Surge Protection Devices Work.

When there is a sudden increase in voltage, a surge protector detects the excess current and diverts it through the house’s grounding path. Is your home properly grounded? It is also important to note that no surge protector will protect against the unlikely event of a direct lightning strike but may provide some resistance saving some of your appliances and electronics.

Do Plug-In Surge Protectors Work On Ungrounded Outlets?

No, without a ground to divert the increased current it is likely to not only provide no protection but damage your electronics and void the manufacturer warranty on the surge protection device.

Which Surge Protector Is Best?

The ideal surge protection device depends mostly on what you intend to protect.

Point Of Use Protection:
​​Utilized to protect individual devices like: Home entertainment, Computers, network equipment.

Plug-in surge protectors should:

• Be rated by Underwriter's Laboratory
• Absorb at least 600 Joules
• Have indicator lights to show if it is working properly.

Surge Protector Vs. Power Strip

​While they look similar, a power strip provides extra outlet spaces but provide no protection against voltage spikes and will not protect your electronics.

Service Entrance Protection:
​​Utilized to protect your home’s electrical system from outside spikes as well as protecting appliances, smart devices, and LED lamps in your home not able to be protected from plug-in style protection.

Whole home surge protectors should:

• Be installed by a professional electrician
• Have at least a 75KA rating
• Have indicator lights to show if it is working properly.

Layered Protection Is Best.

​Combining surge protection at the electrical panel and at the point of use is ideal and important for expensive electronic setups or home entertainment systems. Also, it is always best to be safe and unplug sensitive electronics and appliances in the case of a blackout until power is safely restored.