Whole House Surge Protection; Do I Need It?

Homes are in more need of whole house surge protection today than ever before!

Today, so many of our home appliances have electronic components with circuit boards, such as ovens, washing machines, dryers, not to mention sound systems, computers, and even LED lighting. Therefore, it is imperative to protect them with surge protection. During the winter months and summer rainstorms, your home is susceptible to power surges, however, power spikes can come over any wire. Eighty percent of surges, we generate ourselves. Whole house surge protection protects your devices from any trouble that can occur from surges inside the house.

Your breaker panel/box does not offer surge protection. A circuit breaker trips under fault conditions and over-current. A surge protector protects against voltage spikes. Some surge protectors can be installed at the breaker panel. You can of course also purchase circuit strips with surge protectors that will have its own circuit breaker switch on it, but the best alternative is to have a whole house protector installed, this will protect your computers and appliances from external surges as well. Whole house protectors should be installed by a qualified electrician.

And while the electrician is at it, have additional outlets installed. One can never have enough; you will probably always need more outlets, because as technology grows you will surely buy more and more gear. You will need to make sure your breaker panel can handle the additional voltage, again, this is where the electrician comes in, to upgrade your electrical system.