Is a surge protector a good idea? Do they even exist for 220/240? I'm doing plans for a new house and thought about this
Thanks
Thanks
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Is a surge protector a good idea? Do they even exist for 220/240? I'm doing plans for a new house and thought about this
Thanks
I have an Intermatic IG1240RC3 protecting my panel. Whole house protector, 6 modes (L-L, L-N, L-N, L-G, L-G, N-G). Similar installation to above.
IG1240RC3 - Intermatic
'Whole house' protector (for all 240/120 service) is recommended because it makes a low impedance connection to what does protection. Ineffective protectors must somehow 'block' or 'absorb' a surge. 'Whole house' protector is effective because it connects a surge to what does the protection - earth ground.Is a surge protector a good idea? Do they even exist for 220/240? I'm doing plans for a new house and thought about this
I appreciate all the details and we will install whole house protection as described by Westom. What can I do to help prevent surges from within the house? For example my new expensive dryer. How do I protect it from surges within the house? Or my new refrigerator/freezer? Are the basic surge protectors good enough? Is there one for the electric dryer?
Thanks again
Multi-level protection is recommended. Surge protection at the meter, panel, sub-panel and device level are all available.I appreciate all the details and we will install whole house protection as described by Westom. What can I do to help prevent surges from within the house? For example my new expensive dryer. How do I protect it from surges within the house? Or my new refrigerator/freezer? Are the basic surge protectors good enough? Is there one for the electric dryer?
Thanks again
How often daily must we replace dishwashers, clocks, refrigerator, furnace, GFCIs, doorbell, LED bulbs, recharging electronics, and smoke detectors? Never? Invisible protectors exist? Of course not. If anything inside creates destructive surges, then those suffer damage daily. No damage because best protection at each appliance is already inside each appliance.What can I do to help prevent surges from within the house?
How often daily must we replace dishwashers, clocks, refrigerator, furnace, GFCIs, doorbell, LED bulbs, recharging electronics, and smoke detectors? Never? Invisible protectors exist? Of course not. If anything inside creates destructive surges, then those suffer damage daily. No damage because best protection at each appliance is already inside each appliance.
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Fear only promoted by hearsay recommends spending massively on plug-in protectors - that claim less protection than what is already inside appliances.
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Multi-layer protection: each protection layer is defined by an item that harmlessly absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules.
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Plug-in protectors are effective if that 'whole house' protection exists. Plug-in protectors with so few joules must be protected by a 'whole house' solution. Otherwise that protector may even make appliance damage easier.
IEEE defined properly earthed protection as 99.5% to 99.9%. Then add plug-in protectors (that have no earth ground) to add maybe 0.2% additional protection.
More numbers. Potentially destructive surge, that might overwhelm protection already inside every appliance, occurs maybe once every seven years. Daily surges created inside a house are only noise - maybe as much as ten volts. Fear dissipates once we add facts (ie daily destroyed appliances) and numbers.
Wow....lots of information here. I agree with your post.......But I would like to expand on some of your points:
Most RESIDENTIAL surges come from outside the house. Utility switching, not lightning may be more of an enemy to your home. You have stated, correctly, that most of the household power sources may produce some low energy transients, that are easily handled by the inputs of the switch mode power supplies feeding most electronic devices. Internal surges MAY be produced when large loads come on or off line - like a compressor - but this has been mitigated in recent years by the inclusion of variable frequency drives powering these loads. It is possible but not likely to produce surges inside your home.
Multi layer protection is the best answer - fully agree. My issue is that the cheap surge units sold at retail have undersized (or no) MOV, high voltage protection ratings, and no indication if they are actually working. See diagram below illustrating multi-layer...
View attachment 208951
Plug in protectors (type 3, above) are most effective if type 2 and/or 1 are installed
Properly installed type 2, and/or type 1 devices (IEEE defined - as in your statement) will protect you best. I'm not sure of your percentages.
Most of the internal transients are of very low value, and may be more of a nuisance as "noise", affecting data and low voltage signalling.
Since I'm not an EE my take on this is
1. Whole home protection as described by Westom previously is best
Correct?
Not really. I'll try to keep this away from technical-speak. Electronic devices convert AC to DC using various types of power supplies. Many of these supplies, like the switch mode type mentioned in my post, are very robust, and can handle large swings in input voltage (You will often see devices rated 120-277 volt input). Small anomalies in the power line are "ignored" by the power supply, as @westom says "Electronics routinely convert transients that tiny into rock stable, low DC voltages to safely power semiconductors".2. My electrical appliances have internal surge protectors and inside the home surges are handled by the appliances on their own.
Correct?
Thanks again. Which Intermatic unit should I look at? 400 amp panel, solar, usual appliances.