Surge Protection Systems: Standing on Guard for Your Home Electronics
A power surge - sometimes called a spike - is a brief, unpredictable voltage increase that can enter your home through the power, cable or telephone lines. Unavoidable power surges can damage or even destroy your electrical equipment, including expensive electronics, computers and appliances. That's why it makes sense to safeguard your investment with a home surge protection system.
Our guide to home surge protection will help you understand:
What Causes Power Surges
 Many of us only think of surge protection during a bad thunderstorm, when we run around the house unplugging our expensive electronics to save them from a potential lightning strike. While lightening causes some of the most powerful and destructive power surges, this does not occur frequently. Surges can also be caused when an object comes into contact with a power line, or when utility power comes back online after an outage. Again, these problems are infrequent.
In fact, your equipment is much more likely to be damaged from the small, daily power surges that occur inside your home, for example, when your furnace, air conditioner or refrigerator draws power. These surges range from under 100 to several thousand volts.
While the majority of the surges inside your home will do no immediate damage, their cumulative effect can take years off the life of your electronics and appliances.
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Types of Surge Protection Systems
The best surge protection systems safeguard your equipment in two places:
- Where electricity enters your home.
- Where equipment is connected to electricity via outlets.
 The first line of defence is a surge suppressor that is installed between the meter and the electrical panel to protect your power, telephone and cable lines. It is at these entry points that equipment is most vulnerable to damage from power surges. These devices, often called whole home surge protectors, are available for purchase and installation from a electrical contractor.
Once your house is protected from outside surges, you should invest in dedicated, plug-in surge suppressors for your computer, entertainment unit and any other sensitive electronics. A wide variety of plug-in surge protectors are also available from an electrical contractor.
A good plug-in surge protector acts like an electrical sponge, shunting dangerous excess voltage to the ground and preventing most of it from reaching your equipment. Different units offer varying levels of protection, and can range in price from a basic $10 power strip to devices costing hundreds of dollars.
Deciding how much you want to spend will depend on the level of surge protection you require, the importance and cost of the equipment you wish to protect, and the cost of the surge protector itself.
Power surges can also have a negative impact on the performance of your electronic components. Some sophisticated surge suppressors not only stop power surges, but also condition or "clean" the power before it reaches your TV or stereo. This can actually improve your television's image quality, or make your stereo equipment sound better.
If you want to ensure that your computer will function during a complete power failure, then you should consider getting an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS. Along with providing surge protection, these devices include a battery, which will act as a short-term power supply in the event of a blackout, allowing you to safely shut down your computer. Some come with software that allows the UPS to automatically shutdown your PC, even if you are away from home.
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What to Look For in a Surge Protector
Here are some features you'll want to compare when purchasing surge protectors for your home:
- LED indicator lights. Look for an indicator light on the surge protector and be aware of what it means. Along with a light that lets you know the surge protector is doing its job, some units have a light that shows it is properly grounded. Some protectors have both visual and audible alarms, others also have circuit breakers or fuses to protect circuits from overload.
- UL 1449 rating. The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has developed this standard for all surge protectors, with a rating that specifies how much voltage the unit will let through. Look for a UL rating of 330 volts.
- Response time. Surge protectors don't kick in immediately - there is a very slight delay as they respond to a power surge. While all solid state surge suppressors have an internal response time of less than one nanosecond, once installed, response time is closer to five nanoseconds. Some companies list the component response time, while others list the more accurate installed time.
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Investing in a surge protection system now can save you thousands in equipment costs later.
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