Transients, also known as electrical noise or voltage spikes, must be held to a maximum safe level to protect todays sensitive electronics like HDTVs, home theaters, computers, fax machines and printers. The most common power disturbances are caused by weather extremely hot days, extremely cold days and storms often put the power grid under stress and force higher than normal utilization by homes and businesses. These unique demands can cause spikes or surges of electrical voltage and current as loads vary and the grid adapts and re-balances. Lightning is especially damaging due to its extremely high voltage a single lightning strike can destroy an entire home or electrical system. As electrical demands vary across a landscape of different users, surges and spikes make their way through the grid to ground according to the path of least resistance. With whole house surge protection, most spikes never can reach an individual device or, if a spike does make it through the whole house protector, then an individual surge protector should protect the device. A lightning arrester should always be used to protect physical structures.

Most whole house surge protectors require professional installation by a licensed electrician they are installed between the electric meter and the breaker distribution panel. These surge protectors sometimes have alarms, like warning lights and audio signals, to show when power events occur. Choosing which protector is based on the type of incoming power (120240v or 208v) circuits with most being in the 200-400 amp range.

In summary, when buying a whole house surge protector, there are three main factors to evaluate response time, clamping voltage and energy absorption. For optimal protection, a response time of under one nanosecond, or near instantaneous, is best. The clamping voltage should not exceed 300-400v for sensitive devices or about 500v for a home with only a few electronic devices UL1449 specification should be the minimum standard for clamping. Energy absorption and dissipation of properly-sized surge protectors should be approximately 800 to 2000 joules depending on the number of devices to be protected in the circuits.

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Heavy electronics are incredibly vulnerable to spikes in power or voltage spikes and just because it may not come about immediately, power surges will eventually ruin your computer’s delicate elements. You should consider a surge suppressor between the piece of equipment and the power supply to prevent any damage.

One thing to look for when choosing surge protectors is the Joules ranking. This listing means how much electrical energy the protector can hold before it becomes inoperable. A high Joules grading around 1300 is a great indicator of a superior device. Sometimes it takes a second or two for the surge to be realized. You don’t want a surge to slip by your protector or you run a risk of potential damage.

How the surge protector operates is when a high-powered electrical device is started it involves a certain measure of juice to get going. Every time you turn it on, you run the risk of producing a power surge. The surge suppressor is designated to redirecting a surge to a safe zone, so to speak. It allows the amount of power necessary to start the appliance through, while rerouting the surplus electricity to a heat resistant wire inside its body.

It doesn’t obstruct the electronics from operating, even as a surge is going on. When the spike goes into the protector, semi-conductors in the course behave as a distraction of sorts. They lure the extra power into themselves and then direct it on to a highly conducive electrical wire also known as the ground wire. The grounding element does not tie in to anything; it only takes the spike and dispels the heat energy into the atmosphere.

Despite all of this you can’t rely on a surge protector to protect your electronic equipment from all surges. Powerful surges like those caused by electrical storms will overpower a surge protector and render it ineffectual. That is not to say you shouldn’t invest in one though as it is meant for medium every day spikes that take place and can still spare you hundreds of dollars in potential damage.

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