Whole house surge protectors

[Lee Schierer]

Has anyone installed a whole house surge protector in their home? I have an older Square D 200 Amp panel (fused Main). We took a lightning hit last summer that destroyed several things in the house. The strike entered through the dog fence as far as I know? What brands are good which are bad?

[Larry Browning]

My electric company offers a program where they come out to install one between the meter and the house. If it ever gets tripped they come back out to inspect and replace if necessary. They also provide high quality surge protectors for your extra sensitive devices such as computers and tv's. It add about $7 a month to the bill. Well worth it to me. You might check into that in your area.

[Scott T Smith]

Lee, I installed one three years ago on the electric service to my barns and wood kiln. Prior to the installation, I was losing a $500.00 PLC on my kiln controller about once a year. Subsequent to the installation, no more losses.

I found an electric supply vendor on e-bay that was selling surplus inventory, and picked mine up for around $35.00 as I recall. It is a Cuttler Hammer product.

[Wes Thom]

Has anyone installed a whole house surge protector in their home? It is by far and without doubt the best solution. But you must know some basic facts.

First, lightning is typically 20,000 amps. So a minimally sized protector starts at 50,000 amps. Because the effective solutions earth even direct lightning strikes - and remain functional. Because the effective solution means you never even know a surge existed.

Second, no protector does protection. Protection is where hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate. A 'whole house' protector is so effective because it makes a short (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection to earth. Then even direct lightning strikes dissipate harmlessly outside the building.

Third, you have no reason to believe a surge entered on the dog fence. That, just as easily, could have been the outgoing path. For example, a lightning strike to wires down the street can be a direct strike to every household appliance. That strike is seeking a path to earth. In your case, it could have been destructively to earth via the dog fence.

Many make this mistake. Think lighting was incoming to one appliance. Caused damage. And stopped there. It is called electricity. First that lightning is everywhere and simultaneous in a path from the cloud to earthborne charges miles away. If a surge is incoming on one wire, then this same current is outgoing on some other wire - simultaneously. To have damage, both paths must exist. To have protection, that path must go to earth without entering the building.

That means the dog fence must also exit the building at the same service entrance. Otherwise a dog fence may, next time, give lightning a better path to earth via a TV, dishwasher, or some other household appliance.

Fourth, superior products come from more responsible companies including Square D, Leviton, Intermatic, General Electric, ABB, or Siemens. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Home Depot and Lowes for less than $50. But this most important. That protector is only as effective as the single point earth ground. Any earth ground upgrade will only increase protection. For example, water pipe is insufficient earthing. The term 'less than 10 feet' was critically important.

[Lee Schierer]

Third, you have no reason to believe a surge entered on the dog fence. That, just as easily, could have been the outgoing path. For example, a lightning strike to wires down the street can be a direct strike to every household appliance. That strike is seeking and just wondered i a path to earth. In your case, it could have been destructively to earth via the dog fence.

I understand the energy associated with lightning and fully know that any charge capable of jumping through a mile of air will have little trouble following wires inside a house.

Actually, I do know where the strike entered. It hit my aluminum flag pole burning the pulley off the top of the pole. It came down the pole into the ground where it found the dog fence just 3 feet away in the ground. It followed the underground dog fence both into the house and both directions around the yard vaporizing portions of the wire and melting the wire for more than 30 feet in three directions. It a portion of the charge followed the ground wire that exits the house right next to where the dog fence wire enters the house but still burned the dog fence lightning protector inside the house which is also grounded to the electrical system.

[Wes Thom]

It a portion of the charge followed the ground wire that exits the house right next to where the dog fence wire enters the house but still burned the dog fence lightning protector inside the house which is also grounded to the electrical system. If a protector failed, then it was so undersized as to disconnect as fast as possible. Left that transient connected to the dog fence electronics. Once inside, that transient will find earth destructively, as you saw.

So, what can you do to connect that dog fence wire shorter and more direct to the earth ground (not safety ground)? In that unique case, a 'whole house' protector would not have helped.

Described were other (more typical) reasons why a dog fence is damaged. A 'whole house' protector would have helped in those other scenarios. But not in your last one.

The dog fence wire apparently does not make the short as possible connection to service entrance earth ground. Protection is about connecting every wire that enter the building to single point earth (not safety) ground on a low impedance (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection. The 'whole house' protector does that for AC mains. A 'whole house' protector installed for free by the telco does that for an incoming telephone cable. Cable TV makes that connection with a wire - no protector required. Somehow, your dog fence also must connect low impedance to the same earth ground.

[Lee Schierer]

If a protector failed, then it was so undersized as to disconnect as fast as possible. Left that transient connected to the dog fence electronics. Once inside, that transient will find earth destructively, as you saw.

So, what can you do to connect that dog fence wire shorter and more direct to the earth ground (not safety ground)? In that unique case, a 'whole house' protector would not have helped.

Described were other (more typical) reasons why a dog fence is damaged. A 'whole house' protector would have helped in those other scenarios. But not in your last one.

The dog fence wire apparently does not make the short as possible connection to service entrance earth ground. Protection is about connecting every wire that enter the building to single point earth (not safety) ground on a low impedance (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection. The 'whole house' protector does that for AC mains. A 'whole house' protector installed for free by the telco does that for an incoming telephone cable. Cable TV makes that connection with a wire - no protector required. Somehow, your dog fence also must connect low impedance to the same earth ground.

The dog fence is already buried in the ground (all 800 feet of it, except for the portion that actually goes through the wall to the outlet in the house) and it had been raining. The aluminum flag pole is buried about 4 feet into the ground. There is an aluminum ground wire that comes through the same opening as the dog fence that travels 10 feet to the electrical ground rod used for the electrical system and the telephone. The twisted pair wires for the dog fence were melted and laying on the aluminum ground wire. The lightning arrester for the dog fence wire protected the fence transmitter but apparently it put the surge into the electrical system for the house as it fried the computer modem and the router on a different circuit and breaker box. It also fried the off air receiver for the satellite TV, but not the DVR which are all in the same outlet and both were protected by a surge protector.

[Brad Sperr]

Square D makes a "Surgebreaker" in both the QO and Homeline series that plugs right into the panel. It's pretty cheap and easy to install if you have space in your panel.

[Mike Archambeau]

You can also see this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?135557-Whole-house-surge-supressor

[Wes Thom]

The dog fence is already buried in the ground (all 800 feet of it, except for the portion that actually goes through the wall to the outlet in the house) and it had been raining. The aluminum flag pole is buried about 4 feet into the ground. There is an aluminum ground wire that comes through the same opening as the dog fence that travels 10 feet to the electrical ground rod used for the electrical system and the telephone. The twisted pair wires for the dog fence were melted and laying on the aluminum ground wire. The lightning arrester for the dog fence wire protected the fence transmitter but apparently it put the surge into the electrical system for the house as it fried the computer modem and the router on a different circuit and breaker box. It also fried the off air receiver for the satellite TV, but not the DVR which are all in the same outlet and both were protected by a surge protector.Does not matter if an entering 800 foot wire is overhead or underground. It must have a low impedance connection to earth ground (not electrical system safety ground) where it enters the house.

A term 'low impedance' is significant. That major difference between earth ground and safety ground is significant. A protector connects an incoming wire directly to earth ground. Not to AC receptacle safety ground.

Once that surge current was inside, then it was hunting for earth destructively via appliances. A satellite TV receiver made a better connection than the DVR. So a surge current increased voltage as necessary to blow through that receiver. Both were adjacent. But an adjacent surge protector made it easier to find earth destructively via satellite TV electronics. Adjacent protector probably made damage easier because it was not connected low impedance to earth. A lowest impedance connection to earth was via the satellite TV receiver. (Being on or off makes no difference.)

Best protection would be connecting a dog fence wire directly (low impedance) to single point earth ground. But then the dog fence would not work. So that low impedance (ie 'less than ten feet', no sharp wire bends, etc) connection must be made via a protector. Wire is the best protector. A protector only makes a connection to earth when wire cannot do it better.

To better appreciate why damage exists, step farther back. Electricity is simultaneous and everywhere in a path that goes three miles down to earth (ie your flagpole), and four miles through earth to earthborne charges. That path was down the flagpole, through earth to the dog fence wire, into the house via the dog fence transmitter, through wood, flooring, pipes, or electrical wire, to a protector adjacent to the satellite TV and DVR, through the satellite TV receiver, then out via some other wire (maybe a satellite dish) to charges some four miles distant.Modify that path so that a connection from cloud to earthborne charges no longer need be via the house.

IOW even a satellite dish wire must connect low impedance (ie 'less than 10 feet') to the single point earth ground before entering. Again the terms 'low impedance' and 'single point' are critical. If any one wire enters by violating this grounding rule, then all protection is compromised.

Meanwhile, no protector adjacent to the dog fence transmitter or satellite dish claims to provide protection from destructive surges. Read the specs. No numbers define that protection. Those only claim to protect from surges that are typically not destructive.

Now, how many house items are connected to earth that is not single point earth ground? For example, do water pipes enter on the other side of the building? How does that satellite dish wire enter? Does the satellite dish have a wire from dish to a ground rod? Examples of why a surge may be inside. And why a dog fence transmitter was damaged. An example of how large perspective must be to appreciate the problem. To understand why that surge current found earthborne charges four miles away by passing through your satellite TV receiver and dog fence transmitter.

Strongly recommended is a ‘whole house’ protector. But that protector does not do protection. As noted so many times above, it only connects a surge to what does the protection – single point ground. The world’s best protector is ineffective if earthing is not properly installed. That means earthing both meets and exceeds code requirements.

Protectors are simple science. Earth ground is the art as you are probably just beginning to appreciate.