Surge Protection For Circulators?

ScottRW

Got a phone call from a recent client asking if her system has surge protection on the circulators. It doesn't. Her sister had a tech come to her house for an annual maintenance/ tuneup, and he suggested very strongly that the system should be surge protected. I'm wondering if the tech is trying to sell something or if there is some validity to his claim. I've installed a bunch of systems with no surge protection, and now wondering if I blew it. Scott

Larry C_13

Surge Protection for Heating plants

If the building is located in an area that has alot of lightning strikes AND there is wiz-bang electronics in the heating system, then it might be prudent to install some surge protection. Typically, simple AC motors in circulators will withstand significant spikes or surges. If the customer has one of the computer controlled furnances, then a dedicated Surge protector is cheap insurance.

Protecting against a DIRECT lightning strike is usually not worth the expense and effort.

Most bang for the buck is accomplished with a whole house spike/surge protector mounted at the main circuit breaker panel, connected to a good ground system.

The best lightning strike insurance I have seen is a robust grounding system which includes replacing the ground rods every 30 years or so, secure bonding to metal waterlines buried in the earth, bonding to the rebar in the foundation for the house, bonding to the rebar in the in ground pool. etc.

The issue with lightning strikes is the large voltage difference between the electrical system and the "local earth". If the electrical system is closely coupled to the "local earth" by way of a good grounding system, then if a lightning strike occurs near by, both the electrical system and the "local earth" will rise and fall together. Therefore the DIFFERENCE between them will stay relatively low and minimize component damage.

Larry C

Constantin

I agree

Good grounding is your best friend.... and if a Ufer foundation is planned from the start, you won't even need to replace the grounding rods.

As for retrofits, it also depends on the site, the electronics, etc. I elected to protect a system I was involved with in ME with a brick wall surge protector. That's because the area is not only prone to lightning but also spikes, etc. that come down the rickety power line on the neck that the house is on. Lots of other appliances there have been damaged over the years.

I'm not sure whether standard circulators need such a protector, but I'd probably protect a ECM-type... for those cases a brick wall is cheap, industrial strength insurance and a optional up-sell for the client. Also, consider that a whole-house protector will likely only protect from incoming spikes from the power line. If you have a nearby/direct hit, then the induced currents in house wiring can do all sorts of wonderful things against which a whole-house lightning protector is useless.

So far, the system in ME has been working flawlessly. The brick wall protects a UPS, which in turn feeds the Vitodens, the control system, and the circulators.

Maine Doug_72

Redo URL

The link does not work Constantin.
When my next door neighbor's house was struck and caught fire in Orlando, it blew out some stuff in my house.

Do you check your battery site mail? I sent a message sometime ago..