Surge protection

Greg Swob

I believe sometime in the recent past, a brief discussion
on installing surge protection had arisen. My concern is
offering protection for the costly circuitry which is part
of all our new HVAC equipment. For a few quick questions:
1) Is it common practice by any of your firms to install them?
2) What products other than the standard single use and
strip-type protectors are available?
3) Are there any which can be installed inside a device box
either before or downstream of an SSU?
4) Any recommendations on whether or not it is practical or
imperative to offer this protection?

A local electrical utility company offers single, multiple
appliance and even whole house surge protection, but the
one exception I do not like is "...electronic circuitry of
HVAC systems..."

Thanks - Greg

Bill NTSG

I had

a customer who let 5, yes FIVE, Tekmar EC5000's get killed by lightning. They finally had the electrician install whole house surge suppressor after the supply house and insurance company shut them off. I think it was also because I refused to go back until they did something. Last house on a private road seven telephone poles from the road, on a hill. Very prone to lightning strikes.

I find it is a good idea. My employer would not spend the extra money. Better safe than sorry. I also install automotive type fuse holder for ALL my low voltage installs. $5 at NAPA maybe less elsewhere.

Brian "tankless" Wood from swampland may have a solution if he is listening?

Richard D._2

I too

believe in surge protectors..But can not find 1 for a boiler etc..I still am looking ...Only whole house units @local supply house..I want 1 that we can install with the boiler or furnace install...Like 2 keep it under100$..Will post if I find 1.I believe we lose alot of controlls because of surges....Richard

Dave_13

Not only are surges bad, but also droops in power. APC sells UPS's (UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY). Most models have built in surge protection, back up power if the elec. is out or drops too low. Also have a warranty, up to $100,000 to replace electrically damaged equipment connected to their product.

Floyd_2

Here's a whole smorgasboard.....

http://www.intermatic.com/?action=div&did=6

Some of these I know are under $100.00

Mike Reavis_2

surge protectors

I posted concerning a lighting strike at our house. Three years ago we had a surge protector installed on our electrical panel. As best that I can figure, it protected everyting that did not have some sort of antenna( we lost the VCR, the garage door opener, and two cordless phones.) The original surge protector was able to be installed in any panel. Ours had its own breaker. I have replaced it with one made just for our electric panel (Square-D). The only thing I cannot figure is that we also lost three ground fault receptacles.

I wonder if you could partner with an electrician to recommend to your customers the installation of these devices. I am giving it thought. When it comes to surge protectors-I believe. Mike

BillW@honeywell

Surge supressors

I have posted this many times before on this and other boards...installing any of today's sophisticated electronic equipment without installing a whole-house surge protector is playing Russian Roulette! Your heating & cooling equipment, refrigerator, computer(s), TV & entertainment systems etc. are all very vulnerable to power surges, not only from lightning but from utilities switching power supplies and loads. Remember last week? A whole house surge supressor mounts on your main electrical panel, and will control surges from the sources I mentioned before, plus near miss lightning strikes. It will NOT protect from a direct lightning hit, so don't expect it to. If you live in a lightning prone area, get protection installed by a pro. Only a liscensed electrician should install whole-house surge supressors, and they also should check how well the house system is grounded. Many aren't grounded well or at all. Square D & Cutler-Hammer make these products, and they are available at most commercial electrical supply houses.

The power strip and plug in devices vary widely from useless to good, but they only protect one piece of gear, and remember, surges can come in via phone lines and cable connections too. IMHO, whole house surge supressors should be code in any new construction and retrofits. You also should make them standard equipment or at least offer them as part of the job.

Big Al and the pipewrenches

surege protectors

Granger has some really good surge protectors for plug-in
and permanet installations. A couple of times I just cut
the plugs off and hardwired them in. Have lost two boiler
solid state controllers and 1 almost irreplaceable controller on a BIG solar system to just nearby lightning strikes. The solar system has been pumping out
millions of free btuh's since 1984, fortunately the owner
will and can do almost anything to keep it sucking in the rays, very cost effective here in Colorado.