With frequent lightning storms in the the Atlanta area it's a real issue. We've fried two TV's and a number of other electronics. Individual surge protectors are only a partial solution. First it's hard to find them with adequate capacity to handle large appliances like refrigerators, not to mention electric stoves, etc. There is also a cost issue once you add up all the devices. Still it's critical to use a high quality surge protector on the most delicate equipment like TV's, home audio equipment etc.

Still we just installed a whole house surge protector. It installs at the main circuit panel and should protect everything. Still have individual protectors on valuables but at least I hope we've protected the electronics on the oven, dishwashers, etc.

Since it is a vacation home, can't you unplug everything when you leave?

Not the refrigerator!

IMHO, disconnecting the refrigerator isn't out of the question. I'm in FL and we have a number of second homes in our neighborhood. These are people who leave their homes vacant for long periods of time. Usually they shut off the refrigerator and crack the doors open--using towels over the doors to make sure they stay open. It is only a short step from turning the refrigerator off to disconnecting it.

You need to install whole house surge protection or just throw the main electrical breaker to off before you leave. YOu'll continue to fry other appliances if you don't. Many many appliances/electronics contain sensitive circuitry that you aren't even aware that they contain. Washers and dryers. Anything computer. Anything audio. Etc.

Thanks for all your help. We don't unplug the refrigerator because we use the home a lot. Between us and the rest of our family, it is probably used 2 weeks a month. No one really wants to go out and buy all the basic condiments, etc. every 2 weeks! I am definitley going to check into a whole house surge protector tomorrow. Any helpful hints on type, where to look, etc?

Thanks again, everyone.

In general these need to be installed by an electrician. Many of them are certified to install specific brands and it's worth looking for someone with experience. I do not believe this is a DIY job as you're working on the electrical mains when installing.

Contact your utility company. Many offer this service and then add the cost to your bill.

From a Florida native with multiple residences around FL, proper grounding and surge protection go a long way, in that order.

I can't emphasize enough the need for proper grounding within the structure. There should be only ONE ground rod/point for the whole building and all wiring (not just electrical) with all electrical connections absolutely tight, particularly ground & neutrals.

Follow the path the lightning took by looking at the appliances damaged. It'll take the path of least resistance to ground. Short of a direct strike, you shouldn't ever have lightning damage, even in the 2nd most active place for lightning on the planet.

In my lifetime I've experienced:
4 hurricane landfalls of Cat3 or greater (Charley hit two of my places)
~10 devices damaged due to power co screwups/electrical system problems
0 devices damaged due to lightning.

Surge protectors are worth getting. The difference between the high-end (and high-priced) protectors and the cheaper ones isn't all that great. Avoid the cheapest of the cheap but don't get suckered into any product with "Monster" in the name or anything else priced like it. Lightning's still a very misunderstood phenomenon in the electrical engineering community and you'll hear all sorts of wild claims, particularly in the expensive part of the segment.

The best approach is a layered approach. Surge protection on the main feeder/meter, surge protection on each distribution panel, surge protection on each circuit/device. *BUT* surge protectors predominantly rely upon good grounding. So without the grounding situation straightened out the surge protectors won't be able to do their job.

When a dishwasher is installed, is there no surge protector attached? I never thought about this but I already protect my office equipment so I should be protecting my appliances? My washer and dryer are plugged directly into the wall in the laundry room. I just checked and they have no surge protector on them. Yikes! Should I be buying surge protectors that plug into the wall first? they have the grounded type of three prong plugs.

Nope. Traditionally plumbers get the job of installing appliances and are solely concerned about where the water goes. Electrical? They'll connect it but say anything else is the sparky's problem.

I'd suggest getting surge protectors for your appliances, at least anything with electronic controls, which includes most refrigerators today even if they have dials for temperature setting. You don't need anything fancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Belkin wall-mount surge protector

Protecting a motor is a lot easier than protecting electronics. Grounding, as pointed out earlier, is critical. Also to note is that a whole-house surge protector won't do a lot if your house gets hit, rather than the pole outside.

Appliances, especially now that mechanical timers have been replaced with electronics, certainly can benefit from surge protector. I'd consider replacing the outlet with a surge-protected outlet, or one that plugs in without a cord of any sort as a "second-best" option.

Remember that your phone, cable, and DSL lines are just as good a path to your electronics, if that concerns you. For electronics, I can't suggest much of anything you can buy at BestBuy or GoodGuy or the like, but something is better than nothing. At least as an earlier poster points out, avoiding the overpriced consumer brands makes the proposition relatively inexpensive.

I'd disagree on the direct hits -- they're not the instant death of electronics that most people (even EEs) think they are.

I've had multiple direct hits over the years, no equipment inside the buildings damaged. At one building I did lose an antenna on a tower (found the melted bits of what was left of it in the parking lot) & the feedline had a hole blown in it, and had surge protectors explode, but never had damage equipment otherwise. The transceivers inside worked fine once we cleaned up the mess. For the other hits, the security camera footage and some char marks on the roof were all I had to show for the buildings taking hits.

Some would say I've been lucky, but getting nailed ~5 good times by lightning would say otherwise. Proper grounding (not necessarily what code says is correct) and proper surge protection have saved my bacon.

Ever since I have been buying very solid surge protectors and UPS Protectors for my electrical equipment, computer, printer and copier equipment and I never have had a problem since. Before this, I used to buy surge protectors that were more power strips and did not have good protection and I had a $1900 monitor zap from an electrical storm, and several other electrical appliances.

But amazingly, even when it is lightning outside my equipment is protected.

But I never protected my washer or dryer since it was professionally installed so now I am worried and wonder what I need to attach to the wall before plugging in the appliances that are supposed to be plugged directly into the wall to be grounded.

I have had a Tripp-lite UPS get zapped by lightning but it saved my PC. I now use APC UPS and so far nothing has gotten zapped. But the APC company lied to me in the past and sent me a refurbished unit that was supposed to be new that fried several pieces of my equipment and I lost a lot of data that I could not get back. I will never use a refurbished unit and will never accept any unit directly from APC and only buy their units new from a retail store.

Thank you everyone for your advice. We got the whole house surge protector installed by an electrician a few days ago. Cost around $200 installed (haven't received bill yet). Hopefully this will help our problem...In the last couple of years we've lost 2 TV's, an air conditioning compressor, refrigerator compressor and wine cooler. Maybe not all related, but there's been enough for us to wonder.

Wow: that's cheap. Ours was $750 installed, though it did include three separate surge units for electrical, phone, and satellite TV cables. BTW, it does make sense to be sure your surge protector does also cover phones and TV cables, as you can zap equipment just as easily through those cables as through the electrical system.

We had the option of this one or one for a little over $1000. We chose this one; the electrician thought it would suffice.

> I have had a Tripp-lite UPS get zapped by lightning but it saved my PC.

View its numbers. Where are the numbers that claim protection? Did its few hundred joules magically absorb surges that are hundreds of thousands of joules? Of course not. Surges too small to overwhelm protection inside every appliance can destroy that UPS. That Tripplite did no protection.

Not on a UPS are clock radios, digital clocks, bathroom GFCI, and dimmer switches. Since not on a UPS, according to that logic, then all those appliances are destroyed? Of course not. Surge was too small to overwhelm protection inside appliances. Those devices not destroyed because a destructive surge did not exist. A surge too small to harm anything else easily destroyed a Tripplite UPS. Grossly undersizing gets the naive to promote that ineffective UPS protector. It was destroyed by a surge too small to harm other appliances.

Either a protector is properly earthed - ie one 'whole house' protector. Or no effective protection exists. Power strips are not earthed. Safety ground in a wall receptacle is not earth ground for a long list of reasons.

Proper earthing means no sharp wire bends, no splices, wire separated from all other non-grounding wires, and a short (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection to single point ground. Power strip protectors (and that UPS) violate every requirement - do not provide effective protection.

Grossly undersized (ineffective) protectors means the protector circuit disconnects quickly. Abandons a surge to confront appliances. Protector failure (for some strange reason) gets the naive to recommend it. The effective protector even earths a direct lightning strike  and remains functional. No earth ground means no effective protection.

A lightning strike to utility wires down the street is a direct strike to your appliances. An effective protector earths direct lightning strikes and remains functional. Effective protection means nobody even knew a surge existed. Means a surge is not inside the house.

In every case, a protector is only as effective as its earth ground. Power strip protectors are not earthed. Sometimes can even make appliance damage easier.

Minimally sized Âwhole house protector starts at 50,000 amps. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50. Only more responsible companies provide these effective solutions. No plug-in solution exists. A $7 protector circuit sells under Belkin and Monster Cable names for $40 and $150. Selling for a higher price even gets some to recommend ineffective protectors.