You have have had a lightning storm in the area that hit a above ground power pole. This lighting could cause a power surge in the distribution network. I highly doubt it was the power company's fault, but then again anything is possible.

Replacing two sets of thermostats, communication boards, transformers, etc. will add up quickly. The price is not totally out of line, but it is difficult to say without knowing what is involved.

Have you checked your homeowner's insurance policy? You may be covered for this. Contact the insurance company ASAP.

A surge protector would be cheaper than this.

This information is from a previous posting of mine from âÂÂsomewhereâÂÂ. I recommend this to all my clients. To date I donâÂÂt think there has been even one that I know of that has done this other than myself at our home.

People just donâÂÂt like âÂÂinvestingâ money I guess.

âÂÂI would encourage you to install âÂÂWhole House Surge Protectionâ at your electrical panel entrance (loadcenter). The reason being that while we protect our computers and A/V systems with surge protecting power bars there is no other way to protect the rest of our 220-volt electrical equipment, such as our heat pumps, air-conditioners, dryers, stoves and other 110-volt equipment such as fridges etc. that all also have sensitive microprocessors. This is particularly important if you live in an area that has power outages and thunderstorms, as these events will cause voltage spikes and surges that may damage this equipment and certainly shorten their serviceable life.

Look at it as insurance and a cheap investment at time of construction when balanced against the inconvenience and cost of repair or replacement.âÂÂ

BTW: Square D SurgeBreaker Plus Model # SDSB1175C. ItâÂÂs good for 80,000amps at 25,000volts (for a VERY short duration of course)
The important spec to look for is: UL1449 3rd edition

SR

Here is a link that might be useful: Whole House Surge Protection

> The AC people said something about a 'whole house surge
> protector.' I wonder if this is something to consider?

More than just consider. Everyone should have one. Different devices are all called surge protectors. Even power bars do not claim to protect from these other and destructive surges. One that protects from destructive surges is also the least expensive solution - a properly earthed 'whole house' protector.

Remember, no protector does protection. For a TV cable, best protection is a wire from the coax to earth ground. Does wire do the protection? No. Protection is only defined by earth ground. Other incoming wires (AC electric, telephone) cannot make a direct earth connection. So a 'whole house' protector does what a wire would do better.

Your phone and cable wires must already have that protector - as required by numerous standards and codes. But a lightning strike far down the street to AC electric (overhead or underground) is a direct strike incoming to all appliances. Either that current connects to earth via appliances (HVAC, garage door opener, dishwasher, computers) destructively. Or you connect to earth BEFORE it can enter the building.

These superior solutions are sold in Home Depot and Lowes. And must be at least 50,000 amps.

Protection is defined by earth ground. Your building earth ground must both meet and exceed code requirements. Even the connection must be low impedance (ie 'less than 10 feet', no sharp bends, no splices, etc). Protectors are simple science. The 'art' of protection is earth ground including how connections are made.

Normal is for surges to enter via underground wires. If any underground wire inside a utility cable enters without that earth ground connection, then protection is compromised. Earth each either directly. Or via a 'whole house' protector. Otherwise protection is only what already exists inside each appliance.

This post was edited by westom on Tue, Aug 13, 13 at 9:02

It seems like there are some things that could be done to test the mechanical parts without replacing the controls.

If the control parts are not returnable after trying them on your systems, you could consider installing them one at a time. If the first unit shows further trouble, swap them onto the second one.

This post was edited by ionized on Tue, Aug 13, 13 at 9:56

Thank you all for the replies. I am looking into the who house protector. Why it isn't standard with new construction is odd. It seems like a very small price to pay for the amount of protection.

It turns out all controls were fried, along with the garage door openers-circuit boards. The tenant's TV, X-box and router were all lost, too. Unfortunate to say the least.

> Why it isn't standard with new construction is odd. It seems like
> a very small price to pay for the amount of protection.

Codes only address human safety. Transistor safety is not defined by codes. Transistor safety is sold by some builders as an option.

Best time to install surge protection is when the footing are poured. Ufer grounds. But most builders cannot be bothered. An industry professional describes this problem in his book:
"This situation could be resolved by the use of mandatory standards ... At this time this book was written (1988), the author saw no hope of such standards being adopted in the United States for overvoltages on the mains."

There are some effects of some lightning strikes that no protector can prevent. I had one direct strike that blew the dirt out of a ditch with buried conductors to a well. Looked as if it was done with dynamite. No trace of the buried conductors or the insulation on them was ever found. The panel for that service was blown apart and scattered. The pump in the 610 feet deep well was ruined.
The panel did have surge protection. The protector was blown apart. I do believe they can help sometimes-- but not in every case.

1950s research reported that a telephone switching center (CO) suffers about 100 surges with each storm. How often is your town without phone service for four days after each storm? Never? Because protection from lightning is routine if one learns how protection works.

Routine are direct lightning strikes without damage. Electronics atop the Empire State Building suffer about 23 direct strikes annually - without damage. For the WTC, it was 40. Munition dumps routinely suffer strikes without damage. In many cases, protection exists without a protector.

A mistake is to assume a protector does protection. It doesn't. Protection is defined by how single point earth ground is constructed and connected to. Protectors are only installed when a wire cannot make a better connection.

Protection from a direct lightning strike is so routine that damage is considered a human mistake. Well, making mistakes is easy. In part because so many want to see protection in terms of a magic box. And not in terms of where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate.

For example, what probably earthed that lightning strike? The pump - destructively. Pump damaged because it was an inferior earth ground electrode.

Above discusses 'secondary' protection. Each layer of protection is defined by what does protection. A picture demonstrates what to inspect in the 'primary' protection layer:
http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html

How often is your town without phone service for four days while they replace that $multi-million computer? Protection is routine when well proven techniques are implemented. If lightning causes damage, then a human should learn from his mistakes.

While he hits close to the correct information part of the time, no one should assume that westom is really an authority on the subject. Part of his posts are just baloney.

"Summary

It is important that all of the above subjects be considered in a lightning safety analysis. There is no Utopia in lightning protection. Lightning may ignore every defense man can conceive. A systematic hazard mitigation approach to lightning safety is a prudent course of action."

Here is a link that might be useful: Lightning