We've had both lightning and a fault in the main electrical line. The lightning hit the house in back and fried a few things. After that, our electrician installed the whole house surge protector in the box. When the fault took place, we lost 9 things. The fault blew out an old electrical fixture in the laundry room, which actually smoked. The small electrics including phones, TV, fax, window air conditioner and the motor to the air jet tub.It blew out the refrigerator and microwave but not the oven, cooktop or dw. No idea whether the protector helped with some things and not others. Difficult to say when there's a line break vs a storm or other. Insurance took care of most of replacement -- not 100% -- in each case. We were advised to get lighting rods put on the house but the price was so obnoxious we never went forward with it. I hope and pray no one has to go through this or worse (having seen tornado pics yesterday).

Accomplish? Only to alert people to the fact that this surge protector has the potential to catch fire. I rather imagine many people leave their computer on all of the time thinking the surge protector will guard their equipment. Perhaps this is naive but there it is, the last thing I ever expected was for the thing to suffer a melt down. The thing is that we have other electronics hooked up to surge protectors (other brands) and none of them caught fire. We have one that no longer works but that is my understanding of what is supposed to happen when they take a hit. They no longer work and need to be replaced. I hope to make people aware of the problem and that perhaps they should not buy this particular brand since the problem seems to be ongoing and with other models. In addition, based on my experience the company doesn't seem to be overly concerned that there could be a safety issue. . I wish I had been better informed before I purchased this item and thought I might be able to help someone else by reporting this. I don't really need any help since I think I have done about as much as I can do at this point by contacting the Product Safety Commission, Consumer Affairs, etc. And by being allowed to post the information on this forum. Thanks for your reply.

> I'm having new HVAC installed and interested in having a whole-house surge > protector installed at breaker panel to protect equipment from > spikes, sags caused by typical line current and lightning. Too many accurate and other bogus replies to praise or correct. Some will be addressed here. 'Whole house' protection is the only solution for protecting all household appliances - especially electronics. But a protector does not do protection. You earthing must be upgraded to both meet and exceed post 1990 National Electrical code. All electricians understand how to meet code. Only a few understand what is necessary to make the same earthing system sufficient for surge protection. Your earth ground must be upgraded so that the connection from breaker box to earth, via the protector, is short (ie 'less than 10 feet'). For example a bare quarter inch copper wire leaves the breaker box to earth ground. You follow that wire. If it goes up over the foundation and down to an earth ground rod, then it is too long and has too many sharp bends. Protection subverted. That wire must go through the foundation and down to earth ground. Many feet shorter. No sharp wire bends. Ground wire separated from all other electrical wires. Again, concepts that so many electricians do not understand. And also why plug-in protectors do not even claim to provide effective protection. If the only ground wire is to cold water pipes, your earthing is so insufficient as to essentially not exist (for surge protection). To not even meet human safety codes. The most critical component in every surge protection system is not a protector. A protector is nothing more than a connecting device. Your protection is earth ground. Only a few electricians have sufficient electrical knowledge to understand what that means. Why, for example, sharp wire bends going over the foundation subverts surge protection. Or why the ground connection must be single digit feet long - as short as possible. Same applies to any other wire entering the building. For example the cable TV wire must also connect just as short to the same earth ground before entering. Any wire that enters without being first earthed puts your HVAC (and all other household electronics) at risk. How to make better protection? Any money wasted on plug-in protectors is better spend upgrading the earthing. How to make the same âwhole houseâ protector even more effective? Upgrade and expand the earthing. A protector is only as effective as its earth gorund. Which is why adjacent protectors do not claim to do protection. And sometimes can make electronics damage easier. Distance between protector and appliance increases appliance protection. Shorter distance from protector to earth also increases all appliance protection. Just another reason why a 'whole house' protector is so effective for HVAC. A minimally sized protector starts at 50,000 amps. Only those educated by retail myths will define a protector as a one shot device. If any protector fails during a surge, the protector was probably a scam. 50,000 amps because an effective protector connects even direct lightning strikes (ie 20,000 amps) to earth. And remain functional. And does same for all smaller surges. Hard honest answers come with numbers. One that is important. A âwhole houseâ protector starts at 50,000 amps to make even lightning irrelevant. About 50,000 amps or higher. Another critical number - less than 10 foot connection to single point ground. Lightning strikes utility wires down the street. That is a direct lightning strike to all household appliances if the âwhole houseâ solution is not implemented. Not every appliance is destroyed. A surge will choose which to damage by chosing a path to earth. However, if the surge is earthed before entering, then no energy is inside hunting destructively via appliances. The most common surge is a lightning strike to incoming wires. Sometimes (much less often), lightning may seek earth via a chimney or via the attic light. So we also earth a lightning rod. But one should consider the risk. A destructive surge (lightning and other sources) occurs maybe once every seven years. Lightning averted by a lightning rod is even less frequent. One must learn from numbers such as neighborhood history to determine if a lightning rod is also necessary. TV roof antennas properly earthed as required by code also act as lightning rods. A 'whole house' protector will also avert house fires and other problems created by power strip protectors. Protection is always about where energy dissipates. If that energy is inside the house (ie via a cable TV wire), then nothing stops a hunt for earth destructively via appliances (ie computer). Either a surge connects short to earth before entering. Or all appliances (electronic and motorized) are at risk. A âwhole houseâ protector is also necessary to protect power strip protectors that are often so grossly undersized as to be one-shot protectors. All appliances contain massive protection. Anything a plug-in protector might do is already accomplished inside every appliance (including the HVAC). Your concern is a rare and destructive surge that can overwhelm protection already inside appliances - including HVAC. That surge is only averted by earth ground. Either a protector connects destructive energy to earth outside the building. Or that protector is best called a scam. Utilities can rent or install a 'whole house' protector behind the meter. But utilities do not install earth ground. Only the homeowner is responsible for providing and maintaining the only thing that provides surge protection - single point earth ground. Wires underground do not provide surge protection. Every wire (overhead or underground) inside every cable must connect short to single point ground. No exceptions. If not - if a buried wire interconnects two buildings. Then a surge to one building can act like a lightning rod connected to appliances in the second building. Even underground wires that enter each facility must connect short to single point ground. Sags are not averted by protectors. Even incandescent bulbs dimmed to 50% intensity means ideal power to all electronics. But that can cause havoc to motorized appliances (ie HVAC). Therefore an HVAC controller must make sags irrelevant. If voltage drops too low, the controller must stop motors. And if power is restored too quickly, then the controller must wait long enough for a restart to cause no damage. Sags are addressed by properly designed electronic controllers. Surges can only be averted where wires enter the building - via earth ground. A âwhole houseâ protector is required by everyone reading this. Only effective protection for every household electronics including bathroom GFCIs, smoker detectors, dishwasher, computers, and HVAC. One 50,000 amp âwhole houseâ protector connected as short as possible (ie âless than 10 feetâ) to single point earth ground. And an expanded earthing system.

CKGM wrote: "So just want to clarify? Did I waste $300 by installing a full house surge protector?" westom replied: "It is the only solution that will protect from all types of surges. If a connection from that protector to earth is short and low impedance, then the protector should make irrelevant surges even from stray cars and transformers." For real science read the IEEE and NIST surge guides. The sources are absolutely reliable. Both brickeyee and I have said damage from the car incident was from a high voltage distribution wire coming down on the wires to your house. What does the IEEE surge guide say? from page 15: "Temporary Overvoltage (TOV) Temporary and long-term overvoltage conditions (TOV) can lead to rapid degradation and even failure of SPD [surge protector] components. If the applied voltage exceeds the maximum continuous operating voltage rating ... of the SPD, the SPD will attempt to suppress the overvoltage and will begin to conduct current. The result can be thermal runaway of the SPD components, creating significant heating and eventual destruction of the SPD. TOVs are typically the result of loose or open neutral conductors, voltage regulator problems, or the INADVERTENT CONTACT OF HIGHER VOLTAGE SYSTEMS to the residential system." From page 11 "2) Catastrophic overvoltages Rare "catastrophic" overvoltages can result from accidental contact between high-voltage lines and low-voltage AC distribution lines, due to icing, TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, falling trees, etc. In such situations, voltages up to thousands of volts can be brought into houses. AC building entrance protectors described Section 2 may provide some protection against these events. Again, the combination of entrance protectors with the point-of-use (plug-in) surge protectors described in Section 5.1 can offer better protection to the equipment plugged in than either one alone. 3) Sustained AC overvoltages Sustained overvoltages (typically, over 135 V on 120 V service) can result from malfunction of utility regulators or damaged distribution transformers. AC BUILDING ENTRANCE PROTECTORS DO NOT PROVIDE USEFUL PROTECTION AGAINST THESE EVENTS. Electronically controlled point-of-use (plug-in) surge protectors described in Section 5.1 disconnect for AC voltages outside a specified range, and offer useful protection to equipment plugged into them." [emphasis added] Westom says a service panel protector will provide protection from the car hitting the pole. That is not consistent with what the IEEE surge guide says - quoted above. I said that MOVs (voltage protection elements) will be rapidly burned out. Also that some plug-in devices may disconnect and provide protection. That is consistent with what the IEEE surge guide says. "TOV" is not a "surge". westom wrote: "Your 'whole house' protector is the only solution always found in facilities that can never have damage." Repeating from a reliable source - the NIST guide: "Q - Will a surge protector installed at the service entrance be sufficient for the whole house? A - There are two answers to than question: Yes for one-link appliances [electronic equipment], No for two-link appliances [equipment connected to power AND phone or cable or....]. Since most homes today have some kind of two-link appliances, the prudent answer to the question would be NO - but that does not mean that a surge protector installed at the service entrance is useless." westom wrote: "You did not cause a feud. bud is paid to be nasty, create confusion, and discourage you. A sales promoter paid to protects sales of excessively profitable and ineffective devices." It is a favorite westom lie. I have nothing to do with the surge protection industry. If westom had valid technical arguments he wouldn't have to lie. westom wrote: "If his protector did protection, then he could post manufacturer spec numbers. He cannot post what does not exist. " Another favorite westom lie. In fact I did post specs for one of the protectors I am using. westom wrote: "Ignore his nastiness. Lying is routine when promoting obscenely profitable and ineffective products." My "lies" and "nastiness" come from the IEEE and NIST. Who is right? Westom says that plug-in protectors do NOT work. Then he will answer simple questions: - Why do the only 2 actual examples of protection in the IEEE guide use plug-in suppressors? - Why does the NIST guide says plug-in suppressors are "the easiest solution"? - Why does the NIST guide say "One effective solution is to have the consumer install" a multiport plug-in suppressor? - Why do westom's "responsible manufacturers" make plug-in suppressors? - Why does "responsible" manufacturer SquareD says "electronic equipment may need additional protection by installing plug-in [suppressors] at the point of use"? - Where is a manufacturer that says their service panel protector will protect from crossed power wires? If westom can not answer simple questions his arguments are nonsense. westom wrote: "In one venue, a 33,000 volt wire fell on local distribution. Electric meters were blown in pieces 30 feet from their pans. Many, using power strip protectors, had multiple damage. But one homeowner knew someone who knows this stuff. He only had a 'whole house' protector similar to yours. His only damage was to the electric company's meter. Even his protector remained undamaged." Provide a source that says what happened. Westom is not a reliable source as can be seen from the misinformation he has posted. One of the first places I saw westom was an electrical engineering forum where westom mischaracterized the views of researcher Arshad Mansoor and provoked a response: "I found it particularly funny that he mentioned a paper by Dr. Mansoor. I can assure you that he supports the use of [multiport] plug-in protectors. Heck, he just sits down the hall from me. LOL." Did you waste $300? If you expect to protect from another 'car incident' you did. But those events are real unlikely. It will provide protection from normal and abnormal utility switching, which are the next most damaging surges after lighting.