I know some of you are into Home AV and that kind of thing.
I am not, so, have next to zero experience with most of this kind of stuff.
As you well know, opinions on teh Interwebz abounds, but I trust those I see roll across here more than many others out there.
So, when one wishes to protect a “hard to reach” outlet (let’s say one mounted in a recessed box behind a wall-mounted flat-panel entertainment device)
Question 1:
what would one use to suppress surges for the devices plugged in there?
Question2: let’s pretend there is a huge chorus of “just use a whole-house surge suppressor like this” what would your opinion be of:
the actual suppression on the circuits provided by the breakers
the actual suppression on “the whole house”?
the necessity of only using “brand x”'s device in “brand x”'s boxes
And one final question (set) tangentially related to these:
do these devices (MOV surge suppression devices) need to be replaced every 2 or so years due to degradation of the mechanisms employed (and do you/your circle of buddies actually DO that?) ?
I don’t think I have ever seen degrading in MOV’s. We use them in our equipment from the factory. If we have a blown fuse in the MOV circuit then we know there was a power surge.
I haven’t found my round-tuit with whole home surge suppressor written on it yet, but partly because I have so many protected power strips and UPS around the house, and the effec is somewhat cumulative.
MOV do have a lifespan, but it is usually related to total energy dissipated. So with clean power, it may last a lifetime. Or a single near miss with lightning may take it out.
I spent a few years designing surge suppression for the electric power industry. Here’s what i have in my house. First I don’t put breakers in my panel that are not UL approved for that breaker panel. You can, but I don’t. I didn’t like my “in panel” options so I installed an external surge device and connected it to a set of new, approved breakers. I like it because I have LED indicators on the wall that I can see to confirm the surge suppression is still intact; no need to open the panel to look. This is my first line of defense. I have in wall automation control that are only protected by this system. Second I also use moderate quality surge protectors where I have anything expensive connected to an outlet. Last, don’t forget about other ways lightning surges may enter the home like DSL (e.g. UVerse), roof mounted dishes, etc. Make sure each has correctly installed surge with correctly installed grounds.
The research I’ve done points to Eaton’s CHSPT2ULTRA as the best whole home surge protector on the market. Ideally you’ll also want protection at the meter (requires an electrician and approval from your power company) and at the outlet (e.g. power strips with surge suppression).
If anyone is still interested in this topic …
The surge suppressors installed at different locations in your electrical system have different ratings and levels of protection.
A whole house device may limit the surge to 1500 volts and is really designed to protect large electrical loads such as the motors in your HVAC system and refrigerator.
The small plug in devices with battery back up typically limit the surge to 300 volts. This will protect your electronic devices such as computers, TVs and stereos.
I use both; the whole house to attenuate the surge and the UPS to protect my expensive electronics. I started doing this when I lived in central Florida (the lightning capital of the nation) where surges were a daily occurrence during the spring and summer. Before installing the protection, I would lose a ceiling fan or TV about 4 times a year. After installing a whole house protector and UPS’s, I never lost another item (other than the UPS’s that gave their life to protect the electronics).