[Carlsondm]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

My understanding is that SECO's "Surge MitiGator" protects your home's large appliances, but you still need individual surge protection for smaller electronics. I do understand the damage an electrical surge can cause to a personal computer, for example. But in general, I don't understand surge protection. For example, why is surge protection important for appliances that are not being used and are not WiFi enabled (washer, dryer, dishwasher, coffee maker...)? I don't think I'd be running any of these appliances during a thunderstorm. What about refrigerator? What appliances DO need surge protection? Is the Surge MitiGator worth the investment? Thank you!

We had lightening hit our Rose Lake DNR field office in Michigan many years ago. Computers on high quality surge protection (Power Directors, I recall - high joule) survived. The Power Directors, of course, were replaced after the incidence. Everything else plugged into an outlet fried or never worked the same. Good surge protection works.

With the amount of lightening here and the sensitivity of computerized appliances, we spent a few hundred to protect our electrical system and appliances in our new home. Unplug things completely if you are gone for a while. We have whole house and individual surge protection.

[Joe C.]

I had a whole house surge protector installed in my meter by SECO. After a thunderstorm, my dishwasher wouldn't work. It was, however, 20 years old. Mama called the electric company, and they made it very difficult ...... get a repairman to analyze the problem, fill out some forms and mail them in, hopefully get an approval, then get it fixed, then send in a claim, then hopefully get reimbursed (or something to that effect). The cost of getting someone out and analyzing the problem was on us ..... SECO won't pay. And that cost about half of what a new dishwasher would cost. So was it worth it? Just getting a repairman out here to check things out takes a while. So again, was it worth it? Short answer...NO.
Plus, SECO said that they would have to send someone out to see if the surge protector had tripped. Was the green light still on? Or was there a red one lit. We said that there was no green light and they said that they would check out the meter. We told them that we wanted to be notified when they would be out so that we would be home to watch.
Long story short, a few weeks later, my wife called and asked when they were coming. They said that they had already been there and changed the meter, and that nothing was wrong. Why would they change the meter if it wasn't "tripped"?
So anyway, in the meantime we bought a new dishwasher for little more than it would have cost to have a repairman check things out.
In the meantime....we no longer subscribe to the "whole house surge protection plan".
You pay them good money and they make you jump thru hoops.

[jrref]

Surge protection is Not an investment or do you get it for the insurance. You get surge protection to significantly lower the chances of your electronic and none electronic devices being damaged from power surges either immediately or over time.

The MitiGator from Seco is good to have but it only protects you from surges coming from the power lines which is not common. Most destructive surges come in your home through the cable or irregation system or from the pool or HVAC power. That said, you need individual surge protectors on computers, TVs and other electronic equipment AND it's strongly recommended you get what they call a Whole House Surge protector which is a device installed at the electrical circuit breaker panel. This device will protect all your branch circuits in the home from power surges. So for example if you got a power surge induced through your irregation system, it would be shunted at the breaker panel and not spread to the rest of the circuits.

Pikes and Lenhart install the Eaton Ultra surge protector. This is what you want and Pikes is running a sale now.

Once you have this and the point-of-use surge protectors at your computer, TV and other devices, if you want to lower your chances even more get the Seco device.

I don't have hard data but every time I hear about someone getting hit with a damaging surge the Seco device was installed and functioning and there were still many electronic devices damaged. This tells me the surge didn't come in through the power lines outside your home. On the other hand I've not personally heard of anyone getting damage from a power surge with the surge protector such as the Eaton Ultra installed at the circuit breaker panel.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Joe C.

I had a whole house surge protector installed in my meter by SECO. After a thunderstorm, my dishwasher wouldn't work. It was, however, 20 years old.

The SECO warranty is worthless.

Partially because people try to use it to replace 20 year old dish washers...

[Joe C.]

Originally Posted by Altavia

The SECO warranty is worthless.

Partially because people try to use it to replace 20 year old dish washers...

I didn't want to replace it. I just wanted to get it fixed. It was a burnt motherboard.

[MrLonzo]

Originally Posted by jrref

The Meeter Treater from Seco is good to have but it only protects you from surges coming from the power lines which is not common. Most destructive surges come in your home through the cable or irregation system or from the pool or HVAC power. That said, you need individual surge protectors on computers, TVs and other electronic equipment AND it's strongly recommended you get what they call a Whole House Surge protector which is a device installed at the electrical circuit breaker panel. This device will protect all your branch circuits in the home from power surges. So for example if you got a power surge induced through your irregation system, it would be shunted at the breaker panel and not spread to the rest of the circuits.

Pikes and Lenhart install the Eaton Ultra surge protector. This is what you want and Pikes is running a sale now.

Once you have this and the point-of-use surge protectors at your computer, TV and other devices, if you want to lower your chances even more get the Seco device.

I don't have hard data but every time I hear about someone getting hit with a damaging surge the Seco device was installed and functioning and there were still many electronic devices damaged. This tells me the surge didn't come in through the power lines outside your home. On the other hand I've not personally heard of anyone getting damage from a power surge with the surge protector such as the Eaton Ultra installed at the circuit breaker panel.

Looks like the Eaton device starts at $550 including installation. The SECO Surge MitiGator starts at $350 including installation (for purchase) or $6/month as an add on to your SECO bill. I couldn't find anything about the "Meeter Treater" from SECO -- is this different from the Surge MitiGator?

In any case, it's another cost/benefit decision. I'm moving from an area that has no lightning storms. I guess my original post was hoping to get an idea of the prevalence of whole home surge protection at the Villages -- 10%? 50%? 90%?

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

Looks like the Eaton device starts at $550 including installation. The SECO Surge MitiGator starts at $350 including installation (for purchase) or $6/month as an add on to your SECO bill. I couldn't find anything about the "Meeter Treater" from SECO -- is this different from the Surge MitiGator?

In any case, it's another cost/benefit decision. I'm moving from an area that has no lightning storms. I guess my original post was hoping to get an idea of the prevalence of whole home surge protection at the Villages -- 10%? 50%? 90%?

In my neighborhood, less than 20 percent of the houses have the meter extension surge protector installed. You can walk around and see if there is a 2-inch extension between the meter and the house. But, the whole house surge protector is not really supposed to protect your house from lightning, it is more for other types of power surges. But, without some definitive research data on how effective these surge protectors are, I am not willing to buy one.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

Looks like the Eaton device starts at $550 including installation. The SECO Surge MitiGator starts at $350 including installation (for purchase) or $6/month as an add on to your SECO bill. I couldn't find anything about the "Meeter Treater" from SECO -- is this different from the Surge MitiGator?

In any case, it's another cost/benefit decision. I'm moving from an area that has no lightning storms. I guess my original post was hoping to get an idea of the prevalence of whole home surge protection at the Villages -- 10%? 50%? 90%?

It's more what level of risk reduction will make you comfortable in the lightening capital.

Start with protection at the meter or breaker box. Do both for maximum protection.


https://kbelectricpa.com/whole-house...rge-protector/

Add individual protection at key appliances.

One thing to keep in mind is surge protectors degrade over time (as they absorb surges) and may have an expiration date. Typicaly life expectancy is 3-5 years.

What is life expectancy of whole house surge protector?

[daniel200]

Originally Posted by Altavia

It's more what level of risk reduction will make you comfortable in the lightening capital.

Start with protection at the meter or breaker box. Do both for maximum protection.


https://kbelectricpa.com/whole-house...rge-protector/

Add individual protection at key appliances.

One thing to keep in mind is surge protectors degrade over time (as they absorb surges) and may have an expiration date. Typicaly life expectancy is 3-5 years.

What is life expectancy of whole house surge protector?

I would add, these whole house surge protectors degrade every time their is a voltage spike coming down the line. After time, they provide less and less protection. The SECO surge protector has two red LED’s that should be “On” at all times. If one or both of the LED’s is not “On”, your surge protector has now failed. You can view the two LED’s by looking into the small plexiglass cover on the side of the protector.

If your surge protector is still under warranty, SECO will replace it for free. So its worth your time to look at the LED status after big lightning storms

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Altavia

It's more what level of risk reduction will make you comfortable in the lightening capital.

Start with protection at the meter or breaker box. Do both for maximum protection.


https://kbelectricpa.com/whole-house...rge-protector/

Add individual protection at key appliances.

One thing to keep in mind is surge protectors degrade over time (as they absorb surges) and may have an expiration date. Typicaly life expectancy is 3-5 years.

What is life expectancy of whole house surge protector?

In our area how often do we get surges? Makes me wonder after 3 years if we should replace our individual surge protectors.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

In our area how often do we get surges? Makes me wonder after 3 years if we should replace our individual surge protectors.

If you have a full house protection, 3-5 years should be safe.

Replace with protectors that have indicators they are still functional.

I look for UL listed, maximum Joules plus protectors that give indication function is still good.

Some examples depending on application:

Entertainment Center, cable/router

APC Wall Outlet Multi Plug Extender, P6W, (6) AC Multi Plug Outlet, 1080 Joule Surge Protector white https://a.co/d/eEqdCL1

Tripp Lite TLP1208TELTV 12 Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, 8ft Cord, Right-Angle Plug, Tel/Modem/Coax Protection, RJ11, & Dollar 150,000 Insurance Black https://a.co/d/bQoHp9C

E.g.: Garage door openers, washer/dryer, irrigation system, tankless water heater:

Belkin 1-Outlet Home Series SurgeCube - Grounded Outlet Portable Wall Tap Adapter with Ground & Protected Light Indicators for Home, Office, Travel, Computer Desktop & Charging Brick-White, 885 Joules https://a.co/d/9jvebzT

Tripp Lite 3 Outlet Portable Surge Protector Power Strip, Direct Plug In, $5,000 INSURANCE (SK3-0), Apple, Grey https://a.co/d/8sIFlVa


This one has an audible alarm when protection is depleated, good for behind appliances.

E.g.: Fridge, oven, microwave, dish washer:

GE UltraPro Surge Protector with Audible Alarm, 2 Pack, Outlet Extender, Fits Behind Hard-to-Reach Areas, End of Service Alarm, 1080 Joules, Warranty, UL Listed, White, 53868 https://a.co/d/52oz5LS

The more surge suppressors installed throughout the house, the more the total surge suppression you'll get.

Surges go to every outlet in your home, they aren't particular - each surge supressor absorbs some of each surge, so there's a cumulative benefit to having multiple suppressors around the house.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

Looks like the Eaton device starts at $550 including installation. The SECO Surge MitiGator starts at $350 including installation (for purchase) or $6/month as an add on to your SECO bill. I couldn't find anything about the "Meeter Treater" from SECO -- is this different from the Surge MitiGator?

In any case, it's another cost/benefit decision. I'm moving from an area that has no lightning storms. I guess my original post was hoping to get an idea of the prevalence of whole home surge protection at the Villages -- 10%? 50%? 90%?

MitiGator is what Seco calls it and it's the same device. We live in one of the lightning capitals of the world so surge and lightning protection should be considered carefully.

[jrref]

I understand this video is produced by Levitton to advertise their products but it does give a great overview of surge protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fThJzINQF9A

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

In our area how often do we get surges? Makes me wonder after 3 years if we should replace our individual surge protectors.

This is a hard question to answer becasue there is no way for a consumer to know when a surge protector is "worn out" or not working other than the indicator lights.

But I can say if you have multiple layers of surge protection such as the Eaton Ultra, and or the Seco MitiGator the level of any power surges reaching your point-of-use surge protectors on your computers, TVs, etc will be significantly less and therefore have a lower long term impact on the devices in the surge protector. So you can probably get away with not replacing them for 5 years or more. The Eaton Ultra is warrentied for 5 years so from their experience that's the life time of their surge protector product. Also remember once it's installed it should be way cheaper to replace since all the installation work is done and only the device needs replacement.

[DonnaNi4os]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

My understanding is that SECO's "Surge MitiGator" protects your home's large appliances, but you still need individual surge protection for smaller electronics. I do understand the damage an electrical surge can cause to a personal computer, for example. But in general, I don't understand surge protection. For example, why is surge protection important for appliances that are not being used and are not WiFi enabled (washer, dryer, dishwasher, coffee maker...)? I don't think I'd be running any of these appliances during a thunderstorm. What about refrigerator? What appliances DO need surge protection? Is the Surge MitiGator worth the investment? Thank you!

You don’t need to be using your appliances or computer, tv, etc. They just need to be plugged in for a surge to destroy them. The more protection you have on these items the less likely they are to be damaged in a surge. If a lightning strikes near your home there is still a possibility damage will be unpreventable. In my home, and in my opinion, the more layers of protection you can add to protect your devices the better. And yes, I have SECO ‘s Surge-mitigator in my home and one on my AC unit outside.