Mike, I agree that many surges originate in the home, I'm not sure about MOST, especially if you eliminate those too small to likely cause damage. But lets not quibble over statistics. The article was pretty good even though it was, of course, a sales promotion for the particular style of protection that the author is responsible for at Cutler-Hammer. That explains the bias, low key that it was, but detectable.
One of our local utilities, OG&E, offers a surge protection plan where they install and maintain protective devices at your service entry and provide a varying number and type (depending on which "plan" you choose) of surge protection power strips and phone protection etc. You are covered for any appliance or device that fails due to a surge while you are on the "plan". It becomes their responsibility to change out aging MOV's etc and requires no quesswork on the part of the consumer. I haven't checked to see if their is insurance to cover the same losses and if it is cheaper than the physical protection devices plus insurance the utility provides "in effect" with their plan.
Note the author's concern for fusing the MOV devices? Well placed concern. Spikes eat away at the MOV, reducing its peak surge handling capacity so that over time you have less and less protection. There isn't any simple test like an ohm meter (ohm eater?) that will tell you how much of the MOV device's life is left. Some just change out the MOV's on a schedule.
Of course here in OK we don't have lightning or power outages. Well not in my area, at least not since last night. We popped some corn, opened a couple cans of A&W root beer, and settled in to see a movie. Then as the house lights darkened, along with the TV screen and everything else, we sought alternatives for the few hours remaining till bed time. Decorative oil lamps bring a touch of nostalgia to these events as well as a bit of light. My new house will have built in emergency lights at all regions of concern to light the egress paths, way to the bathroom, refrigerator, and other critical paths. I'm thinking, white LED's on a battery fed circuit with a small trickle charger and a small solar pannel (PV) for charging during extended power outages (two years ago, 5 day outage).
Folks concerned with internally created surges from heat pumps and so forth should look for units with "soft start" characteristics or multi-speed or variable speed motors (they generally start up on the lowest setting). This can save your electronics from heavy surges when the unit starts and stops. Us welder folk can put some HD junk on the line we share with the delicate electronics.
Equipment that has heavy duty contactors to switch inductive loads typically put big transients on the line which can harm delicate devices on the same transformer (pole or pad mounted to supply your main breaker box) In some instances these contactors can be replaced by "electronic relays" which are designed to turn on during the zero voltage point of the AC sine wave so they don't make "sparks" (switching transients). Even more importantly they are designed to turn off at the zero current point of the sine wave and don't create any transients at turn off either. (Interrupting a heavy current flowing in an inductive load like a motor or transformer is a source of powerful transient spikes. See also ELI the ICE man.) These solid state relay devices have been around for a while and the "major brands" are quite reliable. They aren't as cheap as a mechanical relay with mechanically switched contact points but have no points to burn, oxidize, wear, spark...
Patrick
