Whole house Surge Protector

[txdon]

Follow-up.

The electric co-op installed a lightning arrestor on my line three poles from the house to stop any surges from as far as five miles away. See pics below. The lighting arrestor is the thing sticking out on the left of the pole and is attached to a grounding rod.

(Next post - whole house surge protector installed)

 

[txdon]

My electrician installed the whole house protector on the breaker box on the pole see pics below. The whole house surge protector was from a co. that the elec. co-op recommended. I also added individual surge protectors on the 110 outlets inside the house. I'm ready for a storm, let it rain.

 

[brin]

Our electric co-op installed a surge protector on our meter and outside box..it costs us $6.00 per month for the whole house protection...

 

[Zick]

txdon, looks like your all set. I also installed a whole house surge protector inside just this summer too. Bought the one I linked earlier. Fairly easy install.

 

[Bird]

Well, after complaining to the electric co-op yesterday that if they promote new energy saving appliances they should be able to supply a way that their supply will not knock out the new micro computers

I'm not sure how I missed this thread in the past, Don, but did you ever get reimbursed for the damage? I'm not surprised that the co-op wouldn't pay for the damage, but did your homeowners insurance cover it?

On August 4, 1998, I was on the phone at the time when we had a little thunderstorm, the electric power blinked, came right back on, the phone went dead, and I found that little power surge killed two lamps, one alarm clock, two telephone instruments, and an old 13" TV. This was in a double wide mobile home and we had a homeowners policy (replacement cost) with American Modern Home Insurance Company. I'd never heard of them before but the mobile home dealer had arranged the insurance considerably cheaper than my Farmers agent could do. So the next day, I called them, the lady there gave me a claim number and the name of the adjustor who would be contacting me. I went to town, priced replacement items, and when he called, I gave him all the information and he didn't even come out or want to see the damaged stuff; just took my word for it and promptly sent me a check to cover it all.

 

[txdon]

Bird, the co-op came out to check their equipment, and said their equipment was not at fault and said they would deny any claim. I have a high deductible on insurance. However, luckily, the items were still under warranty, but not next time.

 

[jinman]

This year has been the worst for surges and power drops in our area. Just today, I had two 10,000 watt generators delivered. I doubt one of these will run my central heat/air, but it will run window AC units and my well pump. I also have a couple of 4000 watt wall heaters I can rig for standby heating. I considered a whole-house standby generator, but these portable 10kw units seemed like they would be much more flexible, especially if mounted on a small trailer along with a welder. I bought these from Sam's Club for $858 each. I read all the reviews and most everyone praised their performance. The cheapest whole house unit I could find would cost me $5k plus by the time I got it installed and it would NOT be portable.

I haven't unpacked the generators yet. I'll let you know what I think after I get them put together.