When it comes to protecting the overall longevity of your home, there are many different things you'll want to invest in. While you may be thinking along the lines of a quality roof or durable siding material, you don't want to forget about your electrical system. A whole-home surge protector can be a worthy investment for any homeowner looking to protect their electrical system and all their electronic devices and household appliances.

What Is a Power Surge?

Before we dive into what a whole-home surge protector is, we first want to thoroughly discuss what a power surge is. A power surge happens when an excess jolt of energy gets thrown through an electrical line. A power surge can happen due to numerous reasons, with lightning strikes being one of the most common. Some other common causes of power surges include short circuits, tripped circuit breakers, power outages, power company malfunctions, electromagnet pulses, inductive spikes, and even power transitions. When power surges happen, the excess energy can cause extensive damage. It can damage anything plugged into your outlets, like your televisions or stereo. It can damage your outlets, lighting fixtures, appliances, and even your electrical wiring. In severe cases of power surges, electrical fires can even break out. To avoid experiencing these issues, you can invest in a whole-home surge protector.

What Is a Surge Protector?

Most people are familiar with surge protectors attached to appliances, like a laptop charging cord, or even surge protector power strips. These protectors work by absorbing excess energy that travels in the circuit to prevent it from reaching the devices plugged into it. Think of a surge protector as simply a diversion system that takes all that excess energy current and redirects it to your home grounding system. This system works to remove excess electricity by transferring it directly to the ground, where it can safely disperse. There are a few different types of surge protectors that you can invest in for your home. There are individual outlet surge protectors that you can use to protect a single device. There are power strip surge protectors that can protect all the devices that are plugged into them against power surge damage. Lastly, we have the whole-home surge protector. This works to protect your home's entire electrical system alongside everything that's plugged into it, like your appliances and other electrical devices.

How to Choose a Whole-Home Surge Protector

If you've decided that a whole-home surge protector is a great investment for your home, then you'll want to ensure that you pay attention to a few key details when selecting the perfect one. There are many on the market to choose from, each with its own pros and cons. One of the very first factors you'll want to consider is the absorption rate of the surge protector. This specifies how much electricity the surge protector can successfully absorb. With most lightning strikes hitting at below 40,000 amps, it's very common for homeowners to invest in whole-home surge protectors with an absorption rate of 40,000 amps. This will give your home the most amount of protection against the strongest sources of power surges out there. Another factor to consider is smart technology integration. Traditional whole-home surge protectors get installed by your electrician and don't require any interaction on your part. However, the one fault they have is that you don't know when your surge protector is experiencing a problem. By purchasing a whole-home surge protector with smart technology integration, you can receive an alert on your smartphone whenever necessary. You can opt to receive a notification every time your surge protector stops a power surge or even when your system has a malfunction. This way, you can have your electrician evaluate your system promptly for repair service. There's no point in having a whole-home surge protector if it isn't successfully working to protect your home from excessive power surges.

Surge Protector Lifespan

Unfortunately, surge protectors aren't a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. Most have a manufacturer's estimated lifespan of around five to ten years. This is assuming they receive proper care and upkeep. If your home experiences frequent power surges, your whole-home surge protector may experience a shorter lifespan.

The Many Benefits of a Whole-Home Surge Protector

The most obvious benefit of a whole-home surge protector is that it provides protection for your home electrical system and everything plugged into it. You can have peace of mind that your outlets, circuits, wiring, electrical devices, televisions, and even appliances are protected from the majority of power surges that can happen. With the cost of appliances these days, having a whole-home surge protector can be a great way to protect your financial well-being. No one wants to be stuck with the price of replacing all the appliances and electronic devices in their home when an unexpected power surge happens. Another benefit of a whole-home surge protector is that it can reduce your monthly insurance premium. Insurance providers know that power surges can be quite damaging to homes. This is why they reward homeowners who are proactive with a lower premium price. This lower price can help you to recoup some of the upfront investment cost of your whole-home surge protector. A whole-home surge protector can also increase the resale value of your home. This device goes a long way in helping to prevent electrical fires from developing inside your home. This can give you peace of mind about the safety of your home, family, and belongings.

The Drawbacks of a Surge Protector

While whole-home surge protectors provide excellent benefits for protecting your household's electrical system, it's important to understand their limitations. One key drawback is their inability to guard against extremely powerful power surges. Most whole-home surge protectors are designed with an absorption rate of up to 40,000 amps, which is sufficient to handle the vast majority of surges and protect your electrical devices. However, in rare and extreme cases—such as a direct lightning strike producing up to 100,000 amps—a surge protector may not be capable of absorbing all the excess energy. Unfortunately, no surge protector currently available can withstand such extraordinary power levels, making it essential to understand the limitations of these devices. While they are highly effective for everyday protection, no system is entirely foolproof against rare and extreme electrical anomalies. Mister Sparky® offers trustworthy whole-home surge protection services to the entire Grand Rapids, MI community. Contact us today to book a service with one of our helpful electricians!