Power surge fried as few things today

[Borrego]

I wasn't home when it happened, but was told there was a power outage today. A call to the power company indicated about 3,800 customers were affected by a downed line, probably caused by a car hitting it.
When the power went out and because I was not home, a few things were left on and subsequently fried when the line was reenergized: microwave (clock was on), living room ceiling fan, 32" Sony television in a bedroom and washer located in garage.
All in all, I am trying to learn a lesson here. The microwave can be replaced cheaply, living room ceiling fan can be returned to HD if I can find the receipt, if not, I have an exact replacement on a shelf in the garage, 32" tv was $25 at a thrift store last year and washer had less than a week of warranty left on it, but as long as the service appointment was made before it expired, it will be honored.
My question for the professionals out there is this: I MUST get some form of surge protection for the house. Period. What do you recomend? At the panel protection? Individual protection for selected wall outlets like the fridge, washer, dryer? I will spend the money to protect what needs to be protected.
This time I dodged a bullet. Next time, I can not afford it to wipe out any of my big apppliances. Not afraid to spend the money if it will protect what could be expensive to replace next time.
Also, upgraded the original house panel, almost 50 years old, to 4 200 A circuits last year.

 

[HoseB]

They make whole house suppressors that mount in your can ( typically leased from the power company), or you can purchase another type and have it installed.

 

[Teken]

I installed a whole house secondary surge arrestor at the main panel. Along with a surge arrestor at the service entrance C/O the POCO.

Along with that various point of use outlets have been changed over to surge / alarm hospital grade outlets.

They are installed on the fridge, microwave, coffee maker, washer, sump pump, garage door opener, two of the cordless phones, alarm panel, and the server room.

Various APC UPS surge back ups are also in place to keep the power going for short durations.

I also retro fitted my dishwasher with a standard plug outlet so that could have a point of use hospital grade surge / alarm receptacle.

One of the most expensive things I did was upgrade the ground strap to my main panel. Some of the more involved things which are mission critical were all retro fitted with SSR devices, along with opto couplers to ensure complete power isolation from the grid.

The reason I also went with the point of use hospital grade surge / alarm receptacles is that I could be notified of a fault.

You're not going to know if a wall wart surge protector is working or not behind a fridge, microwave, etc unless you move them out.

With the ones I have installed you can see the green LED, but having the alarm will notify the owner that zone or device has been damaged and not fully operational.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with some of the point of use devices is some operate at fail secure, whereas some operate fail safe.

Fail secure in this instance means that if the surge protector is damaged no power will be flowing. You don't want that on a fridge, sump pump.

So, with the fail safe device(s) this would allow the device to still be powered even if the surge protector was damaged after a strike.

Something every user has to consider and decide for themselves . . . When it comes down to worst case scenarios I let the HA system in my home disconnect all the systems I want to protect 100%.

Even if I am really paranoid I simply unplug any device I feel is not worth losing to a strike / surge.

Sorry to hear about your loss, as I can relate 310% of what you are going through. My area had over 200 homes damaged in various capacities. Some folks had small things like radio clocks blow, while others on the extreme had the entire service entrance blow clean off the wall.

Just this last two months our POCO came around to replace large amounts of transformers that must have been damaged from last years storm. As it has returned my line voltage back to a rock steady 120 VAC.

Because after the strike the line voltage was wandering all over the map per minute from 109-117 VAC which was really sad to see. But, its all fixed and rock steady now since the repairs.

 

[George in Rancho Cordova]

Be sure to read the fine print on the deal from the power company. With all the exclusions, mine would not guarantee protection of anything more sophisticated than the garbage disposal.

 

[Teken]

Be sure to read the fine print on the deal from the power company. With all the exclusions, mine would not guarantee protection of anything more sophisticated than the garbage disposal.

Yep I second that as well . . . One thing to note from most manufactures a lot of people don't realize that you must register your product to even have a warranty.

So please read the super small print and do so as they ask. With respect to the APC brand they also ask you to list the item which is attached to the the surge UPS / protector before you can make a valid claim.

Not a huge thing to do, most people including myself did not do this the first go round.

 

[nehog]

Just for 'technical' sakes, it is likely the surge happened when the lights went off, not when the power was restored. Usually what happens is that higher voltage lines drop and hit lower voltage ones, sending a spike down the system. It takes a while (longer than it takes to blow appliances, at least) for the power company's circuit breakers to trip, and bang there go your toys!

I've seen extreme cases like this (where high voltage hits the feed lines into houses) where virtually everything was blown.

A 'whole house' surge protector may help. However, most do not have a provision to test to see if they are still good, and I suspect a lot of them have long ago failed, leaving a sense of false security.

Myself, I've lost far more stuff to lightning (three instances at the house we are at now) than to 'man made' surges. Then again, I know that someone who's controlling the lightning doesn't like me one bit, but he's not the best shot. But he's managed to blast two of my neighbors quite nicely...

 

[stevefasano]

removed due to

 

[787B]

[...]Usually what happens is that higher voltage lines drop and hit lower voltage ones, sending a spike down the system. It takes a while (longer than it takes to blow appliances, at least) for the power company's circuit breakers to trip, and bang there go your toys!

I've seen extreme cases like this (where high voltage hits the feed lines into houses) where virtually everything was blown.

Happened in Harford County, Maryland in 1988. 33 KV line dropped onto a 13 KV line. Sparks flew, fuses/breakers did not blow. Those that did were way over their voltage rating so they just arced over.
Watch this!

 

[Teken]

A 'whole house' surge protector may help. However, most do not have a provision to test to see if they are still good, and I suspect a lot of them have long ago failed, leaving a sense of false security.

Absolutely agree on this point . . . I wish these MOV's style surge arrestors had some sort of indicator as to its lifespan.

Instead of a little green LED . . . Perhaps maybe a LED row from 1-5 being if its all green from 1-5, good to go.

If the number 1 LED is the only one lit, then it is reflective of the protection, or the amount of hits this device has taken etc.

Right now I have a power watch data logger hooked up to the main panel to track, record, and out put the variance on the service to the house.

For the average person this doesn't help them. For me the intent is to record over the years how stable the power is, and try to action any power issues on the line with solutions to reduce the amount of damage to all the equipment in the home etc.

 

[cowboyjosh]

For surge protection, the following is what I like to use on the main / feed thru panel, and then secondary surge protectors, like the Square D QO SurgeBreaker in all sub-panels. At point of use I like to use Leviton Surge Outlets at home theaters, microwaves, office outlets, security / fire panels, etc.
http://www.TWAcomm.com/catalog/model_32120-1.htm?sid=5501431500F2BA4AC13EBD9A95CED6A9


I'll post my favorite surge protection quote again "surge protection is allot like birth control, you don't know when it's worked, but you sure as hell know when it didn't."

 

[Teken]

For surge protection, the following is what I like to use on the main / feed thru panel, and then secondary surge protectors, like the Square D QO SurgeBreaker in all sub-panels. At point of use I like to use Leviton Surge Outlets at home theaters, microwaves, office outlets, security / fire panels, etc.
http://www.TWAcomm.com/catalog/model_32120-1.htm?sid=5501431500F2BA4AC13EBD9A95CED6A9


I'll post my favorite surge protection quote again "surge protection is allot like birth control, you don't know when it's worked, but you sure as hell know when it didn't."

If this one ever goes I might have to take a look at this other unit. Love that surge quote !!!