I think I’m going to look at the whole house option. I just need to figure out which one is best for my needs.
Effective protector does not do protection. Best protectors connect low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to what actually and harmlessly absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules. Single point earth ground. All four words have electrical significance.
Lightning (just one of many surges) can be 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector is 50,000 amps. Since MOVs do not degrade for decades when properly sized (when more of your money goes into the protector and not into profit margins). Near zero protectors degrade or even fail catastrophically so that naive consumers will recommend it and buy more.
Conditioners such as Furman or series mode filters such as Surgex have numbers that 'protect' from surges too tiny to overwhelm superior protection inside appliances. Worse, some plug-in boxes may even compromise that existing and robust protection. Plug-in protectors also must be protected by a properly earthed 'whole house' solution.
50,000 amps defines protector life expectancy over many surges. Protection during each surge is defined by a low impedance (ie hardwire has no sharp bends) connection to earth. How do make that protection even more effective? Upgrade earth ground and its connection. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground - that ineffective and lesser protectors (with a large profit margin) will not discuss.