whole house surge protector

Your electrician is correct. You 100% need to do this.  No there are no negatives.

The updated 2020 version of the National Electric Code requires whole house surge suppressors.  Keep in mind that they also recommend you use surge suppressors at the point of use for sensitive electronics (i.e. anything more delicate than your stove or dryer).

The house suppressors clamp high, from around 400V, while Furman or TrippLite have models that clamp < 200V.

@erik_squires , +1,

The whole house surge protector does nothing until it senses a power surge.

When it trips, it will sacrifice itself, and in turn protect your equipment downstream.

Adding additional surge protection near sensitive equipment will enhance this effect.

-And, considering that high current equipment, like amplifiers, are often negatively affected by surge protectors/power regulators, it makes sense to employ a whole house surge protector at the mains as it will give you some peace of mind should the worst happen.

Bob

I installed in Siemens electrical panel two Siemens 60kA BoltShield protectors.  They are in the form of dual circuit breaker and just plug-in into empty spaces in the panel.   You can as well install Siemens FS140 that will work with any panel.  Yes, most of MOV based protectors clamp at 400V or higher, but voltage spike produced by lightning or broken power lines (like during icestorm) is very short, reduced further by filtering effects of wire inductance, limited transformer frequency response etc.  This is first necessary step.   In addidion my system is plugged into Furman Elite 20PFI power conditioner with tight non-sacrificial over/undervoltage protection.  Still, during thundersorms, or when away, I unplug.

As for negative effects - Parallel protection like MOV based surge protectors have none, while my Furman has high current outputs for the power amp.  I believe there was slight difference with my previous amp but none with the current Benchmark AHB2.  It is likely because AHB2 has line/load regulated SMPS.

Absolutely a good investment.  No question.

For years I have had an Environmental Potentials 2050 installed on my panel. Said to reduce any noise in the line and provide surge protection. Glad to hear about these other options.

Do it. I did it back in the 1990's plus an additional independent panel ground.

+1 EP 2050 & 2750.

Do your research.  the equipment isn't expensive and time to hook it up is not long.  Lots of homeowners install these themselves.  Be prepared to challenge the quote your electrician gives you (or thank him for a reasonable quote). --Jerry

It’s a great idea. Mine starts at the power company meter with a device that looks like a ring. They charge a couple of bucks extra per month for it. After that I had my electrician install a whole house surge protector at the electrical panel, then I have something dedicated to my audio system at the outlet of my dedicated line. A three prong protection is highly recommended. I can’t say I notice any degradation. 

Let your electrician install it if he's already in there.  I prefer the kind that are in the breakers, and have an alarm to let you know they're spent.

One thing to note about the Breaker type that are installed in the panel

• they have to be in the very first position
  • i.e. right beside the the panel main breaker switch
  • so you might have to move some wires
• your electrician should know this

I was offered two different types

1. appliance grade - $150 installed
2. electronics grade - $375 installed

I went with #1, because

• I generally unplug my system when there is a storm
• other household electronics - TV’s, modems, routers, computers etc... are all protected by UPS devices

Regards - Steve

No negatives, just cheap insurance.

• they have to be in the very first position
  • i.e. right beside the the panel main breaker switch
  • so you might have to move some wirs

The difference between the first and last position in terms of propogation of voltage is really very small. The speed of electricity assuming a 2' long back plane means that a surge propogates in about 2 nanoseconds. MOV’s typically have response times around 100 nanoseconds.

So, sure, put it at the top if you can, but practically speaking it’s about he same in either location.

The issue might be inductive reactance.  Inductance is likely in order of 300nH/ft.  It is not a lot but even the smallest reactance with thousands of amperes clamped (my Boltshields are rated 60kA each) will produce big voltage drop.  Sensitive circuitry powered closer to the power entry will see this as additional voltage on the top of already high clamping voltage.   Same goes for plain resistance of the copper bar in the panel.  Even if total resistance is in order of 10mohm it will produce 100V drop at 10kA current.  We're talking extremely short spikes (1-30us) of huge energy.  It is always good practice to place clamping device like MOV or TVS close to power entry.

This is so helpful and you guys are great!  I will tell my electrician to go ahead with whole house surge protector.

Thank you!

Margot

RE: protector placement - I was just quoting the installation instructoins that came with the unit. But the electrician told me this also

I assume the manufacturer knows what they are talking about🤔

Ans since we all follow the installation insrtuctions - I thought it best ot point it out😏

Regards - Steve

Just do it!

Had my whole panel replaced with dedicated circuits for audio gear but the first thing I arranged was a whole house Siemens surge protector.