Surge protectors are typically installed in your main panel box. They are designed to halt power surges at the panel, before they enter the rest of your home. The panel surge protector diverts all the energy away from your home and out into your home’s grounding system, preventing potential catastrophes. Surge protectors can be life-saving additions to any home as they help prevent serious house fires and safety hazards!

No, a surge protector will not help you save money as that is not its intended purpose. A surge protector is simply a gatekeeper that protects your home. The power coming to your surge protector will have already passed through your meter and be recorded to your account with your electrical service provider. The surge protector is designed only to block surges in energy as a strong attempt to prevent electrical mishaps.

A surge protector should protect everything in your home, but there are a few rare instances in which lighting could still travel along the main electrical, cable or phone lines and strike your home. Lightning commonly takes the path of the least resistance to quickly exhaust all of its energy, so it will always go for the least obstructed task. Overall, whole-home surge protectors do a very good job of protecting your home and provide an extra layer of security.

If you have more than one panel you may or may not need two surge protectors depending on how your panels are fed from the meter. You will need to have a professional electrician from Integrity Home Services assess whether or not you will need an additional surge protector.

Surge protectors are not very large additions at all and provide a very important extra layer of security. The main panel surge protector is only about the size of two decks of cards!

Cable surge protection works in the same way as a typical whole-home surge protector, but instead is installed inside your cable box which is typically on the outside of your house. Cable boxes and/or internet routers contain a lot of electricity that lightning is strongly drawn to. If you have a cable television or internet service, you should absolutely have a cable surge protector installed because if lightning hits your cable box, it will travel through any other device connected to it and destroy it. If you’re thinking about adding surge protection to your cable box, but aren’t sure whether or not to install it, consult with Integrity Home Services for more information and expert electrical advice!