I was trying to research regular outlet surge protectors that go from the wall outlet then you plug your devices into it. I couldn’t grasp why those aren’t as effective as a protector for the breaker box. Is there a way to protect your whole house and can you explain why it is needed. I know absolutely nothing about electricity except you need a ground. Does ground on the breaker box differ than the protectors ground?
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The GFI protectors built into the outlet are there for when your hairdrier falls in the tub. They don’t protect your things from getting fried from an electrical surge but protect you when the device you plugged in could possibly electrocure you.
The Breaker Box protect the house from electric surges from the grid while the Surge Protector for your computer keeps the computer safe if someone turned off every light in the building simultaneously.
The breaker box IS a surge protector, that’s why breakers trip, when too much current flows through it that could damage the circuit, it trips and cuts the circuit.
But, the amount of electricity that can safely flow through a circuit is WAY higher than what can safely flow through a single device. So if you put some kind of protector/limiter on a circuit that had a low enough limit that it would be able to protect individual devices, you wouldn’t be able to turn on nearly as many lights or plug in as many devices before the whole circuit tripped.
Your panel already has whole home protection built in with the main breaker and individual circuit breakers. If you are having trouble with surges I would have an electrician come out and check the grounding. If they say it’s fine and you’re still having issues then you should talk to your electric provider. Faults on the grid should be cleared before they reach the customer and definitely shouldn’t cause any damage.
Electricity does not need a ground. It does need a return path. In AC wiring that is called a neutral. Neutral and ground are bonded together at the fuse box/ breaker panel. The ground is for safety in case there is a fault. Surges can be between line and neutral, line and ground, or neutral and ground. A whole house protector can’t do as good a job protecting a branch circuit from inductive spikes which are caused by a motor on that circuit, but it will protect from spikes entering the house. Those are often caused by lightning or disruptions in AC power. Also a whole house protector will also (hopefully) be bigger and have a higher rating than a small power strip surge suppressor.
Start with urban myths. Recommendations ordered you what to believe. Did not say why. Did not cite a relevant numbers. Are always (therefore) best ignored.
Circuit breakers do not protect from any surge for a long list of reasons Too many to list here. Only a few will explain why with numbers.
How does a millimeter gap in a circuit breaker ‘block’ what three miles of sky cannot?
Circuit breakers take many milliseconds or many minutes to trip. How does it disconnect from a destructive surge that is done in microseconds? 300 consecutive surges could do damage BEFORE a circuit breaker even thought about tripping.
Surges are a current source. A near zero voltage when connected low impedance to what it wants. Voltage increases as necessary to blow through anything that might try to stop it – such as a circuit breaker. Or a plug-in protector.
Just a few of so many reasons why a breaker box was never a surge protector.
What do the naive then do? Spend $25 or $80 on a $3 power strip with five cent protector parts. Profits (not appliances) are protected. That is a [Type 3](http://www.nemasurge.org/faqs/) protector. Must be more than 30 feet from a main breaker box and earth ground so that is does not try to do much protection. To [avert this](https://imgur.com/hwCWHMW).
Professional source cited with numbers. And an example of what happens when a puny thousands joules protector tried to ‘block’ or ‘absorb’ a surge: *hundreds of thousands of joules*.
Only a Type 1 or Type 2 protector can make a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to what does ALL protection. To what harmlessly dissipates *hundreds of thousands of joules*. Single point *earth* ground. All four words have electrical significance. Will never be discussed where a high profit con or duped victims discuss protection.
Other companies, known for integrity, provide an effective Type 1 or Type 2 protector. If any one appliance must be protected, then every appliance needs that protection. Educated homeowners properly earth this ‘whole house’ protector. So that all surges, including direct lightning strikes, cause no damage. So that a surge is not anywhere inside; hunting for earth ground destructively via appliances. So that the protector remains functional for many decades after many direct lightning strikes. So that best protection costs about $1 per appliance. So that least robust appliances in a house (plug-in Type 3 protectors) are not destroyed.
Nothing new here. Effective protection was routinely done this way over 100 years ago in facilities that could not have damage. Using concepts demonstrated by Franklin over 250 years ago. This is science, with numbers, that exposes plug-in protector scams (promoted by avoiding all numbers). Nothing that disconnects protects from surges. Numbers say so.
That ‘ground’ must always be preceded by an adjective. Wall receptacle *safety* ground does nothing for protection. Only *earth* ground does all protection. A protector is only a connecting device to what does all protection.
Effective protection ALWAYS answers this question. Where are *hundreds of thousands of joules* harmlessly absorbed?
More numbers. Lightning is typically 20,000 amps. So a minimal ‘whole house’ protector is 50,000 amps. Effective protector remains functional for many decades after many direct lightning strikes. Only least robust protectors ‘sacrifice themselves’ on any surge – doing no protection. Leaving that surge fully connected to all nearby appliances. Including some appliances not even connected to that protector.
Enough reasons to ignore urban myths? Need more numbers? Plenty apply. Honesty only exists when a recommendation says why – quantitatively.
Read (confirm) those numbers. How many joules is that plug-in protector? How does it protect ALL household appliances? Why do professionals required plug-in protectors to be ‘how far away?’ from a main breaker box and earth ground?
Another urban myth: sensitive electronics. How many joules can destroy that plug-in protector? Thousands. Electronics routinely convert thousands joule surges into low DC voltages that safely power semiconductors.
‘Dirty’ UPS power is problematic for tiny joules strip protectors and motorized appliances. Since electronics are required to be more robust, then that same ‘dirty’ UPS power is ideal for electronics. Sensitive electronics is but another example of emotions replacing will understood science (that includes numbers).
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