Surge Protection

[AZZenny]

After 6 years, my APC ES500 surge protector/ battery back-up has pooped out. (It seems like half my appliances are on their last legs lately. Refrigerator, too.)

It's been perfectly fine handling the fairly frequent blips, flickers, and outages out here. I still race around unplugging everything during thunderstorms, though, since this level of protector is not designed to handle massive spikes like close lightning, which we get maybe 8-12 times a year. Some places suggest adding a $20 or $30 surge protector like a Trip-lite for that. I could thus assemble a 10-min soft-shut-down battery back-up and 2500-joule surge protector for around $75-80 total.

Is this a reasonable approach? Do I need both? Could I stop unplugging everything when a storm threatens? Better ideas w/o breaking the bank?

Also, do I need to get a special A-V surge thingy for the receiver-TV-DVD etc? Or will any good one do?

 

[Ryanwb]

If your surge protector can with stand at least 2500 joules you don't need to unplug during a lightning storm. That's the rule of thumb that I was always told. I don't know how accurate that is because from my days in school lightning surges can get into the 8000 joule range.

I just bought a surge protector that provides a $35,000 insurance for any connected electronics so I sent in the form and sleep easy at night. I don't have $35,000 worth of equipment in my entire house.....

here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842119003

 

[AZZenny]

I imagine a direct 8000 joule hit would congeal every appliance in the house, at which point surge protection becomes a moot point.

 

[Ryanwb]

I imagine a direct 8000 joule hit would congeal every appliance in the house, at which point surge protection becomes a moot point.

I would agree, I haven't ever heard of anyone having a direct lightning strike but I'm sure it happens. My brother's car got struck by lightning and it pretty much messed up everything

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

I think you and Ryan are on the right track here. There's no perfect surge protector that is going to withstand an unfortunately pinpointed lightning strike, but I definitely wouldn't worry about having to run around unplugging things as long as you have a quality surge protector in the 2500 joule range which you can get for around $30. I've never used a Trip-lite but I've had no problems with my APC. Buying one that comes with insurance is a must, and a couple other features to look for would be a building wiring fault light (which is separate from the protected light) as well as having sliding outlet covers to prevent junk getting in there when nothing is plugged in.