Power surges damage your home's electronics and appliances silently, shortening their lifespan long before they fail completely. The Aiken, SC area averages more than 50 thunderstorm days per year, and each storm can send voltage spikes through your electrical system. Lightning does not have to strike your home directly to cause damage. A strike anywhere on the power grid can send a surge through the lines and into your home. A whole-house surge protector installed at your main electrical panel is the first and most important line of defense against this invisible threat.
What Power Surges Can Damage
A power surge is a sudden spike in voltage that exceeds the standard 120 volts delivered to your outlets. These spikes can last only microseconds, but they degrade sensitive electronic components over time. Even small, repeated surges that you never notice will shorten the life of your equipment. Here is what is at risk in your home and the approximate replacement cost if a surge destroys it.
HVAC System
Your air conditioner, heat pump, and furnace all rely on electronic control boards. A single surge can destroy the control board or compressor. Replacement cost: $3,000 to $8,000 depending on the system. HVAC is the most expensive appliance most homeowners lose to surge damage.
Refrigerators and Appliances
Modern refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, and dryers use electronic control boards and variable-speed motors. These components are highly sensitive to voltage spikes. A refrigerator replacement runs $1,000 to $3,000, and the food loss adds to the cost.
Computers and TVs
Desktop computers, laptops, gaming consoles, and flat-screen televisions contain sensitive processors and memory chips that can be destroyed instantly by a significant surge. Beyond the hardware, you risk losing irreplaceable data, photos, and files stored on damaged hard drives.
Smart Home Devices
Smart thermostats, security cameras, video doorbells, smart speakers, and home automation hubs are all connected to your electrical system around the clock. Their low-voltage circuits are among the most vulnerable components in your home.
Garage Door Openers
Garage door openers contain circuit boards that control motor operation, safety sensors, and remote receivers. A surge can render the opener inoperable, leaving you unable to open or close your garage door until the unit is replaced.
Well Pumps and LED Lighting
If your home uses a well pump, the motor and pressure switch are directly exposed to surges through the electrical supply. LED light fixtures and their drivers are also sensitive to voltage spikes, and repeated surges cause premature burnout and flickering.
How Whole-House Surge Protection Works
A whole-house surge protector is a Type 2 Surge Protective Device (SPD) that is installed directly at your main electrical panel. It connects between the incoming power lines and your home's grounding system. When a voltage spike enters through the utility lines, the SPD detects the excess voltage and diverts it safely to ground in nanoseconds, before it can reach your circuits and connected devices.
The device uses metal oxide varistors (MOVs) that act as voltage-sensitive switches. Under normal conditions, they allow standard voltage to pass through unimpeded. When voltage exceeds a safe threshold, typically around 150 to 200 volts, the MOVs activate and shunt the excess energy to ground. This happens so quickly that your appliances and electronics never see the dangerous voltage spike.
A properly installed whole-house SPD protects every circuit in your home simultaneously, including hardwired appliances like your HVAC system, water heater, and oven that cannot be protected by plug-in surge strips.
Why Power Strips Are Not Enough
Most homeowners assume the power strips plugged in at their desk or entertainment center provide adequate surge protection. They do not, for several important reasons.
Point-of-use power strips only protect the specific devices plugged into them. They cannot protect hardwired appliances such as your HVAC system, water heater, oven, garbage disposal, or well pump. These are often the most expensive items in your home to replace, and they are completely unprotected by power strips.
Power strips also degrade with every surge they absorb. After absorbing a certain amount of energy, the internal components wear out and the strip provides no protection at all, even though the indicator light may still be on and your devices are still receiving power. Most homeowners never replace their power strips and unknowingly rely on devices that have already lost their protective capability.
Additionally, cheap power strips offer very limited surge capacity, typically 200 to 400 joules. A nearby lightning strike can generate surges in the thousands of joules. A whole-house SPD handles the large surges at the panel before they ever reach your outlets.
The Two-Layer Protection Strategy
Electrical engineers and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association recommend a two-layer approach to surge protection for maximum coverage.
Layer 1: Whole-house SPD at the main panel. This is your primary defense. It intercepts the large, dangerous surges that come in from the utility grid during lightning storms, transformer malfunctions, and grid switching events. It protects every circuit and every hardwired appliance in your home.
Layer 2: Point-of-use protectors at sensitive electronics. Quality point-of-use protectors at your computer workstation, entertainment center, and home office provide a second layer of filtering for the smaller surges that originate inside your home. Internal surges from motors cycling on and off, such as your HVAC blower, refrigerator compressor, or washing machine, account for up to 80% of all surges your electronics experience.
Together, these two layers provide comprehensive protection that neither can achieve alone. The whole-house unit stops the big external surges. The point-of-use units handle the smaller internal surges and provide fine-grained filtering for your most sensitive equipment.
What Is Included with Installation
- Professional-grade Type 2 SPD: We install commercial-quality surge protective devices rated for 50,000 to 100,000 amps of surge current capacity, far exceeding the protection of any consumer-grade product.
- Installation at your main electrical panel: The SPD is hardwired directly into your main breaker panel by a licensed electrician, ensuring a solid connection to both the electrical system and the grounding electrode system.
- Testing and verification: After installation, we test the device to confirm it is functioning correctly and that your grounding system provides an adequate path for diverted surge energy.
- LED status indicator: The installed SPD includes a visible LED indicator that shows whether the device is actively protecting your home. If the indicator changes, you know it is time to call for a replacement.
- Manufacturer warranty: The surge protective devices we install come with manufacturer warranties that cover the device and, in many cases, provide connected equipment coverage for appliances damaged by a surge while the SPD is properly installed.
Cost of Whole-House Surge Protection
A whole-house surge protector installed at your main panel typically costs between $300 and $600, including the device and professional installation. The exact price depends on your panel type, accessibility, and the specific SPD model selected.
Compare that to the cost of replacing even one major appliance. A single HVAC control board replacement can cost $500 to $1,500. A new air conditioning compressor runs $2,000 or more. A whole-house SPD that prevents even one of those failures has already paid for itself. When you consider the total value of the electronics, appliances, and systems in your home, surge protection is one of the most cost-effective electrical upgrades you can make.
For a deeper look at how surge protection works and why it matters for Aiken homeowners, read our blog post: Whole-House Surge Protection for Aiken, SC Homes.
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