Friday, September 3, 2010

The Benefits Of Multiple Levels Of Surge Protection

It is becoming ever more necessary to double up on your home‘s surge protection capabilities. Power surges aren’t just created within your home; they come from outside the home as well. This is why you need a service entrance surge protector as well as your outlet surge protectors you use on all your appliances. The service entrance variety is also known as a whole house surge protector. It stops surges coming in through your power lines. The wall surge protector guards everything plugged into your outlets.

Despite the power of the whole house surge protector to stop external power surges, no solitary device will fully protect you. As powerful as these devices are, all it takes is one direct hit from a lightning strike to your power lines and that device is destroyed. That is why it is necessary to consider deeper protection, within your home. Having a two-tiered system increases your security from a surge in electricity, no matter the cause.

With a whole house surge protector all lines coming into your home are protected. This includes your electrical wiring, phone and cable connections and anything else hard-wired to your home‘s electrical panel. It acts as a first line of defense and can be installed to protect either all lines at once or each line individually. Depending on the style you choose your whole home surge protector will connect either between the utility side and your mains panel or between your mains and the lines entering your home.

This system of whole house surge protection will cover your entire electrical interface. It covers all motorized equipment, outside house lights, and all interior outlets and light switches. Basically anything that is hard wired to the breaker board is protected. This means anything behind your walls and outlets is covered.

Any electronics that plug into your should be connected through a wall surge protector. This is sometimes referred to as a point-of-use surge protector in the trade. This can be misleading for the average person not familiar with surge protection as these can easily be confused with power strips. Both look the same, but a power cord with several outlets does nothing to protect you from power surges. It will say on the package when you buy it if the device does indeed offer protection.

Wall surge protectors are geared to protect your televisions, VCRs, DVD players, home stereo equipment, personal computers and all other electronic equipment that has sensitive electronic components. You can readily identify appliances that require surge protection as they usually have electronic buttons which turn them on or off. Your computer is one that could require several types of surge protection in one device as it often has a phone modem or a cable connection to access the Internet. All lines, no matter what the device, should be protected.

With that said, consider using a two tier surge protection system to protect your home. A service entrance surge protector will safely reduce the chance of all external power surges from entering your home and causing serious damage. Your second line of defense, the wall surge protector is added security for all your equipment and incoming lines such as your phone. Any surge that is created within your home will benefit from this type of surge protection.

As technology moves forward the circuitry installed within them becomes smaller and more sensitive to electrical current. A power surge will damage if not outright destroy these sensitive components. Also equipment is becoming more and more interconnected through compatible accessories, which means surge protection is ever more important to prevent the spread of surges through layers of equipment. Energy companies are deregulating at a time when there is more demand for power which increases the risk of damage from power surges in your home. Do yourself a favor and get surge protection today.

Understanding the benefits of a two-tiered surge protection system is the first step. A pc surge protector is only one line of defense. Yet there are many kinds of electrical surge protectors that can help you protect your home and your equipment. Shop around and find the one the fits your needs.

Tags: whole house surge protector, surge protector, Gadgets, surge protection

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