Why Whole Home Surge Protectors Are Now Required and How To Install One! Siemens FS140
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2023
- In this video, I talk about why whole home surge protectors are now required per the NEC and I also show how to install one. Not only is this a newer requirement for all new services but it is something that ALL homeowners should want installed on their homes.
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Products in this video:
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Were you aware of these surge protection devices? Also, do you think they make more sense to install now after watching this video?
Yes we knew all about all surge protection
Pretty much everyone knows about your standard surge protector but most don't know about whole home surge protectors or about the new codes. Glad you have it all together!
Sir: you read from code, that the utility company is directed to provide a unit upon request?
I wasn't aware of these until watching your video on this. It does make 100% sense to install one if you don't have one already. Definitely going to get one and install it as I don't have one currently. Great informative video 😊😊😊 Thank you for posting this video.
@@flapoverspeed That is not what the code is saying. It is just saying that a SPD is to be supplied at all services. Supplied does not mean given, it just means it has to be there. Now some utility companies will sell them and they install them directly into the meter. I personally did not like that option as they are either around the price of the one in the video or more expensive, they oftentimes don't have an alarm or way of letting you know they need replaced, and often are not rated for as high of surges as the one in the video. But it is an option at a cost of course.
Thanks for the great video. Living in Florida, the lightning capital of the US, I decided to protect our home with an Eaton whole house surge protector. I installed it 7 years ago and the two green lights on the unit are still glowing 😀. It was very easy to install and certainly feel more secure in the event of a lightning strike. Prior to the install, we did have a strike nearby and it blew out our security alarm system which wasn't a cheap repair. Hopefully, these devices will protect like they advertise.
Glad to know these exists, I’ll be looking into getting one. It would’ve been really helpful to show what to do in most homes, as few have extra or empty breaker capacity.
Glad to see you spreading the word. I installed a Siemens one in my panel that just took the place of a 240v circuit breaker for the dryer I wasn't using, very convenient packaging.
What happens when you want to use the dryer,just cus today you are not,maybe tomorrow you are
@@cengeb then I'll hook it to a 240v breaker further down. I have a gas dryer though.
One point - when using a multimeter to measure voltage in a box, you may want to show how to insure continuity of the meter leads with the ohms function or placing the leads on a known live circuit before measuring the voltage. I once did a firefighter assist with EMTs for a guy who was severely burned when working in a 440 V box. Subsequent investigation showed that one of his meter leads was open. Since that time, I always check my meter leads before measuring potentially dangerous voltage.
Excellent advice, especially if your meter leads are "well used!"
agreed
defn always check your meter on a known live source
yeah I didn't like how he did that either. I keep a wiggy and noncontact pen with my meter at all times for this
A voltmeter is not a good tool to verify the absence of voltage.
@@keacoq a voltmeter is fine if you trust it and it's auctully a good quality one
Also most of the higher end fluke meters and stuff could like that could also technically be called one as they measure voltage
I was ahead of the curve as I have been putting a hole house surge protector on the homes I buy for 25 years just for the very reasons you told us about. Having one electronic equipment smoked taut me a very painful lessen.
Knowing how to install it is valuable but understanding how it works is much more valuable.
❤ Been using this Siemans model for years for entrance protection - has the most features of a reasonably priced unit should have and it’s an easy install. Finally the NEC has addressed this! I kept getting the excuse that the NEC was about shock and fire protection, not transient issues. Keep in mind these are more for nearby spikes from in structure or neighboring service loads like motors and back feed from inductive loads shutting off causing a residual kick back and ‘some’ distant protection for lighting. None of these handle direct lightning hits or major phase imbalances. Direct hits need lightning rods are for and yes, my house and my top clients has those. We live at the edge of a open 65 acre valley so we are first in line for direct hits. Virtually every electronic appliance is also on UPS for things like dip and light spike protection. Keep in mind spikes happen within the home as well. We have two Bosch central air units (the ones with the super efficient secret sauce Mitsubishi circuit boards) and they have a separate surge protector on each just after the outside disconnects. And, yes, the condensers cases are bonded as well to the lightning rod system. If you doubt that is a good idea, go read the Code. BTW never buy an internal surge protected plug strip unless it’s metal! Plastic ones can catch fire. I prefer non-surge metal ones off the UPS units. Why expect a mouse to do the job of a bear - as one lightening engineer said.
My home builder installed two breaker-style EATON whole house surge protectors during construction, and they've already been putting in work dealing with surges due to heavy storms and partial brownouts. They're still going strong. The next goal is to eventually get a whole house backup generator so we don't have to worry about the occasional blackout.
I put one of these in my home a few years ago after a near direct hit from lightning fried some network components. Thankfully that's all the lightning took out. No issues since.
Good information. Especially for a new home construction that my home doesn't have I'll make sure that I'll get it installed.
Excellent and informative video. I put this same Siemens device into my home about a year ago. I had experienced a few surges through the years that fried some of my electrical equipment and wanted a solution that would limit that in the future. After doing some research, I found the Siemens unit to be the most effective for a homeowner. Pretty straightforward to install too.
I had one blow and threw sand in the basement. Nothing else was harmed.
You're very fortunate to have access to the main outside supply breakers. Where I live these are only accessible by the local utility and they use this as a selling point for their subscription-based surge protection plans. I installed an Eaton CHP ULTRA inside but would love it if I could also add an external device.
New to me on the new standard. Thanks for the update.
My electrician recommended one for the house while we were upgrading a bunch of stuff, adding a circuite, etc. I already had one on the HVAC, but am glad the breaker box, aka whole house, also has one.
Surge protection was a major part of my job before I retired (including faraday cages and other over the top attempts at subverting Mother Nature), but I never thought about the house. Thanks for the pome in the ribs!
Most of my focus was controlling lightning damage to equipment in remote comm sites. Our house is not tall enough to be a lightning target (unlike the towers at our comm sites) so I only have trouble with modest surges on our underground lines.
Well done. Good explanation of why for. Clear DYI installation instructions. Thanks.
Great info. Whole house surge protection definitely a great idea. I am also learning about some products that also protect against EMPs and solar incidents.
I had a fire, had the ancient Fed Pacific panel, might’ve been the reason..I installed surge protectors (well, electrician did) on every panel including the new 200amp incoming service. Had my service upgraded, then added a surge protector in the downstairs panel that has a circuit that travels outside to the chicken coop..used the one recommended by the electrician, the ones that look like double breakers that fit in the existing panel.
That was very informative it looked simple but i think i will get my electrician to install for me ,just to be safe ,thanks for sharing 👍
I did this five years ago and I know it worked, two doors down they lost a 80 inch flat screen tv about six months ago to a local lighting strike
Your videos have taught me a lot. I'm just 10 days away from my one year mark as a new electrician with no schooling. I can honestly say that you have helped me more than my 17 year experienced mentor. THANK YOU BROTHER
Seen a lot of these installed during upgrades of the electrical systems or full remodels in homes. Never even thought about commercial systems.
Leviton also makes a surge protection outlet. Its NOT a first line of defense item, but its great as supplemental protection. I use it for TV that are not on surge protector with battery backup and fridges / washers or any fixed appliance that has a plug.
Great information! Living in Florida definitely makes me want to have all of the surge protection I can get!😊
Do yourself a favor. Before spending money on devices that claim to protect you from lightning and vague surges, use the money to up the quality and coverage of your home owners insurance. That is the only thing that actually protects you, in that it will replace what gets blown. These things do neither. The people that make these rules also just so happen to be employees from the companies that sell the products. Should tell you what you need to know.
I put one on my house after a near lightning strike took out many of my appliances. No damage in 15 years.
Excellent video. Did not know that device is required on new work now. I put one on my panel years ago (I’m a retired electrician). They were really expensive back then too.
Its not required in New York. They are still following the 2017 NEC
I added 1 to the sub panel i installed for a Computer Room. Luckily the house main panel has a Surge Device already. The new gfci/afci integrated circuit breakers are awesome too.
They are needed for new construction or full service panel replacement.
My house built in 2019 did not come with one. I did install a whole home surge on my panel though. After big summer monsoon here in Phoenix valley, where power surge or power cut and the. Turn on surge things like my AC capacitors take a huge hit. I put a surge protector on my AC unit, but then realized I better do the entire house. So I installed one for the whole house. I went with a SquareD HEPD80
We moved into a newly built house 6 months ago here in North Carolina. I don't recall seeing this as part of our punch list of items.
Another fantastic informative video. Thank you.
I have been looking to install one of these on my house for a few years now but just haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. We have very "dirty" power in my neighborhood and frequent power outages. I have several UPS batteries that frequently sound their alarms. I am going to prioritize this now, I didn't know it was such an easy install.
You can get surge protectors that drop into the fuse panel. Super easy if you have panel space.
i lived in a small country where brown out, load shedding and other interruptions was frequent so for over 20 years now we use inexpensive surge boxes that plug in the receptacle and the appliances plug into them that monitors over and under voltage, surges especially for refrigerators it provides a delay restart to allow the fridge compressor to relieve some pressure before restarting.. i seen similar items on Amazon for ago $30 now a days plus for really sensitive stuff a UPS works wonders
Those are what you need not this
Definitely getting one of these! Always a worry, especially now that I have a whole house generator.
We had a bad linesman do a repair (dirty power) on the powerpole near our house. A year later we came home to a disaster. The neutral had dropped from the pole, the power had nowhere to go back to and the voltage kept climbing in our house. Destroyed two water heaters, two whole house electrostatic filters. all small electronics from alarm clocks to gaming consoles. Destroyed many plug in surge protectors and set fire to my air compressor in the detached garage. The garage was full of acrid black smoke as the fire caused the compressor oil to leak which in turn caught fire.
Sounds like a nightmare. A surge protector might not protect against that since they are designed for transient spikes and not sustained increases.
Make sure your ground in the house is good. The one where the ground rod is at.
Sounds like it was your fault, bad ground, don't blame someone else for your fault.
@kidkv Unfortunately, this was not a short circuit situation, a dropped neutral causes voltage climb, it is not a ground fault. The electric company took full responsiblity, paid all claims outside of insurance company involvement, their head trainer was actually the guy who responded and came out and took photos of the bad connections, and the fire damage in the garage, said it was the worst connections he had ever seen in 40 years and would use this as a case study and develop training materials on the importance on following the SOP on making neutral connections. As you are an expert in electrical engineering you would know that the neutrals and the ground connect to the same bus bar and all go back to the neutral at the pole. If there was a short and the main trip to the house supply went then everything would have went to the ground circuit and to the ground rod. But please keep commenting, your input is very valuable.
@dansanger5340 Thanks for your comments, I looked into that subsequent to your comment. Yes, a surge protector would not have helped me on the voltage continuing to climb, only a good neutral connection can save you. That is why as soon as you see you have dirty power, call the electric company to see if there is a bad nuetral. We obviously did that but they either did not do anything and said they did or just made another bad connection. I don't know, maybe there is a device that detects a sustained voltage increase, and can somehow trip a breaker to simulate a ground fault, I shall keep researching.
I have a Siemens sub-panel right next to the main panel with a number of available breaker slots, and installed a Siemens SPD "breaker" in it. That part was easy. Just slot it in like a normal breaker and attach the neutral wire to neutral. Done.
The SPD applies to the whole house, but it is also integrated with two 15A breakers (one on each hot) which can break a circuit if the surge protection triggers. At the moment I don't use the breakers. It has two LEDs (one for each hot) indicating that the surge protection is good.
Small surges that don't blow the surge protector's internal fuse(s) (which are separate from the breaker) will trip the breaker and the SPD will remain good once you've reset the breaker. However, any surge large enough to blow the internal fuse(s) (on any SPD) usually requires replacement of that SPD.
But here's the problem, these SPDs can only deal with relatively small surges, usually up to no more than 30-100 joules depending on the unit. Once they blow, they are no longer protecting anything. So I dunno... I'm wondering exactly what kind of surges these devices are meant to protect against? They obviously can't protect against a lightning strike anywhere even remotely close to the house. They can't protect against any sort of continuous problem on the grid for the same reason. One can put sensitive circuits on the breaker part of the surge protector, but that certainly isn't protecting the whole house.
So these SPDs can only protect against relatively low-energy surges... but what cause those? What are they supposed to be protecting again?
Siemens makes a two position breaker which is also a surge protector. It is available as either a 15 or 20 amp breaker. QSA2020SPD or QSA1515SPD. Allows you to add surge protection to a full panel.
Eaton and Sq D have breaker size surge protectors that do not function as circuit breakers for a lower cost. These will work fine if you have extra room in the panel.
For Safety reasons, you should inform your viewers the following: Prior to using your multimeter when checking for voltage after you switched off the breaker, or disconnect Switch. You should first check to ensure your meter is actually in working condition by testing a known live device.
I have seen Square D, Homeline series that have what looks like a 2 pole breaker that pops in place for around $100 or so. I do building inspections for the city I live in. It is a neat and tidy job when finished inside of the service panel.
I have the same for the QO series
I want to install both a power generator And Solarpanels to my late 19 50’s motel.
Heating in NH is mostly electric baseboard heat.
The panel is 200 amp service.
There is a later version of the box you recommend and the only complaint is that the wiring is about 15 inches shorter than the original. Thanks for the videos!
We have 2 houses with deep wells on the same property. Replacing a pump on a deep well is a pain in the ass. Homeowners insurance pays most of the cost but not all of it. Thanks for the heads up.
I'd have to upgrade at least my breaker box if not the service level to add a SPD to my house. I don't have any empty breaker locations in my electrical box... But I'm planning on a breaker box upgrade in a year or two as I'd like a couple more circuits (separate lighting and outlets in the basement, outdoor outlets, conversion from gas to induction cooking, etc.) Now that I know about the requirement for a SPD, that "up charge" won't be a surprise and I can plan it into the budget.
I'm a RF engineer, definitely not an electrician. But I have designed high power limiters for the RF transmitters (which I also design). Essentially, limiters perform the same function as a surge protector, just a different type of scenario. The importance of keeping the wires short is due to the wavelength of the transient(s) (i.e. the 'surge') spike and also to reduce inductance of the wire - both which limit the effectiveness of the SPD's ability to clamp a surge. Transients voltages (i.e. a lightning strike) can be converted from the time domain to the frequency domain, and that frequency has a physical length, depending on the medium it's in (air, a printed circuit board, etc. affect the physical length). If the SPD is a quarter wavelength away from the connector point (i.e. the breaker) at the frequency of the transient, the SPD's 'shunt' impedance will appear as an 'open' at the breaker, meaning the SPD is ineffective.
Also, when I mentioned the transient and converting it to frequency above - transients actually contain a multitude of frequencies, all which have a different wavelength. Unfortunately, it's not an easy problem to solve by attaching a SPD outside the box.
The ideal solution is to install a SPD inline, between the feed and the breaker box since this eliminates the lead inductance and the wavelength issue. But that is not practical on a retrofit. Personally, I'd still install one. A surge can take on many forms, and you almost need to attack it from many directions (SPD at the box, surge protectors at outlets, etc.).
Honestly, I'm surprised the electrical box manufactures haven't designed a panel with a replaceable, high quality and inline SPD at part of the electrical box (between the feed and breakers) - that would be the ideal solution for a new build. I'm not an electrician, so maybe there's some out there already? I know Square D makes a SPD that fits in a breaker spot, but that has some limitations (I have several of the those).
No doubt it's a tough nut to crack and if it's from lightning, it tends to do what it wants. And there's other surge scenarios that an external SPD will work as intended, so it's definitely a crap shoot at times. Our house had a direct hit last year. Ironically, it hit the roof, bypassing the breaker box and the surge protectors located there, and snuck in via other paths (the outdoor can lights). TV issues due to going in thru the power line - no issues. HDMI ports? - kapow! I guess you do what you can.
Sorry if I got a little technical. There's really a lot going on in order to make an SPD effective, and I really just lightly touched on some of the important details. Likely a surge is defined as certain waveform by the NEC (correct me if I'm wrong), and a SPD is designed around those conditions.
Whew - that's a lot of typing! :)
How is this surge protector suppose to help? Its seems to be out on a breaker by itself and not inline with the house. If activated, does it simply short out enough to trip the main?
@@alexwolf8019I don't know if the the breaker would trip of not, probably just depends on the duration of the surge and/or if the SPD becomes permanently shorted. I assume if the SPD is shorted, the mains have enough current to blow it to bits - hence the breaker. As you mentioned, ideally the SPD is in-between the mains and the breaker box, then the surge protector provides a low impedance across a wide spectrum of transients. I've seen SPD's used in outlets mention the line can open up if the the MOV trips, some don't.
As a retired RF engineer I concur fully with this gentleman's statement here. I am skeptical of the effectiveness of these devices because of the thin gauge and long length of the wires that connect the device to the power supply bus.
@@basspig Greetings from a fellow RF engineer (mostly-retired)! Surge protectors are an interesting subject. Simple at first, until you dig into the details. I mentioned above we had a direct hit from lightning so I started to replace my outlet surge protectors with new ones just to be on the safe side. Bought a Philips outlet surge suppressor at Wallymart. Probably like most, I tended to focus on the clamping current...until I noticed the clamping voltage. 900V!! Yikes - why bother.
@@Mark-hb5zfWe had many challenges at radio tower sites. For obvious reasons. :-)
One of the most effective measures I've had against lightning was winding the last 20' of mains cable into a loop, several turns-worth. The first step in absorbing surges is to present as high an impedance as possible BEFORE the shunting device.
In my experience, the surge protector devices do little to protect sensitive electronics. Just having a power outage can kill computer equipment that is not on a UPS, as I have found out over the last 25 years.
Surge protection has to take into account both differential and common mode voltage spikes. Then there's the EMP factor with lightning, inducing currents in any wires connected between devices, such as USB cables computers and peripherals. Only Faraday shielding the building can solve that last one.
I had an interesting call from a NY radio station I was CE at in the 1990s. They'd suffered a lightning strike on their tower, co-located with the studio. All of their computer monitors displayed distorted images with "rainbows". I knew right away what happened. So upon arriving, I grabbed a bulk tape eraser, powered it up and walked up to each monitor and de-magnetized them. All back to normal.
Good information! Well presented!
Had no idea! Many thanks 🙏🙏👍
Excellent video. I didn't know about the new requirement, but was planning on installing a whole house surge protector in the next few days. This video shows how easily it can be done safely. Just make sure you follow the instructions exactly.
had 2 installed when I had electrician wire up a big heat press in my garage. He sold me on it as a way to protect all my electronics in my home. One on the main and one on the subpanel. I wish I had gone with the EMP shield one as the siemens may or may not protect against an emp pulse. Of course if that happens its probably game over anyway.
How it works: the device detects excess voltage in the entire electrical system (since it’s all at the same voltage) and diverts the excess to ground. As long as it’s connected anywhere in the panel it should drop the voltage for all circuits in the panel (because of the common bus - anything that can drop voltage can affect other items, kind of like when your lights dim when your a/c comes on).
Thanks for the explination!
Until that 20 amp breaker trips due to a surge that's greater than 20 amps, then it's useless, unless you're constantly looking at the LED's. This is the first time I've seen this kind of device, and I'm not electrician; just someone who understands electricity very well. But, something seems wrong about this whole thing. If you're protecting the whole 200 amp panel, shouldn't the surge protector be rated for 200 amps? Am I missing something?
The breaker doesn't trip due to a surge. These devices briefly short that surge to ground themselves. That's the protection and the one he recommends can send 140,000 amps to ground. The breaker only trips if the surge is so great the device sacrifices itself to spare your home. That's why the 20 amp breaker trips.
@@theclearsounds3911 Oh, you are forgetting about the thick coating of snake oil on those puny wires that makes it all work by magic.
@@theclearsounds3911 you’re missing that a 20A breaker doesn’t trip the instant 20A on a circuit is reached & that spikes are usually very short duration. All breakers have a tolerance for how long an over-current condition is allowed to persist before they trip. Even a 20A breaker can generally take 200A for a second or two before it trips, which is a much longer duration than the average power spike. So having to have a 200A breaker for this application is overkill for no real benefit.
Great video and information, thanks a bunch!
For many of us, our heat pump is our most expensive electrical device. There are surge protectors specifically designed for HVAC equipment and installed at its shut-off box with no breaker required. They'll protect against internal and external surges. In addition to the FS140, I installed the Intermatic AG3000 next to my compressor. You might want to review them.
Which I recently got, due to an issue with the system. Nice to have that intermediate protection between the unit and the panel.
I have an FS140 on my main I was wondering IF an extra Intermatic AG3000 would be redundant. ?
I added ditek
If the FS140 is truly a "whole house" protector, what is the advantage of having additional surge protectors specifically for the HVAC?
@@thetayz72 yeah multi level is best
When clamping the wires in the breaker, make SURE that you are NOT clamping on the insulation!!!! It looked like there was some insulation under the clamps at 12:12 and 11:56.
I went with an Eaton surge protector that fits inside my Eaton panel. It's really easy to install. You just pop it in like a 240V breaker, then connect a single wire to the neutral buss. It doesn't have as high of a surge rating as some of the externally mounted devices, but it should be good enough in most cases.
When I updated my panel I did the same.. Just snaps in.. No wiring needed.
They come in different capacities. There is a reason this siemens unit is big like that.
Those are the better rated ones anyways. EATON CHSPT2ULTRA Ultimate Surge Protection
Next door neighbor rebuilt their entire kitchen. Fancy new appliances, controlled with state-of-the-art electronics. A few months later we had a huge power surge. Fried everything in their kitchen. Thousands in damages. That new stuff is EXPENSIVE. They got a whole house surge protector installed very quickly.
Me ... I got hit with the same surge, but no fancy electronic appliances in MY kitchen. All Old School. My computers and electronics do, of course, have heavy duty surge protection.
Oh my gosh, I was just quoted a price of over $1,000 to have one of these installed in my home! Seems a bit ridiculous considering how little time it takes to install and the price of those units. Your video makes it look easy enough for a confident DIYer to do.
New to me. Thank you!
I live in Japan. Houses are supplied with 100-0-100V split phase power similar to the US (120-0-120V) system. However, in Japan, the neutral is never bonded to Earth ground. (Actually the neutral is Earth grounded at the distribution transformer.) The main breaker is always a GFCI breaker and 200V appliances are provided with a separate Neutral and a green wire wire to Earth ground. I am planning to install a whole house surge protector due to the large amount of electronic devices I have. Thanks for your video.
Interesting hearing about electrical practices in Japan. Just curious, do you have any nuisance trips on your main?
That is much more sensible than the systems we have in the USA and in Europe and beyond. The mantra in bonding is "single point ground" but our practices ignore that altogether. Single point ground violations are responsible for most equipment damage but do not present much of a life or fire hazard, so we still have them.
As a service Electrician, I find the breaker find the breaker feeding the surge protector tripped quite regularly. Once reset the surge protect will have the correct status LEDs lit.
Thank you, I actually have a few of these I acquired at an auction, may not be same brand, I did not realize that they were a code requirement now. So I will move up getting one of mine installed in the near term. As to the value of these, they may not save a damn thing but they also might be the difference between a fire or not. Screw the cost of the equipment, my concern is losing my home, so I am going to say better safe than sorry. Most surges only last milliseconds and no this is not going to be good enough for a direct lightning strike but it should make the difference in a nearby one. It might or might not help in an emp event, but then the ones that are specifically sold for that purpose are basically just one of these. I was an electrician in the past but not anymore, I do my own wiring, I am lucky enough to live in a state where I can still do my own work, I do not pull a permit for a damn thing. No one's business but my own. If you have no ability to get to your box, or room in it. You could piggy back it onto any 2 pole circuit, even your oven but the dryer or the hot water heater would be easier, just add it in an extension cord fashion. Note this would not NEC approved but it would work. I am not sure it would help as I said but it damn well would not hurt. We all waste thousands of dollars on things like insurance we hope we never need. This is just one more of those things. If you can afford it or just like me happen to come across one, it is worth having for that hope it might help in an emp event. I can live with the loss of my electronics, I cannot live with the loss of a home due to a fire. I really think it is a shame so many men cannot understand or in fact install a device like this, this is one of the reasons our civilization is in such trouble, every man and in reality every woman as well should understand enough to know how to do things of this nature. There is a world of difference between choosing to hire work done and being dependent on someone else because you cannot.
But here is the deal , a few day ago from typing this , we had bad power supply from the wind knocking the lines
This SPD won't protect your home from that but that will destroy more electronics
But here is one thing they will protect, your darn AC/heatpump when the darn thing is just trying to get started, yes your AC/heatpump pulls a lot of amps enough amps that those darn things just won't let them run , meaning you can say bye bye to cool air in the summer and If you have a heatpump, you will be forced to use the Emrgency heat source all winter long simply because the locked compressor amps are high enough to always blow that device
Great videos! Keep it up. Question: Does this surge protector that you installed in the video in this set up, also protect when on generator power?
Thank you!
Great news and instructions
i didn’t know they were required, but we had one installed when we built our new house 5 years ago.
Thank you from an old timer
My utility offered MOV installation for just the price of the devices back in the '80s (haven't checked since). They aren't perfect - I used them in various sizes for protecting electronic in our Van de Graaf lab. Very fast spikes could get past them (ferrite inductors helped that) and very large surges could over-power them (vaporise). Remember that cable, phone, etc. lines are still not protected. MOVs can and should be added to those, too.
Being a campground owner and watching people pay $250-$300 for a RV surge protector that works for about a year or two before having to be replaced, and during that time constantly shutting off on them as the voltage slightly creeps up to 128v when the row is empty, then as the row fill up, shuts off on them when the voltage hits 112v, I could not imagine having one of these on my house in an area common to on the verge brown-outs and in spec surges, especially in places like California when the temp hit over 100 degrees and you have no power because the voltage is at 110v and the unit needs 112v to relay power.
Thank you for sharing.
Had one and had a direct lightning strike to the power line right above the transformer. Blew the shit out of all kinds of stuff! Those protectors will protect if the strike is a long way away but there doesn't seem to be any "cutesy trinket" that can stop a close hit. Cost me several hundred in circuit boards in various appliances.
Wish I had one. A couple years back we had a surge that knocked out my thermostat. It was during the pandemic, and replacements were very hard to come by due to supply chain issues. Basically had no HVAC for well over a week.
Not helpful now, but for others or future - you can bypass the thermostat entirely. All a thermostat is is basically a switch, so you can manually turn on/off fan and AC if you have exposed wiring. TH-cam vids out there for how to do this. Useful to know in a pinch.
@@MUSCGamecock maybe buy a spare unit? if they are that delicate. They are cheap.
Great info.
Thank's
I think it was added because our grid is getting flakier. More sags, brown outs, black outs, etc. I grew up in rural Ohio 50+ years ago and we didn't have outages very often. Forward to today, in suburbia, and it blinks every couple weeks visibly, drops enough to trip ups on monthly or more, and every few years goes out for days on end. Utilities arent keeping up on needs or maintenance.
Sags, brown outs, and black outs have absolutely nothing to do with surge protection at all. They are for lightning protection.
Very clear, thanks
Some manufacturers make surge protectors that fit directly in load center. Need a open slot on each side.
Thats a great video !
Seems like these should be built into smart meters and monitored by utility so they can replace as needed instead of expecting random seniors and busy parents to stay on top of it.
Dont forget to mention the smart meters which change the electricity which enters your home.
I installed a GE whole house surge protector after a power surge destroyed the blower motor in my furnace. The price for the GE surge protector has more than doubled since I installed mine. This Siemens device offers a lot more protection but was not available when I was looking for a whole house surge protector.
I put one in a couple years ago. And you don't have to connect it through a breaker. You can connect Type 1 SPD's directly to the bus bars (line side) if you know what you're doing. But most viewers of this vid don't...may as well go the breaker route.
From the installation guide:
Line Side versus Load Side Installation
The FSPD Series is tested and qualified as a Type 2 SPD per UL 1449 4th Ed. The TPS4 03 and 09 series are tested and qualified as a Type 1 SPD. This SPD can be installed on the Line Side of the service overcurrent device. Type 1 SPDs may also be installed in UL Type 2 applications. The TPS4 11 series is tested and qualified as both Type 1 and 2 SPD. As a generalization, it is more practical to install as Type 2 on load side of main overcurrent device for maintenance reasons.
😢😢1992, I was in an old house when it was hit by lightning. It blew a hole in the roof and explosions were going on around me. The vintage glass fuses exploded, my phones had burn marks, and my dryer also had internal damage. There were no fancy electronics and my computer was unplugged. Because of that, the actual damage was easy to repair. Today, a similar hit would cost me thousands.
I insralled one on my panel about 10 years ago after getting some electronics blown up in a thunderstorm.
The problem is that it requires the breaker position originally used for an electric range that I replaced with gas. If I ever switch to electric cooking, I'll have to lose the supressor, or upgrade to a 200A panel.
Great post. TY, Sir.
Love your videos thank you. As an electrician I have one question. You had an open two pole breaker to power your whole home surge device. What do you recommend to do if your panel does not have an open slot for two pole breaker.
Thanks for the information. I was hoping to find a method that wouldn't tie up two spaces in the service panel
This was a great video. I am not an electrician and was not aware of the new requirement. The Siemens SPD is a solid device and I have used it to protect field devices here in lightening ally Florida. This is important to note. These devices depend upon good low ohm grounding to give the best protection. Maybe you could elaborate on that aspect for everyone.
I would say "single point ground" is far more important than low ohm grounding. Here in arid Arizona our engineers struggle to get the ground below 10 ohms, even with a large array of chem rods. Think of it like this: a typical lightning strike on a system that has one ohm ground resistance will produce a 100,000 volt jump in the surrounding terrain. Just make sure all your grounds reference to one point, and all is well.
@@flagmichael exactly. Everything needs to be at the same ground potential. Bonding everything to a single home run is a great start.
EMP Shield is the best, class 1 rated.
First hand experence. A lightning storm was passing through one day and lightning struck near by (not a direct strike), which sent a surge into my home. It fried electronics that were running, tv, computer, and a usb charger connected to a
Smart phone i was using. When lightning struck the usb charger fried and some how sent high voltage down the usb cable and zapped my hand causing me to reflexively throw the phone. It sort of felt like mains power but I'm not certain. I don't know for certain but i think surge protection could have saved my electronics, and may have made that day a bit less frighteningly scary.
I have a whole house surge protector for 12 years. It gets inspected every year.
If the NEC is worried about saving smoke detectors, they should force the detector manufacturers to install MOV's or other such surge device in their devices. It seems to me that they made the surge protectors code because they are trying to protect their useless arc-fault breakers that they put in code a couple cycles back. Therein lies the problem with having electrical manufacturers on the NEC code making panel. Its a money issue diguised as a safety issue.
Conspiracy theories have been great on this subject.
I would have liked to see one taken apart and some info on how they actually work.
A big reason for getting the whsp is… LED FIXTURES… they are full of sensitive electronics… bulbs last longer with surge protection.
That’s true.
I hadn't thought of that, but it is pretty obvious in hindsight.
Whole home surge protectors are very expensive and have a limited life. I installed BRANCH circuit protectors (20 amp) as my 20 of them cost less than a third of a whole-house protector. My house is 98 years-old and isn't "code" anyway, although it's electrically far SAFER than new construction. My late Daddy and I were both in aircraft electric repair and worked with 600 volt 400 Hz AC, he in B-47's and I in F-4 Phantom II's and "Scooters" and combat repair of other aircraft in SE Asia. We re-wired this house for my Grandparents, and the four "BX" armored cable 14 gauge circuits I use ONLY for lights. When I bought the house from the estate, I ran 10 gauge Romex to things like my entertainment center outlet and 2 gauge "220" to the detached garage for my shop and installed a new sub-panel in the garage. The Sola brand protectors I used claim they'll stop 5 or 6 major surges (like near-by lighting strikes) then they're gone. In 30 years I haven't needed to replace one yet.
Important Question: When should one consider using an SPD which is specified for direct connection without the dedicated branch circuit and when to use one on a branch circuit?
I add surge suppressors for two reasons: 1) Stop surges from getting to a piece of equipment; and 2) Stop surges from propagating out from a piece of equipment.
Great Video. Thank you for sharing. I have question. In Main Breaker panel , Neutral wire and Ground Wire can connect the same bus bar ? and In Subpanel Neutral wire and Ground wire connect separate bus bar ?
Separate (topic) questions seeing your install.... I notice you are set up with an interlock like I have too....to allow a generator to be attached as a whole-house emergency electrical source.
1.) For the conduit between the generator inlet plug and the panel, your flex conduit is continually sloping down toward the inlet plug panel. This can allow water to possibly enter the inlet plug housing. Wouldn't it be better to have the flex conduit "dip" to create a "U" shape?...so water drips off the bottom of the "U"....and not be capable to enter the inlet plug box?
2.) I like that you put a sequence-of-events label on how to hook up a generator. Question....is it still ok if your step 5 is placed between your steps 2 and 3 ?.....is that still OK?
I live in a town and we get lightning 🌩 strikes anytime of the year if it’s raining or not, I may look into getting an FS140 installed before the rainy season starts.
That’s a big reason why I went with the FS140. I live in the lightning capital of the US and the FS140 is by far the best surge protector for high and numerous surges. However a direct lightning strike, just about nothing can stop.
EMP SHIELD... if you are installing a whole home surge protector, you may as well install EMP protection. The unit is rated for outdoor install as well.
They were designed for the military to keep Bradleys working in an EMP attack. Also they replace it for free if you take a lightning strike (ab the only think that can overpower it).
Install is exactly the same. I have one on both my houses and all 3 vehicles as well. (They make them many situations including solar panels.)
You're not the brightest bulb in the knife block.
As an electrical engineer , the concept of a EMP shield that you can just wire in is blasphemous .
At best these are glorified surge protectors . You might as well buy one that’s not trying to sell itself as magical (like the one in the video) . Though even those are questionable
Do not waste any more of your money friend !
@@jonathanruiz8723 If you're an engineer of any sort then I am a super model.
@@Look_What_You_Did happy for you , I guess?
@@jonathanruiz8723 my understanding is it near instantaneously (in a few nanoseconds) routes the electrical overload/pulse to ground... and continues to do so to keep the long lasting E3 from causing damage. How does that not work? I mean it won't protect things not plugged in to the system obviously... but why are they useless? And why does the military use similar things if they don't work? (And I'm not being a smart ass, I'm a "why" person so my mind needs to understand why something does or doesn't work for it to make sense. )
my moms house has one at the meter via our electric company we wouldnt be able to install one in her panel as there wouldnt be any room in it as its maxed out already unless we rearrange the breakers there is a unused circuit breaker for what would be connected to a whole home ac but we havent had one in years we just have window units like its a 20 position pushmatic panel while 2 of the breakers goes to a secondary panel in my moms garage
It would be the best to place a surge protector before the meter even!
I didn't know about the code... however, given that our house was struck twice, I have both whole house lightning arresters and a surge protector at the fuse box on both of my houses.