I was composing an email Tuesday morning, 19 June, 2007, at our home on west Marwyck Street when there was a bright flash outside followed instantaneously by a very loud thunder clap. I heard a distinct pop as the picture on my monitor shrank & then regained its normal size. Mom came in to report that the TV in our bedroom was no longer responding to the on-off switch & none of the electronics in the home theater room had their normal glowing displays. I ventured into the garage & checked the power panel. The green LEDs on the whole house surge protector were still glowing green, but the arc-fault circuit breakers for the master bedroom & home theater room were tripped. Went outside & looked for lightning damage & found none. Reset circuit breakers & set clock in combo DVD-VCR unit.
At least three of our neighbors had major appliance failures that included the central heating/air conditioning unit. These were not covered by warranty or homeowner’s insurance. Our home had no appliance damage. Either the whole house surge protector I had the builder install prevented appliance damage or we were just far enough away. When our home was being built, I felt that the buried power lines would eliminate any possibility of lightning damage, but it was so inexpensive I decided to get it anyway. A good decision.
Below is a photo of our whole house surge protector. A quick search of the internet found a number of sites selling ours,
http://www.dale-electric.com/detail.php?itemnumber=BRSURGE, $66.68, &
http://mostelectric.com/shop/cart.aspx $52.94 ea. [Ed. note: search for bsurge] Caveat Emptor; I haven’t dealt with any of these sites, prices change, & price does not include tax/shipping/installation. The BRSURGE unit may not be the right one for everyone - Eaton’s Cutler-Hammer division makes three different ones to cover the three major power panel styles
http://www.eaton.com/ecm/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=56325. If one is really paranoid, they make fancier (& pricier) units that also protect against lightning coming down the cable TV, phone & internet lines.
