Power Surges Can't Touch Your Raleigh Home
Power surges happen more often than most homeowners realize, and they can damage or destroy your expensive electronics, appliances, and even your home's electrical system. Whole-home surge protection, installed by the team at Dawson's Electric & Air, shields everything in your house from voltage spikes before they cause costly problems.
Ready to protect your home? Call us at 919-887-8284 or message us online to schedule your whole home surge protector installation today.
What Is A Whole-Home Surge Protector & How Does It Work?
A whole-home surge protector is a device installed at your main electrical panel that intercepts dangerous voltage spikes before they enter your home's wiring. Understanding how this protection works helps you appreciate the value it provides for your entire electrical system.
- Installed At Your Electrical Panel: The surge protector mounts directly inside or next to your main electrical panel, where power enters your home from the utility company. This strategic location allows it to protect your entire electrical system and everything connected to it.
- Monitors Incoming Voltage Constantly: The device continuously monitors the electrical current flowing into your home, watching for any sudden increases in voltage. When it detects a surge, it reacts instantly—typically within nanoseconds—to divert the excess electricity.
- Diverts Excess Electricity Safely: Using components called metal oxide varistors (MOVs), the surge protector creates a path that redirects dangerous voltage spikes into your home's grounding system. This keeps the surge from flowing through your circuits and reaching your appliances.
- Protects Your Entire Home: Unlike power strips that only protect what's plugged into them, whole-home surge protection guards everything connected to your electrical system. This includes hardwired appliances like HVAC systems, water heaters, and built-in electronics that can't be protected any other way.
- Returns To Normal Instantly: Once the surge passes and voltage returns to safe levels, the surge protector automatically resets and continues monitoring. Your electrical system operates normally without any interruption, though the surge protector just saved your equipment from potential damage.
What Causes Power Surges In Homes?
Power surges come from various sources, and they're far more common than most people think. Recognizing what causes these voltage spikes helps you understand why protection is necessary for every home in the Raleigh area.
- Lightning Strikes: While relatively rare, lightning hitting power lines or transformers near your home sends massive voltage spikes through the electrical grid. These are the most powerful and destructive surges, capable of destroying unprotected electronics and appliances instantly.
- Utility Grid Issues: Power companies switching between grids, downed power lines reconnecting, or transformers malfunctioning all create surges. When power is restored after an outage, there's often a surge as the system stabilizes and electrical flow returns to normal.
- Large Appliance Cycling: Your AC, refrigerator, washer, and other motor-driven appliances create small surges when they start up or shut down. These internal surges account for 60-80% of all voltage spikes in homes and cause cumulative damage over time.
- Faulty Wiring Or Connections: Damaged wiring, loose connections, or corroded components in your electrical system can cause irregular voltage fluctuations. These problems create ongoing surge conditions that gradually wear down your electronics and appliances without you even knowing it.
- Nearby Construction Or Accidents: Utility work in your neighborhood, car accidents involving power poles, or construction equipment hitting underground lines can all send surges through the power grid. You don't need a direct hit—surges travel through interconnected power lines, affecting multiple homes.
Ready to protect all your home's sensitive electronics? Give us a call at 919-887-8284 today!
Surge Protection FAQs
Whole home surge protectors typically cost $200-$700, including the device and professional installation. The final price depends on your electrical panel type, the surge protector's capacity and features, and installation complexity. Higher-capacity units that handle larger surges cost more but provide better protection. We provide upfront pricing and can recommend the right level of protection for your home's needs.
Most whole-home surge protectors last 3-5 years under normal conditions, though this varies based on how many surges they handle. Each surge they block depletes their protective capacity gradually. Many units have indicator lights showing when they need replacement. We recommend having yours checked during electrical inspections to ensure it's still providing adequate protection.
Most standard homeowners' insurance policies provide limited or no coverage for surge damage to electronics and appliances. Even policies that cover lightning strikes often don't cover the resulting surge damage or have low coverage limits. Installing whole-home surge protection prevents damage in the first place, which is far better than hoping your insurance will cover replacements.
What Are The Benefits Of Whole-Home Surge Protection?
Installing whole-home surge protection provides advantages that extend well beyond just protecting your television and computer. The comprehensive coverage and long-term value make it a smart investment for any homeowner.
- Protects Expensive Electronics & Appliances: Televisions, computers, gaming systems, refrigerators, HVAC systems, and smart home devices all contain sensitive electronics vulnerable to surge damage. Whole home protection prevents the thousands of dollars in replacement costs you'd face after a major surge event.
- Safeguards Your Electrical System: Surges don't just damage appliances—they can harm your home's wiring, outlets, switches, and electrical panel itself. Protection prevents damage to these systems, saving you from expensive electrical repairs that could run into the thousands of dollars.
- Prevents Fire Hazards: Power surges can cause short circuits, overheating, and sparking that lead to electrical fires. By blocking dangerous voltage spikes, surge protection reduces fire risks and keeps your home and family safer from electrical hazards.
- Covers Hardwired Equipment: Items permanently connected to your electrical system—like HVAC units, water heaters, garage door openers, and security systems—can't be protected by power strips. Whole-home surge protection is the only way to shield these critical systems.
- Provides Long-Term Savings: While the upfront cost might seem significant, whole-home surge protection easily pays for itself. One major surge event could destroy electronics worth far more than the installation cost, and most homeowner's insurance doesn't cover surge damage.
Do I Need Both Whole-Home Surge Protection & Power Strips?
The short answer is yes—layered protection offers the best defense against power surges. Understanding why you need both types helps you create comprehensive protection for your home's electronics and electrical system.
- Whole-Home Protection Is Your First Line Of Defense: The surge protector at your panel blocks the majority of surge energy from entering your home's wiring. However, it typically allows about 10-15% of excess voltage to pass through, which is where point-of-use protection comes in.
- Power Strips Provide Secondary Protection: Quality surge-protecting power strips catch any remaining voltage spikes that make it past your whole home protector. For sensitive and expensive electronics like computers, TVs, and home theater equipment, this second layer provides crucial additional protection.
- Some Equipment Needs Extra Shielding: Devices with delicate circuitry or expensive components benefit from both levels of protection. Medical equipment, high-end audio/visual systems, gaming computers, and home servers should have dedicated surge-protecting power strips, even with whole-home protection installed.
- Whole Home Can't Protect Everything: Internal surges created by appliances within your home can still affect nearby devices. A surge-protecting power strip blocks these internal voltage spikes from reaching whatever's plugged into it, complementing your whole home system.
- Layered Defense Works Best: Think of it as insurance plus a deductible—your whole-home surge protector handles the big surges while power strips take care of smaller fluctuations. Together, they provide comprehensive protection that neither can deliver alone.
Protect Your Raleigh Home From Power Surges
Don't wait for a major surge to damage thousands of dollars' worth of electronics and appliances. Whole-home surge protection provides comprehensive coverage and peace of mind that your home's electrical system and everything connected to it stays safe. Call us at 919-887-8284 or reach out online to schedule your whole home surge protector installation today.
