|
|
|
|
|
|
| Return to Savvy Consumer Information Center - Home Page |
Decisions, decisions
Surge protectors come in many shapes and forms for many purposes, not just the plug-in kind that you find in the electronic stores. There are several ways to install them on your power supply: plug and play, do-it-yourself, hire a licensed electrician to do it, or even call on your power company to do it. Here is a run down on your options, and who does it:
Plug-in surge protectors
This is the easiest solution, and there is a wide variety of brands available in the stores (as we noted at the start of this booklet, we are not going to recommend brands). These come in two forms: a box that plugs directly into a wall receptacle, or a strip with a power cord and multiple outlets. Depending on the appliance, you will look for a simple AC power plug-in, or a more complex combined protector for AC power and telephone or cable -more on that later. However, before you purchase the right protector for the job, you should think about some details.
There is another decision to make, concerning how a surge protector will power your appliance if the protective element should fail under extreme cases of exposure to a large surge or large swell. Most surge protectors are provided internally with some kind of fuse that will disconnect in case of failure. However, this disconnect can operate in two different ways, depending on the design of the surge protector: some will completely cut-off the output power, others will disconnect the failed element but maintain the power output.
Quit and be protected or continue?
For you, it is a matter of choice: would you want to maintain the output power to your appliance -but with no more surge protection? Or would you rather maintain protection for sure -by having the circuit of the protector cut off the power supply to your appliance, if the protective function were to fail? To make an intelligent decision, you must know which of the two possibilities are designed into the surge protector that you will be looking for.
What are the lights telling you?
To help the consumer know what is going on inside the surge protector, many manufacturers provide some form of indication, generally by one or more pilot lights on the device. Unfortunately, these indications are not standardized, and the meaning might be confusing, between one, two - even three or four lights -where it is not always clear what their color means. Read the instructions!
More decisions ...
So far, we have looked mostly at the plug-in surge protectors because they are the easiest to install and they do not require the services of an electrician. The two other possible locations for surge protectors are the service panel (breaker panel) and the meter socket.
Service-panel surge protectors
Instead of using several plug-in protectors -one for each sensitive appliance is sometimes recommended -you can install a protector at the service panel of the house (also called "service entrance" or "breaker box"). The idea is that with one device, all appliances in the house can be protected, perhaps with a few plug-in protectors next to the most sensitive appliances. There are two types of devices available: incorporated in the panel, or outside the panel.
Some breaker panel manufacturers also offer a snap-in surge protector, taking the space of two breakers (assuming that there are blank spaces available on the panel), and easily installed by the home owner or by an electrician. However, there are two limitations or conditions to that approach:
There are other surge protectors packaged for wiring into the service panel, either within or next to the panel. That kind of installation is best left to a licensed electrician.
At the meter socket
There might be a possibility that the power - company in your area offers, as an option, to install a surge protector with a special adapter, fitting it between the meter and its socket (the dark band in the bubble of the picture). But that type of device and installation is out of the question as a do-it-yourself project, and will require cooperation from the power company, if they do offer the program.
Other types of outdoor surge protectors can be installed near the meter. That kind of installation must be done by a licensed electrician.
| Return to Savvy Consumer Information Center - Home Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Get the Savvy Consumer Newsletter! (FREE)
|
|
