There is a lot of misinformation out there about surge protectors and even among people who one might think would know there are a lot of different thoughts on what is the "best" answer. I think the real answer is that no one really knows with any certainty, especially for residences.
I've had a lot of surges (Close lightning strikes, I guess) burn out surge protectors I have things plugged into. I later bought a $100 cable, power and phone surge protector (big honkin' thing) for all of my electronics (Computer, DVD, TV..etc, etc) and it came with a 5 year $25,000 guarantee to stop the surge before it hurts your electronics. Sure enough....it worked.
Unfortunately, these kind of reports can be extremely misleading. Often if there are a series of surges on the lines coming from the utility, it is for a reason, and the utility is able to resolve the reasons for the surges. It is quite possible, maybe even probable, that the end of your problems was just coincidental to your purchase of a surge protector.
To be quite candid, the supposed guarantees of the companies providing these products are of dubious value. How would one ever prove that your device failed because of a surge the surge protector did not prevent? In fact, how would one prove a "surge" killed the device in the first place?
_________________________
Warning - I am not an expert on anything having to do with this forum, but that won't stop me from saying what I think.
Bob
Previous Topic
Index
