Residential & General Electrical
Whole-Home Surge Protection
A panel-mounted device that clamps the surges a power strip never sees.
Whole-Home Surge Protection — what's involved
Most people's surge protection is a power strip behind the television, which protects the television and nothing else. The equipment most vulnerable to a surge is increasingly the equipment that cannot be plugged into a strip: the furnace control board, the heat pump, the oven's electronics, the garage door opener, the LED drivers in every recessed fixture in the ceiling, and the EV charger in the garage.
A whole-home surge protective device installs at the panel and clamps transients before they get onto your branch circuits. It is a small job — typically a couple of hours — that protects a large amount of equipment, and it has become considerably more worthwhile as ordinary household appliances have filled up with electronics.
Surge Protection
Photos of this work will appear here as jobs are documented.
What surge protection involves
- Type 2 surge protective device installed at the service panel
- Dedicated breaker and the shortest practical lead length, which materially affects performance
- Verification of the grounding and bonding the device depends on to work at all
- Point-of-use protection at sensitive equipment, layered behind the panel device
- Protection for detached structures fed by their own sub-panel
- Replacing devices whose indicator shows the protection has been used up
The Whole-Home Surge Protection process
Check the ground first
A surge device works by diverting energy to ground. If the grounding electrode system is inadequate — common in older homes — the device cannot do its job, so we verify it before installing one.
Confirm panel space and rating
The device needs a two-pole breaker position and a panel it is listed to work with. We check both rather than assume.
Install with short leads
Lead length directly increases the voltage that gets through. Mounting close to the panel and keeping conductors short and straight is most of what separates a good install from a poor one.
Verify and explain the indicator
We confirm the device is live and show you the status indicator, so you know what it looks like when the protection has been consumed and needs replacing.
What you get out of it
Covers what strips cannot
HVAC, ovens, well pumps, garage doors, LED drivers and chargers are all hardwired or inconveniently located, and all contain electronics.
Handles the everyday surges
Most transients are not lightning — they come from utility switching and from large motors in your own house starting and stopping.
Cheap relative to what it protects
The device and its installation cost a fraction of a single furnace control board or heat pump inverter.
Surge Protection questions
Still not sure? Send us the details and we'll give you a straight answer before anything is booked.
Does this replace my power strips?
Will it protect against a direct lightning strike?
How do I know if it is still working?
Often booked alongside this
- Electrical Panel UpgradesSwap a crowded, fused or obsolete panel for a modern breaker panel with room to grow.
- Electrical Safety InspectionsWritten condition reports for home purchases, insurance, rentals and older properties.
- Generator InstallationStandby and portable generator wiring with a proper transfer switch and interlock.
Need Whole-Home Surge Protection?
Tell us about the property and what you're trying to achieve. Quotes are free and there's no obligation.
Start with a free quote
Pick Whole-Home Surge Protection from the service list below and tell us what you need. Photographs of the panel, the room or the equipment help us answer far more precisely.