Won't my circuit breakers protect me from surges?

A common question we get from homeowners on the support line is why circuit breakers don't just trip when the surge occurs. The oversimplified non-engineer speak answer is that circuit breakers don’t react quickly enough to protect sensitive electronic equipment.  Surge protectors reacts in less that a billionth of a second, much faster than a breaker tripping and the surge even is over before the breaker knows that it occurred. 

It’s also important to note that Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) circuit breakers are not surge protectors and therefore do not provide surge protection, another misperception. They protect against shock hazard.

How long will a surge protector last?

Under normal operation, surge protectors operate indefinitely. Quality surge protectors are built to withstand multiple surge events. Keep in mind that every surge degrades the protection components.


surgeassure™ assesses a 10-year product warranty period for its' electrical panel mount protectors and for the Interior Zone plug-in protectors offers a lifetime product warranty. 

With all this in mind be cognitive that you should use your own judgement to replace surge protectors that protect your valuable equipment as needed. The surge protection industry regularly changes its safety and performance testing standards. In the last decade alone there have been numerous changes to the UL standard for surge protection. The last two occurred in close succession, 2007 and 2009, resulting in better performing and safer products than earlier in the decade. So even if you are using a plug-in protector that is only 6 years old you may choose to replace them for products that meet the new standards. 

As a rule of thumb you should consider purchasing new surge protectors as you replace your electronics and other electrical equipment. Imagine plugging your brand new flat screen into a surge protector you've used for a decade, it's kind of like buying a new front door and using an old rusty lock on it. 

Can a “power factor correction device” save money on my power bill and provide surge protection?

Any panel mount surge protector that you consider must be listed UL 1449 3rd Edition (the UL listing for surge protectors). This is not only for performance but also for safety reasons. If the product has not been evaluated specifically for UL 1449 3rd Edition then important end-of-life (failure mode) testing has not been performed to determine if the product will fail passively (safely) and the product may explode when subject to a fault condition and put you at risk for an electrical fire.

Although it is tempting to buy a product that claims to save you money on your home’s power bill there is no documented proof from a reputable organization that substantiates these claims. Buyer Beware!

A document was released on Dec 15, 2009 by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and the US Dept of Commerce that discusses "Power Factor Correction" for residential applications. This document is available on the NIST website. There is also a reference in the NIST document to the US Dept of Energy "Energy Star" program's opinion of power factor correction devices which is located on the Energy Star website’s FAQ. Q: Do Power Factor Correction Devices (kVAR) really save money?

What Surge Protector do I need?

Frequently consumers are trying to figure out do surge protectors work, what surge protectors do i need and what should I look for when selecting a surge protector? Searching online for these answers can be difficult when you aren't well versed in industry technobabble and jargon. 

The simply answers are Yes surge protectors work (but only provide protection against surges), your surge protection needs depend on what you want to protect, and when selecting a surge protector it should be third party tested by a reputable laboratory for safety and performance testing at minimum!

Now for the detailed explanations!

Surge protectors in fact "work." But there is a mis-perception of how they work / what they do. Surge protectors only safeguard against surges. A surge protector almost always fails when subjected to the impact of a direct lightning strike (nothing can prevent a direct lightning strike) and most certainly fails if the utility losses its Neutral reference. 

In order to achieve full protection of your home's electrically connected equipment you must use Whole Home Surge Protection strategies. If you want to protect electronics then point-of-use plug-in surge protectors will do the job. But for all your equipment that is hard wired or does not use a typical 110v plug then you need a surge protector at your electrical panel. Don't forget to protect your phone and coaxial connections. These connections are a source for surge damage too.

When you are selecting any surge protector it is important that it has been tested according to the UL 1449 3rd Edition requirements for surge protection. All manufacturers UL listings are available for review on the UL website. Just because there is a UL hologram sticker on a product doesn't mean that it has been tested to this standard. 

Be careful not to confuse panel mount surge protector (Surge Protective Device, SPD) listed products with outdated Secondary Surge Arrestor (aka Lightning Arrestors) products produced previous to the major UL standard change that the industry saw back in Sept 2009.

When comparing surge protectors it is important to consider both the surge current capacity and clamping voltage to determine the performance of the surge protector. Please reference “What is surge current capacity?” and “What is clamping voltage?”

For point-of-use plug-in devices you want a clamping voltage of no more than 400V L-N (330v is the best you can get) and for your electrical panel 600V or 700V is a good rating for L-N. For point-of-use plug-in protectors you want protection on modes L-N, L-G and N-G but on the panel L-N and L-G protection is sufficient. N-G protection isn't necessary at the home's main electrical panel because of the fact that N-G are bonded at your service entrance so that they are electrically the same.  

What surge current capacity is appropriate for your equipment to be protected can be objective. Any thing over 10,000 Amps is acceptable. Higher numbers in surge current capacity imply redundancy and should NOT be mis-perceived as being able to handle the effects of say a 1,000,000 Amp lightning strike.  BEWARE OF JOULE RATINGS.  Joule ratings are nonsensical for choosing surge protectors. 

DON'T DO THIS! It's not safe.

Be cognitive of the failure mode of your surge protectors. What happens when they no longer are protecting you? For point-of-use protectors select a series connected device or even a parallel device with an audible alarm. If a LED light simply extinguishes when the surge protection elements go bad you may not observe the light being out and your electronics can be damaged as a result of you not replacing the surge protector. Also, do not daisy chain surge protectors! You shouldn't be overloading the circuit in the first place. If your outlets aren't grounded you cannot use an adapter.

For panel mounted devices we recommend a parallel device with an audible alarm. You want your electricity to still be "on" even if you are unprotected but you want to be notified immediately when you aren't. Again if you don't observe a status light extinguished on your surge protector your electrical equipment can be damaged without you realizing it until you've investigated after the fact.