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 is a surge protector?

Surge Protectors are designed to reduce and divert potentially damaging short-duration voltage spikes safely out of the system to Ground. This is similar in concept to pressure relief valves that protect water heaters from overpressure. It is a common misconception that surge protectors "absorb" surges when in fact their purpose is to divert the surge away from the protected equipment to Ground.

For more answer to common surge protection questions check out the FAQ.




What is a Surge Protector



What is a power surge?

Power Surge

Power surges  (referred to as transients in industry jargon) are abnormally high voltage spikes on the AC power. There are a number of conditions that affect the quality of the power you receive from the utility, such as sags, swells, brownouts, momentary outages and sustained over voltages.  Power surges are by far the most common of these conditions.  Every piece of electrical equipment in your home is designed to operate at a specified nominal voltage such as 120 Volts AC. Most equipment is designed to handle minor variations in their standard nominal operating voltage; however, even the smallest power surges can be very damaging to nearly all equipment.

To learn more check out these surge protection FAQ's.

Whole Home Surge Protection

Whole Home Surge Protection

Preventing electrical surge damage has traditionally been left to the consumer to guess at what to do. Do you buy numerous surge protector strips? Do you spend time running around the house during a lightning storm unplugging everything in sight while putting yourself at risk for electrical shock? Or do you just do nothing and rely on your homeowner’s insurance policy to cover any surge losses that may occur? You do none of these; instead you protect your investments by preventing surge damage with surgeassure Whole Home Surge Protection. 


Whole Home Surge Protection cannot be achieved by "One Whole House Surge Protector". In fact it requires a system of surge protectors working together. We refer to this as Zoned surge protection. Zoned surge protection is accomplished with the implementation of primary and secondary surge protectors. 


1. First, surge protectors are applied to the incoming electrical, cable/satellite, and telephone utility services to keep externally generated surges from entering your home. This is your primary surge protection. 


2. Then at key locations throughout the home, localized secondary protection is provided to safeguard against any residual surges from the main service and any internally generated surges. 


To apply this type of protection for your home, surgeassure™ developed Total Zone Protection, which consists of dividing the home into three protection zones: Main Zone, Interior Zone & Exterior Zone. Specialized surge protectors are designed for each zone location: Main Zone, Interior Zone and Exterior Zone.


To purchase Whole Home surge protection products check out our store.