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Scotty
Some electricians convinced me a surge protector for he house was a good idea (for all appliances and computers)
Was I sold a bill of goods?

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This is perhaps the best and most important question I’ve gotten. I want to make clear that my reference to useless surge protectors was aimed at the 5 or 6 plug outlet extension chord types most people use near their computers, tv’s or video game systems. Those are (in my opinion) %100 worthless when fending off a direct lightning strike. They are good for small fluctuations in power and are designed to basically terminate power via a small circuit breaker based on a fuse inside.

Now the type of surge protection you are referring to is a home wide system that is designed to withstand a great deal more increase or decrease in power. This is far different from the power strips I was thinking of however, I have seen electricity do whatever it wants to. I’ve seen computers damaged by only ethernet cabling. If actual lightning hits your home, then the only %100 true protection that your electronics are not going to be in the physical path of electricity is to have them unplugged.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the home wide system is a good investment. It will most certainly help against brown power. That’s when the voltage goes up and down in small increments. That’s also where an UPS (uninterrupted power supply) comes in very handy as well.

Ultimately though, at the risk of offending someone, if lightning is the hand of God, it will do whatever it wants to. And if there is a physical wire connecting one item to another. Nothing will stop it. If there where something that could guaranteed to stop lightning, then let’s go sailing out on Lake Norman during the next summer evening thunderstorm, hook it to the mast and see what happens.

I don’t mean to be flippant. I just see a lot of damage to computers during the summer due to this. And they all same the same thing. “I had it connected to a surge protector”. 3 computers last week just in my client base alone.
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