On Oct 5, 2:09*pm, Frank wrote:
On 10/5/2012 1:32 PM, Doug wrote:

This is after reading and talking to others, I'm thinking about this.
I'm not very educated on electricity so I wonder 2 things right away.
What brands are good for whole house protection and how do I know how
much protection I need? * Can I just go by the amperage in the circuit
panel (main circuit breaker) ? * * One person gave me a brand called
Eaton and told me depending on model (Ultra being the best and most
expensive) from maybe $250 to $500 but said it could be more if I
don't have a spare circuit breaker to wire into. * Suggestions
welcome.

I prefer to protect individual circuits that have electronic devices
such as computers and TV's. *I heard a neighbor had a whole house unit
and when it blew, it took an electrician and half a day to get power back..

If it took an electrician and half a day to get power back,
what do you think would have happened if they instead
relied on plug-in surge protectors for just the TV? A surge
of that magnitude could have wrecked all kinds of stuff
in the house, even that protected by plug-in type.
If it took out a properly installed whole house surge
protecter, then it must have been one hell of a surge,
eg some kind of very close lightning strike.

A whole house surge protector is the first line of
defense against destructive surges, protects everything
in the house, and deals with the surge when it first
enters the house. As recommended by the IEEE,
a tiered protections strategy works best, which
means having sensitive electronics, particularly
those that are connected not only to power but also
to cable, phone lines, etc, protected by additonal
plug-in type protectors. The whole house protector
will deal with any huge surge that comes in via
the power line. The plug-ins will limit the voltage
differential between power and cable, phone, etc.

Eaton is a reputable major manufacturer of electrical
eqpt. Intermatic is another I would recommend. I
would get one rated for at least 20K Amps per phase.
A whole house protector should run $100-150. You
typically need an additional double pole breaker, ~$20,
and as that friend pointed out, if you don't have an empty
slot that will increase the cost. It should take an hour
to install, assuming everything else is in order.