Surge Protection...

[chevyx92]

Is anyone familiar with the Furman ACD rack mount distribution system? I am not familiar with it at all but seems pretty self explanatory in this link http://www.directproaudio.com/product.cfm?directid=57120

A customer is asking if he should use this product or go with a whole house surge protector as I suggested to him. Seems like a no brainer to protect the whole house to me but not to him. He had lightning strike his house and it blew tv's, computers, smoke detectors, keyboard, etc.. If he does decide to go with a whole house surge protector how or what method do you use to determine the "Joule" rating? Obviously the higher the rating the better, but we dont know how many joules will be in a lightning strike so why do they even make lower rating devices. They should be rated as high as possible. IMO. What would be a good joule rating to put in his house??

 

[SG-1]

If the house took a direct hit I do not think any amount of Surge Protection would have helped. With certain brands the HO might have been able to recoup some of his losses.

I have a whole house unit and same brand ( CH ) surge protection on each receptacle. Some transients are produced inside the home by compressors, switches, etc.

What size ? How much is he willing to spend ?

Look for a brand that offers replacement of damaged equipment like CH. I just do not know how hard it would be to get any of them to pay.

I would give the grounding electrode system a good going-over. Make sure there are two or more rods.