The need for protection against electrical surges in the home has never been greater for two primary reasons. First, the value of electrical and electronic devices that add comfort, pleasure, and efficiency to the average home has increased dramatically during the past 10 years. Not only do homes today have more sophisticated televisions, VCRs and appliances, but the list of expensive electronic equipment has grown to include personal computers, security systems and entertainment centers. A second reason that surge protection is needed is due to the sheer number of potentially destructive electrical spikes and surges that occur in homes every day hundreds according to the latest estimates.
Surges can cause equipment to malfunction and in severe cases cause catastrophic damage or fire.
The increase can be quite large many times the norm or quite small 10 percent over the norm. The larger, more destructive surges, generally caused by lightning, can reach thousands of volts. Lightning doesn t have to strike the earth to cause damage. More common cloud to cloud strikes, even a mile away, can produce enormous magnetic fields that induce surges onto power, telephone and cable lines. Unchecked, such surges can quickly destroy wiring, appliances, telephones, and other electronic devices.