Whole House Surge Arrester


I was looking into getting a whole house surge arrester.  The only issue that I ran into was the limited warranty of 5 years.  Basically - what that means is that I will have to change out/replace the arrester every 5 years (by a certified electrician) if I want the warranty.  It's probably $150-$200 labor cost to install (plus the cost of the arrester ~$200), but still seems like an unnecessary expense. I looked around, but it seems that the 5 year warranty seems pretty standard.  Anybody install one with a 10 yr/> $50k warranty?

Thanks in advance.

128x128rdk777

SPD WARRANTY COVERAGE:
During the time period (the “Warranty Term”) stated below and subject to all Conditions and Limitations stated below, Siemens Industry warrants to the original purchaser who purchases a new Siemens Surge Protective Device ( " SPD") directly from Siemens Industry or its authorized distributor that the SPD is free of any significant defect in design, materials and workmanship and further warrants the SPD against damage by an electrical surge as defined by IEEE C62.41 (except and excluding any sustained over-voltage and any direct lightning strike ) . Should the SPD be determined to be defective or damaged by electrical surge during the applicable Warranty Term, Siemens Industry will either repair the SPD or replace it with a product of like kind and quality for the benefit of the original purchaser, at the election of Siemens Industry.

( except and excluding any sustained over-voltage and any direct lightning strike ).

 

CONNECTED EQUIPMENT COVERAGE:
THE CONNECTED EQUIPMENT COVERAGE UNDER THIS WARRANTY IS SECONDARY TO ANY OTHER APPLICABLE POLICY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE, MANUFACTURERS WARRANTIES, SERVICE CONTRACTS AND EXTENDED WARRANTY PLANS. COVERAGE SHALL APPLY TO ONLY THAT PORTION OF THE COSTS FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT THAT EXCEEDS THE LIMITS OF COVERAGE UNDER THE ABOVE MENTIONED POLICIES AND DOES NOT COVER DEDUCTIBLES REQUIRED BY OTHER POLICIES.

The warranty language is pretty much the same for all SPDs (Surge Protection Device)s.

What you want to research and read is the customer reviews...

Warranty

 

I have an Eaton, which was well reviewed at the time I bought it. It has two LEDs-which purport to show running state (I don’t know if they accurately reflect that). I have enough occasions to have an electrician here to do other stuff that it isn’t a huge outlay, considering the hi-fi system. I also have a surge panel in the big iso-transformer (10kVa) which feeds the main hi-fi system panel, rather than point of use, and had all connections, breakers, etc. gone over when the system was installed several years ago.

I don’t remember what the warranty is on the fancy $500+ plus whole house surge.

Given the limitations that @jea48  posted above, even if it is a longer warranty, the exclusions may leave you in the same place.

We get the fringes of some crazy storms here in Austin- usually stuff that wipes out towns with flooding, tornados, hail, etc. and wrath of God bolts from the sky. And we are in a fairly protected area, nowhere near the epicenter of these storms. I’ll pull power if it is a really bad one, but so far, have had little reason to do that.

@whart , I also installed an Eaton SPD. I installed the Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA.

CHSPT2ULTRA | Eaton CHSPT2 surge protection device

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Whole House Surge Protector - The Home Depot

Note the reviews.

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Note: I don’t believe Amazon.com is an Eaton authorized dealer. Warranty may/would be void.

EATON CHSPT2ULTRA Ultimate Surge Protection 3rd ...

Note the reviews.

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Eaton Video:

Surge Protection - Power Quality - Experience centers showcase

I want to point out something that is often overlooked.

Whole-house surge protectors do protect everything from surges outside and inside, BUT, they have typically have high let-through voltages of 600V. They may list 150V MOV’s but the listed let through is what’s important.

You get great protection for major appliances, fire alarms, home automation, etc. but not really very good protection for delicate equipment with semiconductors that can die with an extra 20 V across their terminals.

Read the recommendations and instructions carefully and read the equipment warranties with this in mind.