Well I was just wondering what the cheapest solution was against unusual surges?
Cheapest solution is a protector that actually does surge protection. View numbers for UPS protection. Maybe hundreds of joules. Near zero. Destructive surges are hundreds of thousands of joules. But since the UPS has near zero joules, then many (including some here) have called that 100% protection.
Protectors adjacent to electronics can sometimes make damage easier. No protector does protection. Not one. Protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate. Either energy dissipates harmlessly outside. Or it goes hunting for earth destructively via appliance. A protector too close to appliances can give that energy even more paths to find earth destructively via that appliance.
Cheapest solution is also an only solution used anywhere that damage cannot happen. Costs about $1 per protected appliance. Is sold by more responsible companies including ABB, Siemens, Intermatic, Square D, Leviton, and General Electric. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50. The effective solution always - as in every time - always has one critically important feature. A short and dedicated wire to single point earth ground.
Effective protector means direct lightning strikes cause no damage. Where do 20,000 amps go during a lightning strike? If 20,000 amps is incoming on a power strip protector, then 20,000 amps is also outgoing into an appliance on the other side of that protector. Simultaneously. It is called electricity. If current is incoming, then same current is outgoing on the appliance side. You do not stop or block surges as so many wish. Connect 20,000 amps short (ie 'less than 10 feet') to earth. A minimally sized 'whole house' protector from those responsible companies starts at 50,000 amps so that even direct lightning strikes are harmlessly connected to earth. So that even the protector is unharmed. So that nobody even knows a surge existed.
Only solution always found in any facility that cannot suffer damage. Many concepts were pioneered in munitions dumps so that direct lightning strikes cause no explosions. You do same for everything inside your house for about $1 per protected appliance. A best solution is also the least expensive.
What needs to be protected by a 'whole house' protector? Power strip protectors. Again, read their numbers. Often grossly undersized. A surge too tiny to overwhelm protection inside all appliances easily destroys a strip protector. Being grossly undersized then gets many to say, "My protector sacrificed itself to save my computer". Computer protected itself. Protector was a potential house fire.
Any protector that fails does no protection. Just another reason why the least expensive solution is also the superior one.
To make that protection even better, telcos locate their whole house protector up to 50 meters (150 feet) separated from electronics. Separation between a protector and electronics INCREASES protection. But always most important is a low impedance (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection to single point earth ground. Only item that must always exist in every protection system: single point ground. Why do power strip and UPS protectors never discuss it?
Cable TV needs no protector. Cable company connects their cable to earth only via a wire. That wire is superior to any protector.
Telephone wires cannot be earthed directly. So your telco installs a 'whole house' protector where their wires meet yours. But again, a protector is only as effective as its earth ground that you provide and maintain. Otherwise, neither cable nor phone has surge protection. How many never learned this?
Anyone recommending without discussing energy dissipation is being cagey or deceitful. Protection is always about the earthing. Always. Neither a power strip nor UPS provide numbers for protection from each type of surge. Dont just read this. Go view their numbers. Protection is often recommended by hearsay and wild speculation. Even the manufacturer does not claim that protection.
Only you are responsible for the earthing that is always required for protection. The informed consumer earths a whole house protector from more responsible companies. Effective protectors always have that dedicated wire for the all so important less than 10 foot connection to earth. $1 per protected appliance. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.
