INTERMATIC IG3240RC3 3W PANEL SURGE ARRESTOR Review

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(More customer reviews)Intermatic IG3240RC3 Whole House Surge Arrestor (3-wire)
On September 30, 2006, the Washington Post reported the following:
"Catherine Jamieson had costly surge protectors safeguarding her most precious electronics. So, she said, she was one of the "lucky ones" when a power surge heaved through her East Falls Church neighborhood this week, frying computers and damaging appliances in hundreds of homes. Still, Jamieson said her home suffered a stunning amount of trouble, starting with a $1,500 alarm system that was still smoking when the security company arrived, a fried phone line and a busted furnace. Her neighbor discovered her refrigerator aflame, Jamieson said, noting that her own situation could be worse. It makes me want to cry, Jamieson, 57, said. Her home was one of more than 200 affected in the Arlington County neighborhood when Pike Electric, a contractor for Dominion Virginia Power, was doing repairs Tuesday and allowed two power lines to touch, Dominion officials said. The contact sent a rush of power into as many as 600 homes, some of them on Sycamore Street, Washington Street and Lee Highway."
Subsequent reports noted that the few homes in that neighborhood with whole house surge protectors suffered no damage. We owned a home in that Arlington neighborhood at the time, and it had a less expensive Intermatic Whole House Surge protector. We were unaware of what happened until reading about it in the papers, as there was no damage to anything, including the Intermatic unit.
In our current home, I installed an Intermatic IG3240RC3, which came with a 5-year product and damage warranty; save your receipt. Check out their products on intermatic dot com.
To install a whole house surge protector, the main power panel/load center will need two empty circuit breaker slots, one over the other. Install two 20 amp circuit breakers, to protect each power phase; 15 amp breakers will also work, but will provide somewhat less protection. DO NOT use a tandem (piggyback) breaker, as it draws power from one only one of the two phases, and would therefore protect only half of your circuits. Alternatively, install a 220 volt 20 amp breaker. It's not advisable to connect the surge protector's two hot leads to circuit breakers that support other loads, as that may reduce the unit's effectiveness. Connect the white lead to the neutral bus bar. If you are handy, you can install it yourself. If electricity frightens you, hire an electrician. Installation instructions are included.
Many power companies offer whole house surge protection to their customers, although in the long run, it's much cheaper to get your own. For example, Dominion Virginia Power sells "complete protection for all of your appliances, heating and cooling equipment and other motor driven equipment, for a one-time installation fee of $89.00 and a monthly service charge of just $4.95".
Whether you buy an Intermatic, Leviton, or another brand of whole house surge protector, get one with two indicator lights to confirm that it's protecting both phases*. The unit could sustain a major hit and burn out; but without indicator lights, you wouldn't know that. Surge Arrestors/Protectors protect your home by bleeding excess electrical charge directly to ground.
You can also spend a lot more than this on a whole house surge protector. The more expensive units typically provide more complete protection.
Highly Recommended!
*November 2010 update: Intermatic's newest version of this surge suppressor has a single green led for both phases. If either phase is unprotected, that led wouldn't light and the red led would.Other:
For even better electrical protection, our house has two other whole house electrical surge devices (see Customer Images):
- Surge Capacitor. This device handles the small surges, like harmful voltage spikes up to 6000 volts, protecting delicate electronic devices.
- Lightning Arrestor. This device handles the really big surges, like 50,000 amp lightning strikes.
Surge capacitors and lightning arrestors bleed excess electrical charge directly to ground.
Refer to DeltaLA dot com for more information.

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3W PANEL SURGE ARRESTOR

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