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Your One Bullet Point Solution; Electrical Upgrade

Two points; I am well aware of many threads on topic of electrical service. I do not have time to read hundreds of posts, but wish to distill them down with your help. I will also post this on the Tech Forum to get wider response:

Doing service upgrade to 100A. I plan on adding a whole house surge protector, type 2, add on to panel after the service enters house. Panel to the HT/Music room is not under consideration, as it was all updated when the room was built.

If anyone has important info/contradictory info on that plan, please inform.

What I would like to know in shorthand form from the community from those who have Done upgrades:

1. Recommended Panel? Brand, any difference?

2. I currently have sub-panel for HT/Audio room which I’m tempted to keep. I understand that this is a good move.
Electrician can sum all into a larger panel, but I have reservations. Comments/recommendations?

3. Particular wiring/breakers for panel/sub-panel for audio use?

4. Particular surge protector recommend.

As the topic has been covered much, notation form comments are welcome. Thanks for helping!



douglas_schroeder
douglas_schroeder OP
3,281 posts
 
ELECTRICIANS and owners of the whole house meter surge suppressor devices, I need your help on a particular point of information.

My local utility does not offer the house/meter surge suppressors. 

I see one made by Leviton. I get the idea. 

Question: I believe my electrician could install it. They seem to have a shelf life. What happens when a surge hits? Do they reset automatically? Are you without power until reset? How do you reset them?   

Any superior, great brand to recommend? 

TIA 
ejr1953
918 posts
 
Before we renovated our kitchen, a friend who is a licensed first class electrician was building a home and installed the same "commercial" unit in my home that he intended to put in his main panel of his new home.  I reached out to him for a recommendation for a new home we are building, and he said there's a less expensive one he recommends:

Leviton 52120-CM2

It's still about a grand for the unit, which has a pair of replaceable modules and monitors the surges it captures.

As it turns out, the builder in our new neighborhood won't install that unit for me (long story), so I'm getting a much less sophisticated one installed in my main panel, which consumes two slots and (in my case) needs to be replaced if it's ever "invoked".


erik_squires
16,353 posts
 
Hey @ejr1953 - I don’t think that’s a down grade, honestly.

I know it looks impressive, but look at the clamping voltage. The in-panel units should be rated the same, and are cheaper in large part because they don’t take an extra case.

The only down side of them IMHO may be lack of an audible alert when they blow.

As I wrote before though:  In panel surge protectors are superior due to the lack of cabling. They have an intimate, high frequency attachment to the power buss. Surges tend to be high frequency, far above 60 Hz.  Any induction on the line to the surge protector will increase the effective clamping voltage (a bad thing). 

So, yeah, I get it, those big metal boxes with 3 gauge wiring look all that, but they are 1 breaker pair plus the wiring away from the surge.

drlisz
23 posts
 
@douglas_schroeder 
Siemens Model #: QSA2020SPDP
It does the whole house/ panelboard and adds additional 2/120v circuit breakers which you could put on the audio/ music room cost is 119.00 home depot or a Siemens supplier when the electrician comes out he can install this in a specified position on the load center and it will protect.
douglas_schroeder OP
3,281 posts
 
THOUGHTS in regard to two options electrician is offering? 
Both 200A 
Both will have some form of surge protection at panel 

Eaton CH Panel with space for an Eaton surge protection 
-The Eaton panel has uses silver plated copper bus bar connection
-Breakers seem to be mounted directly onto neutral

Square D with QO breakers 
-The Square D has a tin plated copper bus bar
-breakers seem to be wired in 

My electrician plans on replacing the ground bars with copper. 

Again, if there are noise problems I will probably add an isolation transformer and sub-panel. 


QUESTION: So a load center can have more than one surge protection device? i.e. covering entire panel, and additional covering the circuits for the HT/audio room? The Siemens unit recommended by drlisz seems to do both entire panel and two circuits. Is that the same case with others, like the Eaton panel surge protector? 





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