Environmental Potentials whole house surge protection, can I get your opinions?

This issue is timely for me since it looks like I’m finally moving from NY to Austin. I will be hiring an electrical contractor there for a build out. (I guess I need to buy the building first but planning is part of the process of selecting the right property/zoning/service for what I want to accomplish). @jea48 - you’ve always been a terrifically knowledgeable resource on matters electrical. I’ve sent you a PM. Could you take a look when you have a minute?
regards to every one here- good holiday if you celebrate--looking forward to carrying on soon from Texas!
bill hart

Maximum Surge Current:6,500 Amps
Response Time:1 nanosecond
Spike Clamping Voltage:188 VAC peak @ 3,000 Amps

More effective protectors use L-N, L-G, and G-N protection. Furman only uses L-N. Does not matter. They are selling to people who have no idea if protection works. Furman’s near zero protection is hyped subjectively as 100% protection. Because eyes routinely glaze over with numbers. And fewer do not know what those numbers mean.

Second, if all 6500 amps go line to neutral, then at 188 volts, it can ’block’ or ’absorb’ a surge that is less than 32 joules. How does that ’block’ or ’absorb’ surges that are near zero - hundreds or a thousand joules? It doesn’t. They needed you to completely ignore or completely misunderstand numbers. Your numbers define protection as close to zero as possible without being zero protection. Just enough above zero to by hyped as 100% protection.

Third, if 6500 amps are incoming, then what is an outgoing path? It is electricity. Both an incoming and an outgoing path to earth must exist. Incoming on AC mains. At the exact same time, that current is outgoing via attached appliances. They market to consumers who forget how electricity works and how surges do damage. Incoming on AC mains. At the same time, outgoing destructively to earth.

Fourth, that L-N protection for a surge seeking earth ground means a surge incoming on a black (hot) wire now has two destructive paths into attached appliances. No problem for tiny 100 joule surges. Since surges that tiny are routinely converted by electronics into rock stable, low DC voltages to safely power semiconductors. Better protection is already inside electronics.

Thank you for providing numbers. Numbers demonstrate what does work, what are expensive scams, and what you did not understand. Furman protector does nothing for surges inside and hunting for earth ground destructively via appliances. Protection has always been about earthing a destructive transient BEFORE it can enter a building. Always - as was standard even over 100 years ago.

whart -
best time to install surge protection is when footings are poured. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. Learn about Ufer grounds. Ufer originally pioneered this technology to protect munitions dumps from direct lightning strikes. Same protection is in telephone COs so that a $multi-million switching computer does not suffer damage during thunderstorms. COs typically suffer about 100 surges per storm. How often is your town without phone service for four days while they replace that computer? Why is service maintained during and after each storm? Learn about the most critical item in a surge protection *system* - earth ground. Telcos do not waste money on Furman type protection.

One example of how a radio station installed an Ufer ground and what is best protection for so little money:
http://scott-inc.com/html/ufer.htm

More information:
http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarchive/GB-HTML/HTML/UferGroundPsi~20030930.htm

Effective manufacturers who provide protectors from direct lighting strikes will not warranty protection. Best warranties are found on the least effective (and high profit) devices. Type is irrelevant. Type defines human safety parameters. For appliance protection, that protector must conduct at least 50,000 amps. Protection is never defined by a protector. Protection is defined by quality of and a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to single point earth ground. Ufer ground is an ideal example. Nobody will warranty what does the protection - earth ground.

That protector demonstrated by jea48 is rented from and installed by electric companies. Often a girl who reads meters might install it. Effective protection is that easy - but only if your earth ground both meets and exceeds code requirements.

Westom--thank you. I know I looked at some of this when I did my current room, but it wasn't constructed from the ground up. This one may or may not be~ a separate building, hopefully with separate service from the house. (Many of the places in Austin have "guest houses" on the property- I'd use that for my music and office). I also have a large Equi=Tech wall cabinet with big isolation transformer that I will probably work into the equation--not for protection against lightening, but to isolate the system from anomalies on the line. (It is a balanced power set up, which raises a host of other issues). I've got some leg work to do.
 

If isolation transformers did that protection, then a utility transformer that provides AC power means no anomalies exist.  Other potentially destructive anomalies act just like lightning.  We simply use lightning as an example of all other potentially destructive anomalies created by stray cars, grid switching, tree rodents, linemen errors, and wind.

Even existing buildings must have earth ground inspected - often upgraded.  Any earth ground that only meets today's human safety codes (ie NEC) is often insufficient earthing for appliance safety.  Plenty of questions about earthing should exist.  Even underground service does not protect from surges - including direct lightning strikes.

For example, a separate structure may require its own 'whole house' solution.  Generally a separation of more than 25 feet is a ball park number for a building that is not protected by 'whole house' protection in a main building.

Back to that isolation transformer - one that is already doing your 'primary' protection.  Same earthing requirements that make your 'secondary' protection layer effective also must be inspected in that 'primary' protection layer.  More reasons why so many previous paragraphs should have resulted in plenty of questions.  Even a transformer in an Equi-Tech cabinet is only as effective as its earth ground.

@westom I hear you Westom. I've got layers of stuff to wade through. Much depends on whether I build from scratch or work with an existing structure. When I have more info on what I'm dealing with, I'll be posting here-perhaps a new thread, since I don't want to highjack this one (any more than I have). Thank you. Good holiday to all.