Whole House Surge Arrester

I don't understand why, if the arrester never tripped, must it be replaced every 5 years. Simply because one wishes to maintain the warranty?

AFAIK, all of the Siemens residential surge protectors are 10 years.  While the BoltShield units require a Seimens panels, the FirstSurge units can be fitted to any panel.

It's quite possible the surge protector lasts longer than 10 years, but you are right about the equipment replacement warranty not lasting any longer than that.

Personally, and I'm not talking about Siemens, I've found the stories about the fine print, and difficulty in getting equipment replaced under warranty too much for me. I install it myself and let the chips fall where they may.

Of course, the correct thing to do is to always get a licensed electrician to do all your work. Do as I say, not as I do here. 😂

PS - A number of makers make in panel surge protectors which are, generally, easy to install. They take the space of 2 breakers, but it is recommended that they be installed as close to the power source (usually at the top, but could be the bottom) as possible. You may need to move other breakers out of the way.

One other thing, several regional power providers offer whole house protection as a rental. ~$10 a month or less, and may include cable surge protection as well.  I've seen it called Surge Guard by some power providers.  My own has no such program.

Gentlemen - thanks for your responses.  Although I am not prone to lightning surges where I live, there is a possibility of other types of surges (faults etc). 

Once the warranty expires, the SA will likely still work, but there is no guarantee. To me, that defeats the purpose of getting the SA in the first place. 

@erik_squires - thanks for the info on the Siemens SA's - does look like they have a 10 yr warranty, but I couldn't find info on $ coverages - I will do further research.  I don't think that my electric utility offers surge protection - I'll have to inquire.  

Amortizing the $350-400 cost over 5 years is $6-7 per month, versus the much more sizable investment cost made in one’s system and other electrical apparatus. Was a pretty straightforward cost/risk decision for me making the initial WHSA investment and knowing that there was a chance of having to replicate that lower end cost.