Surge and the Potential for Loss

…electrical contractor Allen Gallant was about halfway through rewiring a 3,200-square-foot house in Acton, MA, when the owners decided to save some money and not install whole-house protection against power surges. Soon after the house was finished, Gallant got a call from the distressed owners: Lightning had struck a utility pole near their house, sending a tidal wave of voltage through the wires, past the main breaker panel, and into the house. “It burned out the motherboard in the Sub-Zero refrigerator, fried the temperature controls in the double-wall oven, killed six dimmers, two computers, and every GFCI plug in the house,” Gallant says. “It was an $11,000 loss.”

via Surge Protection | Electrical | Plumbing, HVAC & Electrical | This Old House.