FPL surge shield vs electrician?

[Pancreas]

I own a townhouse. Florida power company offers surge protection at the meter for $10.95 a month where they come and install it. That’s more like $12.50 after taxes.

In one year, is about $150

I asked on Yelp and they told me they can put a surge protector in the breaker, but I need to contact FPL for the meter one.

I googled meter surge protector is like i cant find anything except a leviton or something that seems discontinued

I wonder what meter surge protector FPL is using clearly is not made by them

Makes no sense, should be possible to just buy a meter surge protector and have it installed.

The reason I don’t want to do it at the breaker is because is old. I plan on having it replaced but not now and is going to be expensive that.

I also read is better to put the surge protector at the meter than the breaker panel.

So I could sign up for FPL surge protection and when I finally replace the panel, cancel it and have someone put a surge protector in the new panel so I don’t pay monthly to FPL

 

[AdamG]

I own a townhouse. Florida power company offers surge protection at the meter for $10.95 a month where they come and install it. That’s more like $12.50 after taxes.

In one year, is about $150

I asked on Yelp and they told me they can put a surge protector in the breaker, but I need to contact FPL for the meter one.

I googled meter surge protector is like i cant find anything except a leviton or something that seems discontinued

I wonder what meter surge protector FPL is using clearly is not made by them

Makes no sense, should be possible to just buy a meter surge protector and have it installed.

The reason I don’t want to do it at the breaker is because is old. I plan on having it replaced but not now and is going to be expensive that.

I also read is better to put the surge protector at the meter than the breaker panel.

So I could sign up for FPL surge protection and when I finally replace the panel, cancel it and have someone put a surge protector in the new panel so I don’t pay monthly to FPL

I also live in Lighting Strike wonderland and am a FPL Customer. The Lighting Strike Surge Protector at the Meter is worth every cent if you own a bunch of expensive electric equipment. It protects everything in the house and comes with properly damage insurance. We got hit by lightning back in 2009 or 2010 and not a single thing got damaged except the Meter Surge protector. That got blown across the yard. They came in and did resistance testing for every circuit and nothing got past the Meter.

I don’t work for them and have no affiliation. In my book this is the best peace of mind for surge prevention.

 

[robwpdx]

https://www.leviton.com/en/docs/Meter_Socket_Surge_Arrester_Product_Bulletin_Q-565.pdf

Revere Electric Supply

Revere Electric Supply/BJ Electric Supply is a 4th generation, family owned electrical & automation solutions provider servicing the industrial automation & construction markets in Northern & Central Illinois & SouthEast Wisconsin. Specializing in Safety, Modernization, Mechatronics, Lighting...

www.revereelectric.com

You can compare the specs to the in breaker panel surge protector like

Whole Home Surge Protection by Square D – Whole House Surge Protector

Get advanced appliance and electronics surge protection with whole house surge protection from Square D™. Learn why surge protection can reduce or prevent damage to your valuable investments.

www.se.com

I would complain to your PUC that they charge you monthly. Look into how you get out of monthly if you later provide equivalent functionality.

When you redo your panel, talk to an electrician on code and subpanels.

 

[ErVikingo]

Read carefully (I'm in SoFLa) that they are actually installing a surge protector and it is not "an insurance policy". I had my electrician install a whole house surge protector.

 

[AdamG]

Read carefully (I'm in SoFLa) that they are actually installing a surge protector and it is not "an insurance policy". I had my electrician install a whole house surge protector.

It is an actual meter section that goes between the meter and the house. It has status LEDs you can see. In the picture the device he is holding goes in front of the Meter. Then the actual Meter gets connected to the surge wedge section. It’s physical protection and insurance.

 

[Timcognito]

Lightning Myths - Surge protectors and UPS devices provide total lightning protection

 

[Pancreas]

I also live in Lighting Strike wonderland and am a FPL Customer. The Lighting Strike Surge Protector at the Meter is worth every cent if you own a bunch of expensive electric equipment. It protects everything in the house and comes with properly damage insurance. We got hit by lightning back in 2009 or 2010 and not a single thing got damaged except the Meter Surge protector. That got blown across the yard. They came in and did resistance testing for every circuit and nothing got past the Meter.

I don’t work for them and have no affiliation. In my book this is the best peace of mind for surge prevention.

eventually I'll have to replace the breaker panel though, I just don't like the idea of paying every month, in a year is $150

That meter surge protector that FPL uses is probably not more than $350. I wonder what brand and model is.

Very unlikely to be manufactured by FPL.

 

[Speedskater]

a] Meter surge protectors are good.
b] Surge protectors installed in or near the main breaker panel (installed by electrician) are good.
Different audiophiles might make different choices.

 

[amirm]

Makes no sense, should be possible to just buy a meter surge protector and have it installed.

Not possible. The power company owns the meter. If you open it, you can have huge liability. This is done to deter people from cheating on their power bills.

Your only choice is to get one installed at your breaker panel The hardware cost a few hundred dollars and in this day and age, you would pay that much for the installation.

Ours at the meter cost $350 one time fee. Shame that yours has gone to monthly charge but then again, they will replace it for free should it get zapped.

 

[amirm]

Very unlikely to be manufactured by FPL.

My friendly power company technician showed me theirs. It was a PCB with small components on it. Didn't inspire confidence that it was the best there was, but as a primary defense where it works the best (the meter sees external surges first and has best ground connection), it was worth it to get it installed.

 

[Philbo King]

Some decent info on this.
TLDR: Expect to pay around $500 plus electrician labor to install for a whole house surge protector on a 200 amp service panel.

Whole House Surge Protectors: How Effective Are They?

Don’t count on power strips to safeguard your home and fragile electronics. Read on to learn about the cost-saving alternative of installing a home surge protector.

www.thisoldhouse.com

 

[Blumlein 88]

Lightning Myths - Surge protectors and UPS devices provide total lightning protection

Reminds me of a lightning strike across the street 20 or so years ago. On top of the highest hill in the general area, lightning hit a huge old oak tree. Split it down to about 5 feet above ground where it jumped across to a car parked around 5 feet from the trunk. This blew out the windshield, and melted all 4 tires to the wet concrete driveway. Burned some paint off the car in places. Made me doubt the old advice if caught out in a thunderstorm to get inside a car.

As I am typing this a big thunderstorm is going to hit here in about 10 minutes. Been watching and listening to it for a half hour. Thunder has been happening about every 5 seconds. My surge protector is clicking so I am shutting things down. Later.

 

[amirm]

Burned some paint off the car in places. Made me doubt the old advice if caught out in a thunderstorm to get inside a car.

Me too! Scariest time I had driving was from west coast of south florida to east coast. There was lightning everywhere. I kept telling myself I was safe in the car. Had no other option anyway as there is nothing between west and east coast of Florida until you get close to the coast.

 

[Pancreas]

My friendly power company technician showed me theirs. It was a PCB with small components on it. Didn't inspire confidence that it was the best there was, but as a primary defense where it works the best (the meter sees external surges first and has best ground connection), it was worth it to get it installed.

but you're not in Florida, is a different device probably

 

[Blumlein 88]

Well, no harm from lightning this time. There will be other chances. Early in the morning and about every other afternoon the rest of the summer. I don't know if the grid is better about surges than in the past or electronics have gotten better about withstanding surges. It seems there are fewer of my devices harmed by lightning induced surges than was the case 20 years ago. Now I'm talking devices that give up the ghost after a storm has been in the area, not an actual direct or near direct strike.

 

[Doodski]

Well, no harm from lightning this time. There will be other chances. Early in the morning and about every other afternoon the rest of the summer. I don't know if the grid is better about surges than in the past or electronics have gotten better about withstanding surges. It seems there are fewer of my devices harmed by lightning induced surges than was the case 20 years ago. Now I'm talking devices that give up the ghost after a storm has been in the area, not an actual direct or near direct strike.

Where I am electricity is considered of primary importance so we have lots of capacity and apparently protection to some degree even for extreme weather events. I have had one piece get lightning damage and it was my prized Hewlett Packard balanced output oscillator. The shop put in a new snazzy capacitor and tested for calibration and gave it back to me @ no charge.

 

[amirm]

but you're not in Florida, is a different device probably

The device doesn't care where it is installed. I did however do a search and the ones deployed by FPL is a much larger module going in between the utility poles and the meter itself:

This one nicely has safety fuses and such. Seems that when they are charging monthly fees, they want to make sure the thing works. Given this, if you use one of these, I wouldn't worry about adding anything else to the house.

 

[ErVikingo]

Me too! Scariest time I had driving was from west coast of south florida to east coast. There was lightning everywhere. I kept telling myself I was safe in the car. Had no other option anyway as there is nothing between west and east coast of Florida until you get close to the coast.

I am! I mean between the west and the east coast just south of I-75!

 

[ErVikingo]

This is what I have at home, its installed right by the meter. That's how it looks after 6 years in direct sunlight