Why Florida homes need surge protection at the panel, not just power strips

Whole house surge protection is a device installed at your service entrance that clamps voltage spikes before they enter your home's branch circuits. It matters in Florida because this state records more lightning strikes per square mile than any other, and Marion County sits inside the most active band of it.

The damage pattern is widely misunderstood. Direct strikes are rare. What actually destroys equipment is the induced surge that travels in on the utility line after a strike some distance away, and it arrives at every circuit in the house at once.

Plug-in strips only protect what is downstream of them. They do nothing for an air handler, a well pump, a range, a garage door opener, or anything else that is hardwired, and those are frequently the most expensive things a surge takes out.

A Type 2 device at the service entrance is the first layer and plug-in protection at sensitive electronics is a reasonable second. One thing worth knowing: these devices are consumable. They absorb energy until they stop working, and most have a status indicator that nobody checks. Look at yours after storm season.