Residential electrical
Whole home surge protection.
One device at the panel is not the whole answer, and nobody selling you one should pretend otherwise. Real protection is layered — service entrance, sub-panels, point of use, and the low-voltage lines most installers walk right past. Here is how it actually works.
Protection is layered.
A single panel device is the foundation, not the finished job. Surge finds whatever path you left open.
Service entrance
The panel-mounted device. It handles the big external events — nearby lightning, utility switching — and knocks them down to a level the rest of the house can survive.
Branch and sub-panels
Detached garages, workshops, pool equipment and guest structures fed by a sub-panel are their own exposure. Each fed structure needs its own protection.
Point of use
Protectors at the equipment you actually care about: computers, AV, networking gear. These catch the residual let-through voltage and surges generated inside the home.
Low-voltage paths
The path most people miss. Coax, ethernet and phone lines carry surge into equipment through the back door while the power side is fully protected.
Why us for the work.
Surge devices are simple. The panel they land in usually is not.
- Licensed and insured Florida electrical contractor, EC13012465
- Panel condition assessed and reported before any device goes in
- Devices landed on short leads, the way the rating assumes
- Sub-panels and detached structures evaluated, not ignored
- Written scope and equipment list before work starts
- Same electricians who do our solar, battery and generator work
Electrical assessment
Tell us about the panel.
A few questions about the home and the electrical service, then we schedule a look at the panel.
Question 1 of 4
Is this a home or a business?
So we send the right crew.
Questions we get.
What is whole home surge protection?
It is a surge protective device wired at your main electrical panel that clamps voltage spikes before they travel out to the circuits in your house. A power strip protects the one thing plugged into it. A panel-mounted device protects everything downstream — the air handler, the well pump, the range, the garage door opener, the things you cannot plug into a strip.
Does whole home surge protection replace power strips?
No, and anyone who tells you it does is overselling it. Proper protection is layered. The panel device takes the large external surge down to a survivable level, and point-of-use protectors at your electronics handle what is left plus any surge generated inside the house. Use both.
Do I really need it in Florida?
Florida leads the country in lightning density, and the Tampa Bay corridor sits in the heart of it. Most damage is not a direct strike — it is the induced surge from a nearby strike traveling in on the utility line, plus the smaller repeated surges from grid switching and utility work that degrade electronics over time.
Where does the device get installed?
At the main service panel, usually as a breaker-style or externally mounted unit landed on a dedicated two-pole breaker with the shortest practical lead length. Lead length genuinely matters — long, looping conductors add let-through voltage and cost you protection.
How long does installation take?
Typically a couple of hours for a straightforward panel. Power is off while we work. If your panel is full, obsolete, damaged, or a known-defective type, that has to be addressed first, and we will tell you before we start rather than after.
Does a surge protector need to be replaced after it takes a hit?
Eventually, yes. These devices absorb energy and wear out — sometimes in one large event, more often gradually across many small ones. Quality units have an indicator light showing protection status. If that light is out, the device is spent and is no longer protecting anything, even though your power still works normally.
Will it protect my solar system and battery?
A panel device protects what is downstream of it, so the inverter and its AC connection benefit. A full solar installation also has DC-side considerations and its own protection requirements, which we handle as part of the solar design rather than treating it as an add-on.
Is surge protection required by code?
Surge protective devices are required by recent editions of the National Electrical Code for new dwelling services and for service replacements. Whether that applies to your specific job depends on the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted and the scope of the work.