因此，您可能会问自己，您从百思买(Best Buy)为您的新高清电视和电子产品购买的 100 美元(HDTV and electronics)Monster 电涌(Monster surge)保护器是否真的有效？幸运的是，我们大多数人永远不会遇到电涌(power surge)来查看我们的设备是否能够存活，这是一件好事。
但是，如果您是拥有大量昂贵技术的人，请不要仅仅因为它还没有发生在您身上就对电涌免疫。(feel immune)我最近在雷雨中炸了我的NAS，这是一个很酷的 1000 美元。
我以前从来没有遇到过这个问题，我把我的NAS插入了一个带电涌保护的(surge protection)电源板(power strip)。你可以想象，我的NAS仍然被电涌(power surge)烧坏了，我很沮丧。
最重要的是，所谓的“保险担保”完全是废话。首先(First)，我必须填写大约 30页的表格(page form)才能向电源板(power strip)制造商提出索赔。我给他们发了电涌保护器(surge protector)，他们说他们审查了它，并说没有迹象表明它失败了。哇(Wow)，非常感谢。现在我真的很生气！
但最后，我在做了很多研究后才知道这是我自己的错。浪涌保护器并非都是平等的，世界上没有浪涌保护器(surge protector)可以处理闪电。
在本文中，我想简要介绍一下我在电涌保护器的工作原理方面所学到的知识，以及为了保护昂贵的设备而真正需要做的事情。
浪涌保护器对照明起作用(Surge Protectors Work Against Lighting)吗？
最简洁的答案是不。至少不是您可以为房屋内部购买的任何电涌保护器。(surge protector)即使是具有浪涌保护功能的(surge protection)UPS（不间断电源(Power Supply)）也无法应对附近的雷击(lighting strike)。
这是否意味着您甚至不应该使用电涌保护器？不，这意味着你需要更多！这是我学到和做的。
首先，如果它不连接任何电源(power source)，则不能油炸任何东西。除非你真的必须做一些重要的事情，否则你应该拔掉任何你想在雷雨(lightning storm)中保存的设备。没有比这更好的保护了。
其次，有一种叫做whole-house surge protection/suppressor的东西。那是什么呀？显然，这是在您的房屋服务点安装的硬件。
这意味着它安装在主板和它分开到你家的地方。基本上(Basically)，无论您家中的配电板在哪里，这件事都会在那之前发生。我希望我早点知道！这些设备的价格从 150 美元到 300 美元以上不等，但它们非常值得。
您甚至可以在Home Depot购买它们！当然，我并没有尝试(t try)自己安装，因为我不想自己被炸，所以你必须花一点额外的钱才能让它专业安装。
那么真正的优势是什么？好吧(Well)，在你开始讨论之前，让我们先谈谈电涌实际上是什么以及电涌保护器是如何工作的。
什么是浪涌？
基本上，浪涌是指某些东西导致电源线(power line)中的电荷增加，这会增加流向墙上插座(wall outlet)的电流。什么会导致浪涌？很多东西。您经常听到的一件事是闪电，尽管它不是浪涌的常见原因。
另一个原因，也是最常见的原因是需要大量电力的电子设备。例如，冰箱、空调(air conditioner)等。当它们打开和关闭时，它们会吸收大量能量并扰乱(energy and mess)系统中稳定的电压流。
你有没有注意到有时当交流电启动时，你家的灯光会变暗一两秒钟？在我的家里，我有一台巨大的打印机，每当那个东西打开开始打印时，它实际上会完全摧毁同一个房间的一个电源插座！
电涌保护器的工作原理
那么浪涌保护器(surge protector)是如何工作的呢？基本上(Basically)，电流从墙壁流向您的电涌保护器(surge protector)，然后流向您的电气设备。当有浪涌时，额外的电压被转移到浪涌保护器(surge protector)内部的接地线上(grounding wire)。当电压过高时，浪涌保护器(surge protector)内部通常有一些设备可以处理切换到接地的过程。
这听起来很简单，但在这些设备的价格方面，这就是一切的不同之处。基本上，区分浪涌保护(surge protection)水平和成本的三个因素：
1.钳位电压(Clamping Voltage)——这里的值越低越好。这基本上是在什么电压下转移将启动。330 V 是一个很好的低值，而 500 V 太高了，因为那时您的电子设备可能会烧毁。
2.能量- 这是一个等级，告诉您(Energy)电涌保护器(surge protector)在烧毁之前可以吸收多少能量。它以焦耳为单位，范围从 200 焦耳（用于非常基本的保护）一直到数千焦耳。
3.时间(Time)——一些电涌保护器(surge protector)的启动(s kick)会稍有延迟，从而使您的设备在电涌中暴露的时间更长。您需要响应时间(response time)极短的电涌保护器(surge protector)。
另一个要寻找的好东西是电涌保护器上的指示灯(indicator light)。如果它被炸毁并且不再可以保护您的设备，您真的不想继续使用它。如果没有指示灯(indication light)，您可能永远不会知道您的电涌保护器已经死了。
如何使用电涌保护真正保护自己(Really Protect Yourself Using Surge Protection)
如果您真的想保护设备，即使是免受闪电或电源线浪涌的影响，您需要做几件事。请注意，这些都需要致电您的电力provider/power company并寻求他们的帮助。
1.正确接地(Proper grounding)——在电源从电源线到您家外的盒子的地方，需要正确接地。如果盒子没有(box doesn)正确接地，任何来自电源线的电涌(power surge)都会直接流入您的房子并炸毁所有东西。
你可以打电话给你的电力公司(power company)，他们通常会出来免费进行测试。我不知道这一点，但这是真的！如果您的电力公司(power company)提供该服务，您还可以获得升级的接地。
2.直接雷击预防(Direct-strike prevention)——最好的情况是你的房子永远不会被雷击。你可以用避雷针(lightning rod)做到这一点。您可以在线购买这些坏男孩并将它们与接地一起连接到您的房屋顶部或其他位置。
而不是你的房子被击中，杆会被击中并将所有东西都引导到地面。同样(Again)，您可能必须进行专业安装，但这是真正防止雷击(lightning strike)的唯一真正方法，而无需拔掉家里的所有东西。
3.全屋保护(Whole-House protection )——这就是我上面提到的。如果您不能或不想将钱花在#1 和#2 上，这可能是针对浪涌保护的第三道防线或第一道防线。(surge protection)
4.串联电涌保护器(In-line surge protectors)——这是您的最后一道防线。您可以购买以太网电涌(Ethernet surge)保护器、同轴电涌保护器等。
请记住(Remember)，整个房屋保护器(house protector)将无法保护房屋内发生的电涌，除非它到达主电路板。这就是为什么您需要在家中的所有地方都安装电涌保护(surge protection)，才能真正保护您的设备。
您对浪涌保护(surge protection)有何看法？您如何设置房屋和设备(house and equipment setup)以防止电涌？让我们在评论中知道。享受！
Do Surge Protectors Really Work?
So you might haνe asked yоurself if that $100 Monster surge protector you bought from Best Buy for your new HDTV and electronics really works or not? Luckily, most of us will never encоunter a power ѕurge to see if our equipment will sυrνive or not, which is a good thing.
However, if you’re someone who owns a lot of expensive tech, don’t feel immune to power surges just because it hasn’t happened to you yet. I recently had my NAS fried during a thunderstorm and it was a cool $1000.
I never had a problem with this before and I had my NAS plugged into a power strip with surge protection. As you can imagine, I was quite upset that my NAS still got fried by the power surge.
On top of that, the so-called “insurance guarantee” was complete BS. First, I had to fill about a 30 page form in order to file a claim with the manufacturer of the power strip. I shipped them the surge protector and they said they reviewed it and said there was no indication that it failed. Wow, thanks a lot. Now I was really pi**ed!
In the end, though, I learned after doing a lot of research that it was my own fault. Surge protectors are not all created equal and no surge protector in the world can handle lightning.
In this article, I want go through a little bit about what I learned on how surge protectors work and what you really need to do in order to protect your expensive equipment.
Do Surge Protectors Work Against Lighting?
The short answer is NO. At least not any surge protector that you can buy for the inside of your house. Even a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) with surge protection will not be able to handle a lighting strike that is close by.
Does that mean you shouldn’t even bother with surge protectors? No, it means you need more! Here’s what I learned and did.
Firstly, nothing can be fried if it’s not connected to any power source. Unless you really have to do something important, you should unplug any device that you would want to save during a lightning storm. There is simply no better protection than that.
Secondly, there is this thing called whole-house surge protection/suppressor. What the heck is that? Apparently, it’s a piece of hardware that gets installed at the point of service for your house.
That means it gets installed between the main board and where it splits off to your house. Basically, wherever the electrical panel is in your house, this thing will go before that. I wish I had known that earlier! These devices cost anywhere from $150 to $300+, but they are well worth it.
You can even buy them at Home Depot! Of course, I didn’t try to install it myself as I didn’t want to be fried myself, so you’ll have to spend a little extra money to get it professionally installed.
So what’s the real advantage? Well, before you get into that, let’s talk about what a surge actually is and how surge protectors work.
What is a Surge?
Basically, a surge is when something causes the an increase in the electrical charge in a power line, which will then increase the current that is going to your wall outlet. What can cause a surge? A lot of stuff. One thing you always hear about is lightning, though it’s not a very common cause of surges.
Another cause, and the most common, is electrical devices that require a lot of power. For example, a refrigerator, air conditioner, etc. When they turn on and off, they suck up a lot of energy and mess up the steady flow of voltage in the system.
Have you never noticed how sometimes the light will dim in your house for a second or two when the AC kicks on? In my house, I have a huge printer and whenever that thing turns on to start printing, it actually completely knocks out one of the electrical outlets in the same room!
How Surge Protectors Work
So how do surge protectors work? Basically, the electrical current flows from the wall to your surge protector and then to your electrical devices. When there is a surge, the extra voltage is diverted to the grounding wire inside the surge protector. There is usually some device inside the surge protector that handles this process of switching over to the ground when the voltage is too high.
It sounds simple, but it is what makes all the difference when it comes to price for these devices. Basically, there are three factors that differentiate the level of surge protection and the cost:
1. Clamping Voltage – A lower value here is better. This basically at what voltage the diversion will kick in. 330 V is a good low value whereas 500 V is too high because your electronic equipment might fried by then.
2. Energy – This is a rating that tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it burns out. It’s given in joules and ranges from 200 joules for very basic protection all the way up to thousands of joules.
3. Time – Some surge protectors kick in with a little delay, thereby exposing your equipment to the surge for a longer time. You want a surge protector with a very low response time.
Another good thing to look for is an indicator light on surge protectors. If it gets fried and no longer can protect your devices, you really don’t want to keep using it. If there is no indication light, you may never know that you surge protector is already dead.
How to Really Protect Yourself Using Surge Protection
If you really want to save equipment, even from lightning or from surges down power lines, there are a couple of things you need to do. Note that these will require calling your electrical provider/power company and asking for their help too.
1. Proper grounding – At the point where the power goes from the power lines down to the box outside your house, there needs to be proper grounding. If the box doesn’t have proper grounding, any power surge from the power lines will flow right into your house and fry up everything.
You can call your power company and they usually will come out and perform a test at no charge. I didn’t know this, but it’s true! You can also get an upgraded grounding if your power company offers the service.
2. Direct-strike prevention – The best situation is when your house never gets struck by lightning. You can do that with a lightning rod. You can buy these bad boys online and attach them to the top of your house or in other locations along with grounding.
Instead of your house getting hit, the rod will get hit and conduct everything down into the grounding. Again, something you’ll probably have to get professionally installed, but the only real way to truly protect against a lightning strike without having to unplug everything in your house.
3. Whole-House protection – This is what I had mentioned above. This could be a third defense against surge protection or a first defense if you can’t or don’t want to spend the money for #1 and #2.
4. In-line surge protectors – This is your final line of defense. You can buy Ethernet surge protectors, coaxial surge protectors and more.
Remember, a whole house protector will not be able to protect from surges that occur within the house, unless it reaches the main electrical board. So that’s why you need to have surge protection at all points in your house in order to truly protect your equipment.
What are your thoughts on surge protection? How do you have your house and equipment setup to protect against surges? Let us know in the comments. Enjoy!
