I'm looking for a recommendation for a reasonably priced (under $250) whole house surge suppressor.
Also, I'm having my electrician give me separate circuits for my computer system and the home theater setup. Should I use 20 amp circuits for the audio and projector circuit?

Lastly, I read on these forums about remote control dimmer switches. Anyone have any recommendations for those? I didn't see any at Home Depot or Menards.

Thanks for all the advice.

I havent used any of these, but maybe someone else on the forum has:

http://www.smarthome.com/4839.html
http://www.smarthome.com/4860.html
http://www.smarthome.com/4870.html

I'd be interested in hearing others experiences on these as well.

For my theater, I ran a dedicated 20 amp line for my av rack. That will also power my projector as they are in the same room. There will be a ups between the rack and the projector to help the bulb cool down during a power outage. I also ran a dedicated 15 amp for the lighting, and another 20 amp line for my subs.

For the remote control dimmer switches, I use the Insteon ones. Others like the Lutron ones. It all depends on what your budget is.

I had an Intermatic. Last winter we had a surge that took it out along with $1000 worth of electronic dimmers. Not good! :mad:

I am now using a Square D Homeline surpressor that fits right in the breaker box as if it were a double breaker.

I went with the Leviton:

http://www.hometech.com/power/surge.html#LE-51120-1

Has anyone found any comparisons/reviews of any of these models?

It also looks like eskay's model is similar to the second smart home link. I dont know what the difference in the -0 or -1 is in the model numbers though.

Both links are to the same model number. There is no "-0" model.

lol, you're right. I must be blind today. No idea where I got the -0 from...

Both links are to the same model number. There is no "-0" model.

Where do these install in the system? What is the lifespan-i.e., how many "hits" can they take?

They usually install right at the panel, though I suppose you oculd put it wherever you wanted to.

I have no idea how many hits they can take, but I think that if there was a nearby lightning strike you would probably be happy to just get 1.

So what model did you end up going with??? Impressions?

I'm looking for a recommendation for a reasonably priced (under $250) whole house surge suppressor.
Also, I'm having my electrician give me separate circuits for my computer system and the home theater setup. Should I use 20 amp circuits for the audio and projector circuit?

Lastly, I read on these forums about remote control dimmer switches. Anyone have any recommendations for those? I didn't see any at Home Depot or Menards.

Thanks for all the advice.

I researched this matter a while back and found the following to be amongst the best available for residential use.

Sycom SYC-120/240TC

http://www.sycomsurge.com/pdf/SYC-120-240TC.pdf

I went with an industrial TVSS from AC Data Systems. I looked at "consumer" surge suppressors, and decided that they were too puny. I bought it surplus (new - sealed). If you look around on the bay, and at electronic surplus places you can often find these at very low prices. One thing - I would not get a "pull" or used TVSS - you don't know what shape it is in. You generally want the surge suppressor mounted as close to the earth ground as possible. Usually the main electrical panel has the direct earth ground nearby - that is a good spot to mount them.

Pic:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z247/myzoos/whole_house_surge.jpg

I just did a quick search and had a couple come up that looks like yours. They were higher than the ones that smarthome are selling.

How did the installation process go?

I just did a quick search and had a couple come up that looks like yours. They were higher than the ones that smarthome are selling.

How did the installation process go?

Installation was not too difficult. There is an alarm circuit relay box at the top of the unit that closes some dry contacts to let you know if the unit is degraded or not working correctly, and there are also LED's inside the unit, you might just be able to see the green "OK" led on the bottom middle unit in my pic. I mounted mine upside down because the alarm relay box was in the way, and I wanted the supply wiring to be as short as possible. I called AC data systems - they were very nice and told me I could mount it sideways if I wanted to - the orientation did not matter. It takes 10ga wiring to both hot sides of a 240v breaker + a ground wire. The three gray blocks are the surge units - they "sit" between the hots and each hot and the ground - this covers all surge modes. You can go with a 60A breaker or a 100A breaker (yes, you read that correctly - 100 amps). I think the idea on the huge breakers is that you want the breaker to stay closed for as long as possible under a surge condition.

You need:
The supply wires - 3 at about a foot long each in my setup, a 2 or 3 inch long 1 and 1/2 inch nipple, 4 nuts for the nipple, and a double breaker.

Install:
Remove one of the 1 and 1/2 inch knock outs in the bottom of the breaker box.
Install the nipple in the breaker box with one nut on the inside, and one on the outside (sandwich). Tricky part - use a sharpie to blacken the bottom of the nipple. Slide the TVSS up the wall until it touches the blacked nipple. That will leave a circle marked on the box - drill that out - put a nut on the nipple - slide the unit onto the nipple - put the last nut on the inside of the unit on the nipple - tighten all nuts. Screw the unit to the wall - install the breaker and wires.
It might sound like a lot, but it was really easy.