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Whole-Home Surge Protection · New York
A whole-home surge protective device (SPD) mounts at the panel and limits voltage spikes before they reach your circuits. The current National Electrical Code requires one for new and replaced services in dwellings; it works best paired with plug-in protectors for electronics.
New York City has one of the oldest building stocks in the country, and upstate winters bring ice-storm outages.
Across the Northeast, homes deal with cold winters, nor'easters and ice storms. Permit offices, utilities and housing stock differ by city, which affects how whole-home surge protection is planned and scheduled. These local guides cover the New York cities where we have written specific notes.
Summer thunderstorms in the Hudson Valley bring lightning to Albany, and surges commonly damage boiler controls, furnace boards, appliances and electronics. Many rowhouses and older homes have water-pipe grounds that should be supplemented with a proper grounding electrode before a surge device can work well.
Utility: National Grid
Summer storms off Lake Erie bring lightning to Buffalo, and surges commonly damage boiler controls, furnace boards, sump pump controllers and electronics. In a double, each unit's panel needs its own protective device, and plug-in protection covers televisions and computers.
Utility: National Grid
1. Check grounding
Grounding electrode and bonding are inspected.
2. Install the SPD
The device is mounted on a breaker or lugs with short leads.
3. Verify
Indicator lights and connections are checked.
Electricians set their own prices; local permit fees and utility requirements add to these factors.
Permits come from the city or county where the home is. For example: Albany: Electrical work in Albany is permitted through the city's Department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance; suburbs such as Colonie and Bethlehem run their own. Buffalo: Electrical permits inside the city come from the City of Buffalo's Department of Permit and Inspection Services; suburbs such as Amherst and Cheektowaga issue their own.
Albany: National Grid. Buffalo: National Grid.
No. It handles large surges at the panel; point-of-use protectors handle smaller ones near sensitive electronics.
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