After a repairman told me a surge probably fried the electronics controlling the compressor on my refrigerator and suggested I get a single outlet surge protector I started doing some research.

Which appliances are at risk?

Appliances used to be a lot simpler than they are now. Now everything is digital and electronic. I found the following comment on BobVila.com:

Interesting how refrigerators have changed… Now 2013, leading OEM’s include leading electronics manufacturers, Samsung, LG, etc. Today they are laden with electronics, motherboards, digital displays in the door, LED’s, etc. all subject to surge damage, especially in those regions that experience weather with lightning/energy surges.

The more I read, the more it made sense to follow the advice of the guy who repaired my refrigerator and get a surge suppressor to protect it. But I also found out there are a lot of other appliances that need protection as well.

If I have a new refrigerator, washer, dryer, or stove with fancy electronic displays I’m putting a surge protection plug on them. Same thing goes for my flat screen televisions. I also read putting one on a garage door opener is a good idea. Anything with complex electronics inside should be treated as carefully as a computer. A refrigerator alone is over $2000 — I’m going to try to keep it and other expensive appliances as healthy as I can.

First step in protecting your appliances

The first step is making sure the outlet for your sensitive appliances is grounded. For under $10 you can get a tester like the once pictured left and easily determine the condition of the outlet. If it doesn’t test correctly here’s a good WikiHow that walks you through testing and correcting a problem: http://www.wikihow.com/Ground-an-Outlet.

Second line of defense

Some articles suggested a 3 step approach: verifying ground on outlet, whole house surge protection, and outlet surge protection. I’m not sold on the whole house step and will stick with grounded outlets augmented by a surge protector.

This Old House has a good article on surge protection that gives these guidelines when buying a protector:

This is the surge protector I picked up at Lowes

Before buying a plug-in unit, check that it does the following:
•Meets UL Standard 1449 (second edition)
•Has a clamping voltage — the amount that triggers the diversion of electricity to the ground — of 400 volts or less. The lower the number, the better the protection
•Absorbs at least 600 joules of energy
•Protects all three incoming lines: hot, neutral, and ground. Look for “L-N, L-G, N-G” (line to neutral, line to ground, neutral to ground) on the product’s spec sheet
•Stops functioning when its circuits are damaged by a surge
Both whole-house and plug-in types can get zapped without your knowing it; look for indicator lights that signal when a unit no longer works.

Did you read the “stops functioning when its circuits are damaged by a surge? I’d add one more item to that list of things to look for – an audible alarm. Indicator lights are usually hidden behind the appliance or cabinet and surge protectors with an audible alarm are a safer option. The surge protector I got at Lowes has an audible alert and protects up to 900 joules for $7.30.

I don’t, however, know how long the surge protector will sound. Since I just came home from a 9 day trip to find a dead refrigerator I don’t know if the alarm would have still been sounding when I got home. But if my refrigerator gets a power surge when I’m home I want to hear about it right away. Below are some samples I found – my top pick is the RCA which has 1500-joule surge protection with audible alarm that allows you to plug into the side so the appliance can be closer to the wall, but it’s $18.23: