The Importance of Whole-House Protection

Business is booming for installers of residential electronic systems like burglar alarms, video security systems, audio/video systems, HVAC and data networks. The market for these technologies is growing in both dollar volume and sophistication.

Still, for installation contractors, your competent and efficient work may not be enough to be successful anymore. Building a lasting and respected business depends on consistently delighting customers – and few things ruin customer satisfaction faster or more completely than callbacks for malfunctioning or nonfunctioning systems.

When systems fail, customers usually don’t know what caused the problem – so they blame the installer. This is understandable; they don’t have the knowledge that you do. However, you know that the truth is more complex than that. Like all sensitive electronic systems, these are vulnerable to damage from electrical power surges. Power surges can destroy an electronic system dramatically, all at once, or they can gradually damage a system a little at a time without ever being noticed by the system owner, until it fails.

Your residential customers are not aware how common power surges are, or how damaging they can be to electronic systems. They may think that power surges are only the result of lightning strikes – when in truth small, everyday power surges are far more common. They don’t know that power surges are often caused by the equipment right inside or nearby their home, or unseen events on the supply power grid.

So, as a residential installation professional, power surge damage can work against you two ways: first, by causing unnecessary system failures, and second, because customers will unfairly blame you for those failures.

There is a simple solution: offer whole-house surge protection as an option on every residential electronic system installation. Explain to your customers that they are currently welcome to decline that option, but that damage to the system due to electrical surges will then be their own responsibility. In fact, changes to the National Electrical Code (NEC) will make whole-house surge protection a requirement starting in 2020. NFPA’s Committee on the NEC recognizes the growing need for surge protection to protect the increasing number and importance of sensitive electronic systems in all residences.

By providing whole-house protection right at the service entrance, you not only prevent externally-generated surge events from entering the house and the electronic systems within, but you also reduce the chances that internally-generated surges will be passed throughout the rest of the house systems. For particularly important systems, such as burglar alarms, video security and HVAC systems, an additional layer of protection at the branch or equipment connection level will provide needed protection against damage and will increase their service life and reliability.

The additional cost for whole-house protection is easily explained and is usually smaller than the sales tax in most localities.

DITEK provides professional surge protection solutions that are ideal for residential installations. A full range of application-specific models are available; designed for ease of installation, effectiveness and made in the USA. DITEK also provides ample technical support and sales collateral to help ensure your success, and backs their offerings with a strong warranty.

Don’t get blamed for power surge-related failures. Let DITEK provide professional surge protection solutions for your residential installations.