SURGE PROTECTOR IN THE MAIN PANEL ~ A SIMPLE DEVICE THAT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY

Whole-House surge protectors act quickly to route electrical surges in the power supply to ground, safely protecting fragile electronic components, computers and circuit boards in major appliances that are increasingly common in most homes. Today I'm installing one in my Square-D QO panel. Please hire a qualified electrician to perform this work!
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Disclaimer: IMPORTANT! READ!:
This video may portray household, construction, automotive or other repair methods and/or activities that may not be suitable for everyone.These videos are informative but are for entertainment purposes only. Always use certified contractors, licensed mechanics, qualified electricians and professionally certified tradespeople to perform any work. Follow the advice of your local building inspector and get appropriate permits before undertaking any repairs or electrical work. Please follow all safety precautions and local Codes. Viewers are advised not to undertake any of the actions in these videos themselves. Everyday Projects cannot be held responsible for any damage, injury or claim resulting from information or instruction gleaned from these videos, whether expressed or implied.
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[@michaelkennedy2528]

Simple, to the point with plentiful warnings about dealing with electricity. I like all the components in this video.

[@EverydayProjects]

Thanks Michael !

[@GardenTractorBoy]

It is interesting that your panel look a lot different to what we have over here. Great install and it is great you updated the legend. Something that is easy to overlook but critical for fault finding

[@EverydayProjects]

In Canada, most service panels are like this but I've watched videos of service panels in some parts of the US that are mounted to the outside of the home. I know that in the UK homes run on 240 volts where here that voltage is reserved for certain appliances only, like cookers and heaters. Perhaps you could do a video sometime showing us what your service panels look like. That would be interesting.

[@GrampiesWorkshop]

How's she goin '? Nicely done. I like that you updated the legend. I don't know how many times I have had to trace circuits in my own panel because I never marked them!! Take care!!

[@EverydayProjects]

Thanks Mike. I was thinking of you when I did this and knew you'd be watching my work carefully, being an electrician. I installed a heat pump last month (video to come) and we heard that a surge protector would be a good idea. I wish I had the newer style Square-D panel that accepts breakers with a built in neutral. The arc-fault breakers in my panel all have neutral pigtails and they crowd the box. The newer Square-D panels have a neutral bus that runs in behind the breakers that the breaker snaps into. We are glad that we installed this surge protector...I hope we never need it!

[@GrampiesWorkshop]

@@EverydayProjects I have a Sq D panel too and it's an old one. My surge protector (for one of the bedrooms) has it's own neutral like you described. Sure makes the panel look messy eh!!

[@EverydayProjects]

@@GrampiesWorkshop I rewired the whole house under permit it 2018 and I really wanted a neat layout in the panel but the need to have so many wires and the longer body in arc fault breakers clogged up the works. The inspector found everything up to code but it's not the look I wanted.

[@drorr3431]

We recently had a multiple surge/across several devices in our house. The problem was a result of a broken Neutral wire coming from the Utility (outside the house due to severe storm). The Utility guys did reconnect that wire. My Square D - QO Panel didn't have a whole house surge protector. I want to install a Type 2 Surge protector (QO2175SB). Am very handy and am a retire EE Eng. No need to warn me of hazards.... My question is: 1) if I connect the grounding wire of the Surge protector to the NEUTRAL bus in the panel and a similar incident happens, where would the shunting go!? Should I connect it to the Panel Ground instead (it would shunt it to the ground of the house via the existing copper wire tied to the water main in my case) ? 2)note that I am not sure if my Neutral and my panel ground are tied together!?!? - how could I find out? Thank you!

[@EverydayProjects]

If it's a main service panel (defined as the FIRST place the power is distributed after entering from the street), the grounds and neutrals will have been bonded together. In any other location downstream (sub panels) the grounds and neutrals are separated. Surge protectors connect to a double-pole location in the main service panel and connect, usually by a pigtail, to the neutral bus. The surge protector should be located as close as possible to the main disconnect and have a short, straight run to the neutral bus.

[@drorr3431]

Thank you for your guidance! My Panel is connected to the grid through a Generac Transfer Panel which in turn is connected to an outside stand by 17KW Generator. So in this case, is my Square D QO panel considered to be a "Sub-Panel" or is it still a "Main Panel"?

[@EverydayProjects]

The generator is on the sub panel, isolated from providing power to the home when power from the utility is present. Any doubts, get an electrician to have a look. take care/@@drorr3431

[@spuddy_bud]

I have a main panelboard which includes the meter and the main disconnect for 200 amps. This box has room for only 8 breakers but also has pass-thru lugs at the bottom of the box. These pass-thru lugs carry power (200 amps) to a subpanel. The main panelboard as well as the subpanel are Square D. Do I install the whole house surge protector in the main panelboard or the subpanel or both. Please advise.

[@EverydayProjects]

Install as close as possible to the main breaker coming from the street.

[@heliarche]

A guy bought a house up the hill from me recently. Not much in that place is done right. Of course there were no labels on the breaker box. Does this eliminate the need for your regular plug in style of surge protectors? I think I'd probably run them anyhow but two layers of protection would be better I think. Another one, since you do electrical, will you be tying in a generator and what I think is called a transfer switch? Right now if the power is out, I run extension cords to the fridge and freezer and a few lights. It'd be really nice to just fire up the generator and throw a switch.

[@EverydayProjects]

I rewired the whole house under permit in 2018 and I included a generator transfer switch (a whole panel actually). It is joined to the main panel and is in the wall under the painting on the right in this video. I plan to do a video of that whole system soon. There is a connection box outside to plug the generator into. In the generator panel are the circuits for my fridge, lights throughout the house and select receptacles, plus the smoke alarm circuit. On normal power, these are powered from the main panel.

[@EverydayProjects]

The plug-in style surge protectors do add another layer of protection, so continue using them.

[@heliarche]

@@EverydayProjects For the transfer switch, that would involve your power company disconnecting the power wouldn't it? Back in the day when my Father had some involved work on our electrical he'd pull the meter, no big deal to him. Now we have these "smart meters" and I'd worry about getting caught.

[@EverydayProjects]

@@heliarche The generator panel is just a sub panel fed from the main service panel. It is a 60 amp sub panel with an interlock at the top preventing utility and generator feeds from being active at the same time. Usually, everything in the generator panel is fed from the main and runs as normal. When there is a power outage, I switch the interlock to generator supply, plug the generator into the outside receptacle and start the generator. The circuits I put in this panel are as stated before. This is the number for the exact panel I installed: QOGP3P6036P

[@EverydayProjects]

@@heliarche No need to pull the meter or have the electrical feed disconnected. Just install a breaker to feed the generator panel (mine is a 60 amp double pole breaker).