Protecting the electronics you now depend on
Surge Protection for Melbourne Homes
Twenty years ago a surge took out a television and a video recorder. Today it can take out an inverter, a battery management system, an EV charger, a heat pump controller, a ducted system board, a NAS full of photos and every device on the network. The value sitting behind your switchboard has gone up enormously, and most homes still have nothing protecting it.
- REC 37223
- Melbourne west
- Fixed quotes
The short answer
Whole-home surge protection is a surge protective device fitted inside the switchboard that diverts voltage spikes to earth before they reach appliances. It is typically installed for $300 to $700 when fitted during other switchboard work. Surges come from lightning, network switching and faults on the distribution system, not just storms. AS/NZS 3000 sets the installation requirements, and AS/NZS 1768 covers lightning protection. A powerboard with a surge rating protects one outlet only.
From one of our jobs
Whole-of-home surge protection at the board
Photographed on site in Melbourne’s west. REC 37223.
Surge protection is one of the cheapest pieces of insurance in an electrical installation, particularly if it is fitted while the board is already open for other work.
Where surges actually come from
Most people assume lightning. Direct strikes are real but rare. The great majority of damaging events on Melbourne homes are smaller and more frequent, and they come from the grid side or from within the house itself.
That is why protection matters even for people who never see a storm at their address. A fault two streets away, or the network switching a feeder on a hot February afternoon, can put a spike through every house on the same run.
Network switching
Distributors switch feeders, reclose after faults and bring capacitor banks in and out. Each of these can create a transient.
Nearby faults
A car into a pole, a branch across a line or a failed transformer sends a spike down the street before the protection clears it.
Indirect lightning
A strike a kilometre away induces voltage in overhead lines. You do not need to be hit to be affected.
Inductive loads in the house
Motors starting and stopping, such as pool pumps, compressors and older air conditioners, generate their own smaller transients.
Solar and inverter systems
Rooftop DC cabling adds another exposed path, which is why solar installations are commonly protected on both the AC and DC sides.
Layered protection, not one magic device
Surge protection works in stages. Each stage takes the peak down further, and no single device does the whole job well.
For a typical Melbourne home with an underground supply, a device at the switchboard plus point-of-use protection on the most valuable equipment is the sensible balance. Homes on overhead supply in older streets, or homes with a large solar array, may warrant more.
Service entrance protection
The heaviest duty device, used where there is a real risk of direct or conducted strike energy entering the installation.
Switchboard protection
The workhorse. It sits in the board, clamps the incoming spike and diverts it to earth, protecting everything downstream.
Point-of-use protection
Small devices at the equipment itself for the last stage. Useful for home offices, media equipment and network gear.
Data and antenna paths
A surge can travel in on a coaxial antenna lead or a data line just as easily as on the power. These need their own protection.
What a switchboard device does and does not do
A surge protective device in the board is a sacrificial component. It clamps voltage above a set threshold and dumps the energy to earth. Over time, and after enough events, it wears out. Good devices have a status indicator, usually a green window that turns red, and it needs to be looked at occasionally rather than fitted and forgotten.
It will not protect against a sustained overvoltage caused by a broken neutral, which is a different fault requiring different protection. It will not stop your power going off in a storm. And it cannot help equipment that is damaged by a spike arriving on a phone line or antenna cable that has no protection of its own. We are clear about all of this before you spend money.
When it is worth fitting
The honest answer is that it is close to a no-brainer if the board is already open, and a judgement call if it is a standalone visit. The cost of the device and the labour is small next to a single inverter replacement.
You have solar or a battery
Inverter electronics are among the most expensive things a surge can kill, and replacement is rarely covered as a warranty item.
You have an EV charger
The charger, and in some fault paths the car's onboard charger, sit at the end of a long circuit and are worth protecting.
You are already upgrading the board
Fitting the device during a board upgrade saves a second call out and a second isolation of the supply.
You are on overhead supply
Overhead street mains pick up induced surges far more readily than underground supply.
You work from home
The cost of a day without a functioning network, printer and workstation usually exceeds the cost of the device.
How we fit it
The device is installed inside the switchboard next to the main switch, on its own protective device, with the shortest practical connection to the main earth bar. That last point sounds like detail but it is the single biggest factor in how well the device performs. Long, looped connecting leads add impedance and let more of the spike through.
We check there is physical room in the board first, because some full boards need a way freed up or an extension fitted. Once installed, the work is tested and a Certificate of Electrical Safety is issued, and we show you where the status indicator is so you can check it after a big storm.
Signs surge protection is worth your money
- 1You have solar, a battery or an EV charger fitted
- 2Your street is fed by overhead mains
- 3You have lost appliances or a modem after a storm before
- 4The house runs a home office or medical equipment
- 5Your switchboard is being upgraded anyway
- 6Lights flicker or dim noticeably when large appliances start
- 7You have expensive ducted heating or cooling with electronic controls
On the job
Surge Protection in Melbourne's west
Every circuit labelled before we hand it back
Licensed and accredited work by a local team. Read about Pivot Trade Services or see recent jobs across the western suburbs.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
It protects whatever is plugged into that one board and nothing else. Your oven, ducted system, solar inverter, hot water controller and hardwired equipment are all unprotected. Powerboards also use small components that wear out quickly and often keep supplying power long after the protection has failed. They are a useful last stage behind a switchboard device, not a substitute for one.
Fitted during other switchboard work, expect roughly $300 to $700 depending on the device and whether space has to be made in the board. As a standalone job, add the call out. Compare that with an inverter replacement, a ducted system control board or a new EV charger and the sums are not close.
Many policies cover damage from lightning, but the definitions vary and some exclude damage from power surges that are not caused by a strike. Excesses often exceed the value of individual items too. Read the product disclosure statement rather than assuming. Fitting protection is also easier to prove than arguing about the cause of a failure after the fact.
It depends entirely on how many events it absorbs. Some devices run fifteen years untouched, others fail after a single severe event. That is why quality units include a visual status indicator and, in some cases, a remote signalling contact. Check the indicator after any major storm or any outage that ended with a bang, and have it replaced if it has changed colour.
Yes. Motors and compressors create transients when they switch, and a failing appliance can put noise back onto the circuits. These internal events are smaller than grid events but far more frequent, and they contribute to the slow degradation of sensitive electronics. Whole-home protection at the board handles both directions.
It is less critical than on overhead supply, but not unnecessary. Underground streets still get transients from network switching and from faults on the distribution network upstream. If you have solar, a battery or an EV charger, the equipment value alone usually justifies it regardless of how your street is fed.
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