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This Surge Protector Could Save Every Appliance In Your Home!

A Greensboro neighborhood had a power surge. Many of the appliances were zapped. How to keep that from happening to you.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — ZAP! “I wanted to run out and scream and say did it happen to you?”

What happened to this Greensboro woman? A tree snapped, burned down a circuit and sent a shock through the lines. For a while, hundreds of  Lindley Park neighbors were without power, and when it came back on major appliances were fried:  AC units, washers, stoves, dishwashers, refrigerators.

Duke Energy says it's not responsible because it wasn't due to their negligence, but to an incident out of the utility's control. While that all gets sorted out 2 Wants To Know went in search of what could help you during a power surge like this or a lightning strike.

RELATED: Greensboro Neighborhood Demanding Compensation, After Major Appliances Zapped During Power Surge

First order of protection: point-of-use surge protector for those TV's, computers, stereo systems. These protectors are for lower level surges.

Lindley Park Neighbors Deal With Power Surge 

In the Lindley Park case, those plug-in protectors weren't enough.
So what do you do?  Experts suggest layering the protection with a whole home surge protector taking the lead.

A whole home surge protector connects to your electric panel box. And it covers those smaller appliances, but also the big appliances like fridges and stoves.

These whole home surge protectors are sold at places like Lowe’s, Home Depot and Amazon. They range anywhere from $100 to $400.

Every whole home surge protector comes with a VPR, that's a Voltage Protection Rating.

You might think the best protector is the highest number, like 1,000. But the expert pages I looked at said go with a 600. This is the maximum voltage the protector allows into your home, which is better protection if it's less rather than more. Whatever amount is allowed in, the smaller point-of-use protectors will guard your smaller appliances. 

RELATED: Only Minutes Not Hours To Restore Major Outages With Duke Energy’s New Smart Grid

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