Basic course protection is what can easily be provided with something like this.

Installed after the main switch, has an indicator showing when a surge has occurred.

Would still recommend down-stream protection for other sensitive appliances

Another or extra protection can also be done as per this link

http://www.pdlglobal.com/data/product_documents/600SM%20Surge%20Arrester%20sheet.pdf" rel="nofollow - http://www.pdlglobal.com/data/product_documents/600SM%20Surge%20Arrester%20sheet.pdf

 

Full protection against lighting strikes,  expensive.

 

 

 

 

Many recommend and buy near zero joule protectors only because hearsay and advertising recommend it.  A protector, adjacent to an appliance, can either block or absorb a surge.  Correctly noted.  That 2 cm internal part clearly cannot stop what 3 kilometers of sky could not.  Those hundreds or thousand joules clearly cannot absorb a surge that can be hundreds of thousands of joules.

Never confuse a device, called a surge protector, with a device called a surge protector.  Those are two completely different devices.

An effective 'whole house' surge protector does not try to block or absorb a surge.  Direct lightning strikes without damage have been common for well over 100 years.  Because a proven device (called a protector) only connects a surge to what does protection.

Protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules are harmlessly absorbed.  That is outside on a low impedance (ie less than 3 meter) connection to single point earth ground.  Only a properly installed electrode system does protection.  Direct lightning strikes do not create damage when connected low impedance (ie wire has no sharp bends) to what dissipates hundreds of thousands of joules.

Protection is a system.  Some systems do not even have protectors.  But in every case,  every wire inside every incoming cable makes a low impedance (ie wire not inside metallic conduit) connection to earth ground.  Then a surge current is not inside hunting for earth destructively via household appliances.

Even power board protectors must be protected by this well proven solution.

A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.  As has been well understood for over 100 years.  A majority never learned this; buy near zero 'magic box' protectors that have no earth ground.  And that hope you never learn this reality.  Protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate.

Informed homeowners always properly earth a 'whole house' protector.  Critical is the quality of and low impedance connection to what actually does protection - single point earth ground.

Cold water pipe, today, is insufficient for earth ground.  In older installations, a ground wire might transverse the basement.  Wire is many times too long.  All but disconnected from earth.  Another reason why earthing does not exist.

Some had so little respect for human safety as to even ground (elsewhere in a house) to copper pipes.  Copper pipes should never become electrical conductors even before plastic pipes.  Plastic pipes are another reason.

More violations.  Some will connect a safety ground wire from a receptacle directly to an earth ground rod.  Also a safety violation.  But many assume safety ground and earth ground are same.

Critical for making a 'whole house' protector effective is single point earth ground.  And that low impedance (no sharp bends, no splices, less than 3 meters, not inside metallic conduit) connection.  That means all incoming utility wires (telephone, TV cable, satellite dish, invisible dog fence, outside TV antenna) must enter at the service entrance.  Since all must also make a low impedance connection to that earth ground. 

A 'whole house' solution is so effective because of what that protector connects to - single point earth ground.  All four words have electrical significance.

BTW, discussed is earthing for two completely different reasons.  Code addresses human safety.  Above additional requirements (and a 'whole house' protector) are for transistor safety.