Question: “Will my surge protector protect me from lightning?”

The simple answer is “No.” Unfortunately, lightning is just too strong. The 50-amp Power Watchdog units have 4800 joules of protection – which is industry-leading – while the 30-amp units have 2400 joules. With all of our units, the surge module is replaceable, so if you do have a surge or spike that takes out the module part, you just replace that part, put a new one back in, seal it back up and you’re back in business.

Typical lightning is about 1-10 billion joules, so nothing man-made is going to be protecting you from a direct lightning strike. At the same time, a surge protector is something you should have because it is protecting against surges or spikes coming from your neighbors, arcing power lines, or if it’s a distant lightning strike that’s far enough away.