westom

Those protectors fail - have limited life expectancy - because failure gets the naive to recommend it and buy more. If nobody knows a surge existed - ie properly installed protectors - then the naive will not recommend it.

What sometimes happens because plug-in protectors are undersized to maximize profits and do only near zero surge protection:
http://www.hanford.gov/rl/?page=556&parent=554
http://www.westwhitelandfire.com/Art...Protectors.pdf (gone)
http://www.ddxg.net/old/surge_protectors.htm
http://www.zerosurge.com/HTML/movs.html
http://www3.cw56.com/news/articles/local/BO63312/
http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/news/lesson-learned/surgeprotectorfire.htm
http://www.pennsburgfireco.com/fullstory.php?58339
http://t i n y u r l.com/3x73ol
where t i n y u r l has no spaces and is entitled "Surge Protector Fires"

Norma on 27 Dec 2008 in "The Power Outage" also describes danger from power strip protectors:
> Today, the cable company came to replace a wire. Well the cable man pulled a
> wire and somehow yanked loose their "ground" wire. The granddaughter on the
> computer yelled and ran because sparks and smoke were coming from the
> power surge strip.

Another reason you need energy dissipated harmlessly outside the building by one 'whole house' protector with proper earthing. Power strip protectors need to be protected by one 'whole house' protector.

Anyone who protects by disconnecting must think the furnace, dishwasher, refrigerator, washing machine, clocks, smoke detectors, security system, etc are all disposable appliances. Have no value. If everything is not protected, then that protector is completely wasted money. Effective protection: everything is protected and nobody disconnects anything.