# whole house brown out protection



## rokosz (Jul 25, 2013)

I understand surge protectors and the equivalent for a whole house. But...

In another post someone mentioned that lightning is not the same as a surge. (or its a truly massive, immediate surge).  

Are there whole house minor and massive/lightning surge protectors?

Will some of the same do whole house brown-out protection?

brown-outs can be as damaging as surges and perhaps a bit more stealthy over time.  

I presume a brown-out protector would reduce the juice to zero so units aren't damaged by lo-v?

finally, on average it seems like whole house protectors are in the $800 range yes?  Is installation more _convenient_ ie less $ if done when a gennie is installed at the same time?  Seems like it would be...

Hah! which begs another question:  if the brown-out occurs, and the protector reduces juice to zero into the panel -- does the genny then kick on?   Whoa, and is the protector in-between the genny and panel too? or is a 2nd unit needed?   wow, this is getting very circular, sorry & thanks if you can help. B


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## nealtw (Sep 6, 2013)

Just bumped the thread for others to see.


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## JoeD (Sep 7, 2013)

I have never heard of brown out protector other than a UPS. A whole house UPS would be rather expensive.


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## drewdin (Sep 8, 2013)

I looked at them from Emerson, the cost was rather cheap (200 bucks). You put right in your panel. Ill try to find the model and post it here


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## JoeD (Sep 8, 2013)

drewdin said:


> I looked at them from Emerson, the cost was rather cheap (200 bucks). You put right in your panel. Ill try to find the model and post it here



$200 for a whole house UPS? Post a link.


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## rokosz (Sep 8, 2013)

Thanks for the ideas.  A quick search leads me to think Emerson leans more toward data center up-time. Nooutage.com does list a few "whole house" items (all over $1K).

If it isn't out there, seems like a marketing/engineering opp: whole house surge protectors are common (What about the lightning question in the OP?)  but a brown-out
protector could be as valuable given the electronics that are in _everything_ these days.  Maybe Homeowner's ins would provide a small discount for having one...
On the other hand: My K appliances' clocks all work fine during brown outs....


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## drewdin (Sep 9, 2013)

Its not a UPS, its more of a whole house Surge protector. The place i libed before would lose power and have surges all the time. A few electronics couldn't handle it so I started looking into options.

If i lose power, it wont supply any power but it will protect everything in the house


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## JoeD (Sep 9, 2013)

Still like to see a link to know exactly what it does. 
I suspect it has some sort master relay that cuts all the power to the house it the voltage drops below a certain threshold to avoid applying low voltage to your home.


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## drewdin (Sep 9, 2013)

EMC-240B


I also use a monster power center that regulates the power coming in so when it dips, the power center keeps it at 110.


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## JoeD (Sep 9, 2013)

That is a surge suppressor. There are many versions of that available.
We were discussing whole house brown out protection. Brown out by my definition is low voltage, below 100 volts.


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## drewdin (Sep 10, 2013)

my mistake


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