Whole House Surge Protectors

Whole house surge protectors are costly to buy and then to install. They are wise investments when located in a high elevation or other locations of higher incidence of lightning strikes. They also only protect from the source, upline surge charges (intake through the Ameren UE power lines) and not the downline (strikes the house wall) wiring. My research and experience for standard locations is to use a UPS/filter or other less costly and more location-specific filter near the electronic equipment and appliances, therefore protecting against upline and downline surges. Whole house filters alone offer only a sense of security rather than the actual physical protection delivered by local filters at each appliance. Important installations will employ both methods as well as a very elaborate grounding system such as at a data processing and data storage centers.