TESCO Surge ProtectorYour home's appliances and electronic devices are essential for your day-to-day life. However, when left unprotected these devices are vulnerable to tremendous damage from exposure to electrical surges. Overvoltage conditions can create surges that can be devastating to your home's electronics, resulting in costly efforts to replace your damaged property. In the best interest of its members, Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative offers surge protection devices that members can use to protect their home's sensitive appliances and electronics from damaging voltage disturbances.

For this purpose, Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative sells and installs Tesco brand TES 240 MSA ("Meter Socket Adaptor") Surge Arresters. These devices are installed behind a home's electric meter as a means of protection from surges from line overvoltage conditions. Surge arrestors are capable of protecting your whole home from high voltage surges, as compared to smaller surge protection devices, such as power strips, which can protect only a few items. Once higher than normal voltage is detected, this device will "clamp" the voltage, restricting the flow of electricity in order to protect your home from a spike in power.

Each surge protector comes with a 10-year manufacturer warranty that offers to replace the surge protector and covered household devices that were damaged in the event of the surge protector's failure under normal surge conditions. Full warranty details can be found in this webpage's "Documents" section. You can apply online to equip your home with surge protection using the form below.

    Who will install my surge protector?

    With purchase of a Tesco TES 240 MSA Surge Arrestor, the buyer agrees to have representatives of Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative install the device behind their home's electric meter. Listed purchase price includes the cost of installation. The device will be installed as per Tesco's specific installation guidelines.

    All interference or tampering with a residential electric meter, including by an electrician, without Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative's knowledge and approval is not allowed per our Tariff for Electric Service. If the homeowner chooses to, for whatever reason, have their surge protector removed, the homeowner must give Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative at least two weeks notice. Following this, a representative of Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative will schedule a time to remove the device from behind the electric meter.

    What happens if my surge protector fails?

    The 10-year manufacturer warranty included with purchase of a Tesco TES 240 MSA surge protector allows for reimbursement for damages to a homeowner's property if a surge passes through a failed (by failure indicator) surge protector. All coverage is offered through Tesco, the manufacturer of the product, not Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative. Tesco will repair or replace the surge protector as well as covered in-home electronic equipment and appliances, up to $5,000 per item but not to exceed an aggregate of $50,000 per failure.

    Tesco will only offer repair or replacement of damaged items in cases where the surge protector itself has failed. Other conditions, such as sustained overvoltage conditions, misuse of the surge protector, direct hit or near hit lightning strikes that bypass the surge protector, etc. will not be covered. A full list of exceptions can be found in the product's warranty.

    Does the Tesco surge protector offer protection only against specific types of power surges?

    The Tesco TES 240 MSA only offers protection from a power surge that comes through Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative's power lines into the member's electric meter. It does not offer protection from a surge that enters your home through other sources, such as your telephone line or cable TV line or from a lightning strike affecting your home.

    SREC recommends that members make use of "point of use" devices like power strips to offer further protection to their most sensitive devices and appliances in case of a surge from these other sources.

    What are "line overvoltage conditions?" Do these surge protectors guard against undervoltage conditions?

    "Line overvoltage conditions" refers to instances of higher voltage levels than what utility power lines are rated for. A persistent level of voltage over the designated range can enter homes connected to these power lines and can be harmful to your electronic devices and appliances. Whole-house surge protection devices like the Tesco TES 240 MSA can automatically detect potentially dangerous surges in voltage and prevent them from affecting your home.

    "Undervoltage conditions" refers to instances of lower than normal voltage being delivered to your home. "Brownouts" are caused by undervoltage conditions and a sustained brownout can cause damage to a home's electronics. The Tesco TES 240 MSA only protects against line overvoltage conditions. "Point of use" surge protection devices like power strips can help protect your home's devices from undervoltage conditions.

    Can this surge protector be installed alongside a GenerLink transfer switch?

    The Tesco TES 240 MSA is installed behind your electric meter, as is the GenerLink transfer switch. Only one of these devices can be installed behind a member's meter. If you have a surge protector installed behind your home's meter, it would have to be removed for a GenerLink to be installed.

    The GenerLink comes with an option to include surge protection. For members interested in both surge protection and a transfer switch, we recommend selecting the surge protector model GenerLink.