LCEC – Lee County Electric Cooperative

Call 239-656-2300 and choose Option 7, then Option 2, then Option 3 for surgeSENSE You may also Contact Customer Care to have a Customer Care Professional contact you. surgeSENSE can only be purchased through LCEC and installed by an LCEC technician.

After your product service order is created, LCEC’s Energy Services team will contact you within 5 business days to schedule the installation.

Payment should be applied to your product account which is separate from your electric account; we mail your product account invoice to you after installation. Full payment is required within 15 days after installation and can be made by cash or check. Cash payments are accepted at our Immokalee Payment Center. Check payments are accepted online at www.lcec.net, at our Immokalee Payment Center, or by mail using the enclosed envelope.

Almost any power disturbance can cause interruption or possible damage to electrical equipment, especially sensitive microprocessors. Low-level transient voltage surges can cause stress on their circuits, leading to early failure. High-level transient voltage surges can result in immediate destruction of expensive equipment and circuitry. Customers are faced with many choices for transient voltage surge protection on the market and can be misled by lower-grade devices and their capabilities.

Stage 1 surge protection (meter base TVSS) redirects or reduces high-energy transient voltage surges that may occur on the power lines, at the point they first enter a building’s electrical wiring. This is commonly at the meter base.

Stage 2 surge protection (plug-in TVSS) goes a step further by offering protection to properly connected sensitive electronics at the point of use. This is commonly where a device is plugged in to electricity, phone, cable TV, network, etc.

Utility-grade surge suppressors provide the highest quality in transient voltage surge protection. LCEC’s surgeSENSE program offers you a way to help protect your electrical equipment against the constant danger of transient voltage surges. surgeSENSE components are specially manufactured to meet LCEC’s high engineering standards and are backed by the manufacturer’s product warranties.

No, but they can wear away at sensitive electronics and other equipment. An electronic device that is designed to last for a long period of time could fail much sooner than expected, if it is continually hit with small transient voltage surges.

No. There is nothing that can guarantee protection against a direct lightning strike. In fact, most lightning-related damage to customer equipment is from “indirect” lightning strikes, such as a strike occurring down the street. Quality TVSS equipment is designed to protect against transient voltage surges often generated from indirect strikes.

Yes! Lightning arresters are installed throughout the electric distribution system. They certainly reduce the potential for large surges but cannot “completely” eliminate exposure or the risk of damage from them.

Utility-grade TVSS’s are built to perform under high energy transient voltage surge conditions, they use large surge elements in multiple stages, and they handle up to six times as much surge energy as locally available products.

The Stage 1 meter-based TVSS is designed to arrest and redirect to ground (earth) the majority of a transient voltage surge or “spike” before it enters a building’s electrical wiring. It can help protect the electromechanical components of motor-driven appliances, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, and dishwashers during transient voltage surge events.

Meter-based TVSS’s cannot guarantee protection from a transient voltage surge that occurs when lightning physically strikes a building (direct strike) or in situations where lightning physically strikes an object or structure very close to the building (power transformer, tree, satellite dish, antenna, pump house, well, etc.). These are considered indirect strikes. The extreme intensity of these creates a large electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can induce transient voltages directly onto a building’s electrical wiring, communication cables, telephone lines, appliances, and sensitive electronics. Meter-based TVSS’s are also not designed to protect against damage caused by short-cycling of electrical equipment (motors, compressors, etc.), sustained over-voltage, or sustained under-voltage conditions.

When the indicator light is on, the device is working properly. The color of the light may vary from green, red, amber, or blue depending on the model of the device. Checking the indicator light when it is dark outside works best; direct sunlight can make it difficult to verify.

If the indicator light is not illuminated, contact LCEC for assistance.

Sensitive electronics located within equipment can typically be protected ONLY by Stage 2 TVSS’s (power strips, battery backups, hard-wired suppressors, etc.), which are specifically designed for that purpose. Some equipment and appliances such as stoves, clothes dryers, central HVAC systems, and pool/spa systems that contain electronics, unfortunately cannot be protected by commonly available Stage 2 devices in many cases because of their amperage requirements and plug design.