Reed,
Since most lightning strikes that have to be mitigated are indirect, meaning they strike somewhere else in the path, the actual volatage/amperage that reaches your home is usually well under what these units can handle.
For a direct lightning strike, I don't know if there's anything on...
With your project, it sure would Brian. It sure is nice having peace of mind that your surge protector won't go bad on you in the middle of the night one day.
Good catch, I probably shouldn't have left that out of my review. The SA-1810 retails for $429 USD, but street pricing these days is quite a bit lower. I've added an Amazon link to the review.
Surge protectors fall squarely in the list of most important yet least sexy products we purchase. An investment of hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars in AV equipment should be well protected, yet often isn’t. In most cases we buy a generic surge strip or maybe splurge on a higher end home...