An email I received from the Detroit Edison (DTE) Energy Company today. The text reads:
How it works:
Installation*: DTE will install the device on your electric meter in less than 30 minutes. No need to schedule an appointment or be at home. Your home is protected as soon as the device is installed by our technicians.
Protection and Warranties: The warranty coverage provides $5,000 per event for appliances and $1,000 per event for electronics to repair or replace your household items in the event the device fails to protect against damaging surges.
Stay Connected: Your surge device comes with a FREE 20-foot power cable. In the event of a power outage, you can connect your generator to the surge device with the power cable to power your home up to the generator’s capacity. Easy access for your generator – you won’t have to run extension cords from your generator into your home.
Learn more | Enroll now
*There’s a one-time installation fee for a surge protection plus device of $49.99, which is a limited time offer and will expire on December 31, 2024. After the expiration date, the installation fee will return to its normal price of $99.99. To access the Surge Protection Plus program’s Terms and Conditions, visit dteenergy.com/sppterms.
and of course that URL is hyperlinked with a big long tracking string on the end of it so I won't be sharing it
That is not what a fuse box, well breaker box, is for. A breaker box is pretty much only designed to prevent the wiring in your house from catching fire and to prevent people from accidentally electrocuting themselves. Though, the latter is more recent than you'd like it to be. GFCI wasn't always required and I'm not even sure if AFCI is required everywhere. A breaker box will likely trip during a surge but it's not going to be instant. So until it trips, all that extra power just flows through all your devices. Surge protectors are designed to prevent that.
While I'm pretty confident about this answer, I am not an electrician or anything. I just learned a lot when I had to get my breaker box replaced and had to brings some things up to code as a result.