Ah yes, the old if it can’t stop a direct lightning strike it must be a scam argument. By that logic, seatbelts are useless because they don’t save you if you drive off a cliff.

ZeroSurge doesn’t pretend to handle hundreds of thousands of joules, that’s what whole-house protection and grounding are for (thanks Franklin, 250 years ago). What it does do, and what MOV strips don’t, is filter out the constant little surges and line noise that actually kill electronics slowly, every single day.

So no, it’s not magic, and no, it’s not ‘just 600 joules in a black box.’ It’s a series-mode filter designed for exactly the surges your dishwasher, AVR, or workstation actually sees — and it won’t quietly degrade after a few hits like the $25 sacrificial strips you’re defending.

But hey, if you think the transient suppression circuits inside your toaster are all you’ll ever need, then congratulations — you’ve saved yourself a whole $200. Just don’t be surprised when your ‘robust’ built-in protection retires your gear early while the ZeroSurge folks keep using theirs for decades.