Trophy Case LED Surge Protection Checklist for School Facilities Teams
Intent: decide/calculate. Trophy case LED surge protection means installing Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) on the branch circuits that power your school’s trophy case lighting so that voltage transients — from lightning strikes, utility switching events, or HVAC startup on shared distribution panels — are clamped before they reach and damage LED drivers. Unlike fluorescent ballasts, which tolerate transient overvoltages through inductive impedance, LED drivers contain switching power supplies with MOSFETs, filter capacitors, and control ICs that fail at voltage levels well below the driver’s maximum rated input. A single unprotected surge can destroy a driver outright, or degrade it gradually so that fixtures begin failing months later with no obvious cause. This checklist walks facilities teams through a structured nine-step process for assessing, selecting, and documenting surge protection for school trophy case LED lighting circuits.
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