GFCI Type Circuitry for Power Surges

They already exist, they are just not cheap.

i have obtained good surge protection from so called "Spike buster" sockets, usually available as 3/4/6 sockets in one strip. A metal-oxide varistor with or without RC networks is used in these.

Metal Oxide Varistors(MOV) are used as surge protectors in electronic equipments,they are very sensitive and responds instantaneously to surge isues. This protective device has been in use for a prity long time, it in vitually all cases work in collaburation with the fuse or circuit breaker. It operates to open the fuse or trips the breaker. The fuse or GFCI can not alone achieve this feat.

They come in various sizes and range depending on the capacity of the equipment.

Dickson.

I'm a chemist too...so I can't directly solve your problem. I live in the country and have a similar problem with every storm etc.. I purchased a couple of power supplies which can be charged and then used when the weather is bad.

Un-interruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are the answer.

Standard off-the-shelf power surge protectors rely on varistors to absorb the energy. They are reasonably fast; however, they allow quite large over-voltages so they are not suitable for protecting all circuit types. Their characteristics are such that (when they are operating properly) two in series will not provide significantly better protection than a single unit - the only advantage is that the first protector can slightly protect the second protector.

Many types also rely on there being a high-quality ground connection; with these protectors and poor grounding, some types of surge can get through at twice the level that would be seen with good grounding. If you place a GFCI (RCD...) between such a surge protector and the incoming supply, the action of the surge protector should cause the GFCI to trip. The problem here is that GFCIs are mechanical devices; so depending on your specific problem, this may or may not be soon enough to prevent damage to your appliance (Given that most low-cost off-the-shelf power surge protectors were originally designed for Europe or the USA where the utility companies control longer-duration events, this may be an appropriate solution - but I don't know enough about the differences to say it will do more than marginally reduce the number of fatal events).

The standard methods for protecting against large and/or long-duration surges include series protectors*, saturable transformers and certain types of UPS (read up on these - the most basic types will not provide the protection you require).

*N.B. In principle some types of series protector (e.g. PTC thermistors) could be reasonably cheap. However, they would have to be tailored to the specific load requirements; as a result, I know of no series method that is both cheap and fast.

P.S. If the event is a relatively local lightning strike, (other than living inside a Faraday cage) your best protection might be to use very short leads between the surge protector and the appliance.

Common surge protectors are not the answer.

A staged protection plan using the correct technology will greatly reduce or eliminate the harmful effects of electrical surges.

Proper coordination of protection equipment in direct relationship to the equipment to be protected will solve your problem.

Utilizing a UPS alone will only add to it the list equipment being damaged.