A power strip with a surge indicator gives a lot of people false confidence. It protects the four things plugged into it, at a joule rating that is often exhausted after a single significant event, and it does nothing for anything hardwired.
What a whole-house protector does differently
A whole-house surge protective device installs at the panel and clamps surges before they reach any branch circuit. That covers the furnace board, the range, the garage door opener and the EV charger, none of which are on a power strip.
Use both
The honest answer is layered protection: a whole-house device at the panel for the big transients, and point-of-use strips for sensitive electronics. Neither replaces the other.
Colorado sees enough grid switching and summer storm activity to make this worth doing properly.
