Surge Protection

Good question Dan. Most washing machines run software like a mini computer so theoretically it should be possible for surges to damage them. In the past I've seen cases where electrical surges in the mains have even blown washing machine's with no chips or software but just normal electronics in PCBs. To be honest it's not something most people ever give a second thought and I expect it's likely to be very rare for anything to happen but surge protectors seem to be a lot cheaper these days so it might be worth looking at.

The main thing I would check though is that they are ok for the high power washing machines draw. It may be the surge protection market is all geared up for computers and TVs etc which draw much less power so you'd need to see if they are available to protect appliances drawing much more power (at least 10 amps and more).