wiring question

Hi All: I'm rewiring my old house, with a new service panel, and thought that this would be a good time to add a whole house surge protector. My head is spinning at the choices, however! Can anybody offer any advice about which type is best for residential applications: 1) plug-in circuit breaker 2) break panel mounted 3) electric meter based #1 seems the cheapest and #3 can only be done by the electric company (who also charges a steep monthly fee). I've seen types of #2 going for $400+, which is too much for me. I'd like to spend under $200 or so....Any brand suggestions: Intermatic, Leviton, Panamax, etc? Thanks for any help, Tim

We have a pair of recessed lights on 3-way switches. One switch works fine to turn the lights on and off. The other switch can turn the lights off and but rarely turns them on properly. This (bad) switch normally causes a 'sizzling' sound to come from the lights, and then the lights go out after a few seconds. We've stopped using the problematic switch, but want to resolve what seems like a dangerous problem. Thanks.