Power surge damaged appliances

First check your home owners policy. I know I learned after the fact that most decent ones cover damage like this.

I've got a home warranty that will cover it. I was just wondering if it sounded like a major issue. Thinking of upgrading to a better stove and tankless water heater if I have to replace though.

This is very common. The best thing ANYONE can do, is put every computer controlled PCB having appliance on a surge protector.

It does not take much to kill a pcb board on a modern appliance.
I accidentally fried one with static electricity one time.

I'm definitely investing in surge protectors. Luckily all I lost was the garage door motors, this stove and water heater issue, and some small things like phone chargers and a noise machine for the baby.

But the "whole house" protectors aren't a catch all by any means. They only protect from surges coming from the grid to your home. If lightning hits your house, or comes through some other grounded pathway, then your stuff will still get hit. Still need the other protectors, so I'm going to run with that.

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My gas stove works fine, but it appears the oven doesn't light. Also, the water heater seems like it's extremely hot. I think a surge may have fried the thermostats on both and is causing some issues. I lost several other items for sure, so I know I had a surge. Anyone know if this is might be an easy repair, or am I looking at a replacement? Calling a repairman today, but with all the other stuff I called about, it's going to be a few days I have a feeling. Lot's of homes in my area got hit.

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The oven not lighting could just be a bad ignitor.

Most common fault ever for an oven. Generally like $125 including part to fix unless you call Sears then it's $207.98

Honestly neither of those sounds like a surge. A surge fries the electronic controls.

The thermostat on the water heater is a simple rheostat. Most modern ovens don't have thermostats anymore. They use a sensor which is a resistance probe that varies the internal resistance based on temperature.

So that won't fail due to a surge.

Most likely the relay board on the oven failed OR the ignitor isn't working.

If you are handy in the slightest, that is a super simple diagnosis.

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Why would you not want to do the whole house?

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I'm not saying that. But how can one unit protect a surge if lightening strikes your house and hits a circuit. The surge goes back to your panel and that protector will protect everything from that point. But everything in the circuit that the lightning hit will already be subjected to the surge. That device isn't interrupting that circuit. You have to have protection at the point of power for each appliance (I'm by no means and electrical engineer, but that is my understanding). If that is the case, and I have to get surge protectors for each socket anyway, why have the whole house?

Nothing wrong with Whole house.

But I can show you one thats better than that one.

But that said a good surge protector will protect what its supposed to protect, but the surge protector will take the hit and be worthless after.

All that said and most important. Avoid cheap $20 surge protector strips. They will take the hit but will also catch fire and burn your house down. Seen it happen too many times. Amazing what 13,000 volts will do.

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Lot's of homes in my area got hit.

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That may be an indication there's a common problem. After you get your appliances repaired, you should try to improve your grounding network and add whole house surge protection.

Areas where the soil is very sandy or was filled may have poor ground conduction. In a case of poor soil conductivity, deeper ground rods may be necessary. You can add additional ground rods and bond them together, but they should be separated typically by the length of the rod. When ground rods are too close together, the electric fields in the Earth oppose each other and impair the grounding effectiveness. Every ground system (water pipe, cable, phone, etc) must be bonded to the power ground. If these systems are separated by more than about 15'-20' use a separate ground rod there and then run a #6 back to the power ground rod. No matter how much surge protection equipment is added, you must have a good grounding system to be effective.

Typical residential surge protection can be done at the power panel.
Eaton Surge Protectors

In addition, sensitive electronics (especially phone, modem, cable, satellite) may use secondary protection that treat both power and signal. These protectors are sacrificial and not near as effective as grounding and external surge protectors.

Also, cut back any trees you have near your house. It's pretty common to see lightning hit a tree then arc to your metallic service facilities.