Electronic equipments made from integrated circuits and small-sized semiconductors is protected by surge protective devices(SPDs) such as ZnO varistors, Zener diode and gas discharge tube from lightning overvoltages. However the clamping voltage of SPDs is greatly influenced by the method of installing the SPDs. In this paper, the protective effects of SPDs according to types of system groundings were experimentally investigated. The separate grounding is a particularly undesirable way to install SPDs. The effectiveness of the common grounding point for ZnO varistors is more pronounced than that for gas discharge tubes. The common grounding at the terminal of SPDs is recommended as a best method of installing SPDs.