Wow thank you all, this is a lot to consider! I did a project for a utility a few years back involving designing trip times for breakers/reclosers/fuses (such that the fault time lowered as it went downstream from substation) so what everyone is saying makes sense to me. I think I will hold off on buying a separate breaker for now as I hope its not too long until I have a full legacy setup, but I will buy a TVS Diode.
Side question: do the TMCC powerhouses make any nose (hum or fan)? I cannot stand the whining fan noise that the CW-80 makes