Well, let's make sure your tank can handle a surge first. I had a 10 gallon surge (that dropped closer to 5 gallons) on a 180 a number of years back. I was nervous with only 5 gallons. Your average reef ready tank may have issues handling a large drop of water at one time. You would be surprised how much even 10-20 gallons of water can make a large tank rise. If you feel comfortable that your tank can handle it we will move on.
Next comes the height of the surge tank. Try to position it as high as possible to get the rush. I only had mine a couple feet above the tank and that did fine, but if you have been to Sea Schor in Buffalo Grove (I'm sure you have) they have a 60 gallon surge at least 4 feet above the tank. That tank rocks when the water drops. The corals love it!
If your still with me we can move to some of the negative aspects. Surges can be noisey and if in a livable space can be tormenting. Salt spray from all the bubbles and of course the bubbles in the tank are other things to consider. Bubbles don't bother me but some just hate it.
A couple positive effects of surges are they are typically fairly cheap to make and are usually fool proof unlike powerheads such as Tunzes or vortecs. They move alot of water as well as move that water more naturally.
The Carlson design is what I used but I do believe there are others out now. At the time I made mine Carlson was about the only one out at the time. WOrked well and my tank really liked it. If you got the space and are confident your drains can handle it I would give it a try. For a hundred bucks (or less) you could see how it works and if you hate it you aren't out all that much.
Just my $.02
