However, this figure can be hard to track as surges vary from area to area. If you have electrical devices you want to protect. Investing in a quality surge protector is a great idea. Below, I talk about what a surge protector does and how to tell if yours is still good. Investing in a quality surge protector is a great way to help prevent unnecessary damages to your electric devices. Most commonly, a surge protector functions as a power strip with a built-in protective feature.
Some of the newer models include USB ports, in addition to your standard outlets. Higher-end models also tend to include coaxial outlets and ethernet jacks to protect even your fax machines, cable boxes and more. Surge protectors include a built-in metal oxide varistor MOV. The MOV works to absorb any excess voltage that occurs when a surge in power occurs.
Over time, as the MOV absorbs excess energies, it degrades. Power strips and surge protectors often look very similar. If you are trying to determine whether you have a power strip or a surge protector, take a look at the device itself. A surge protector typically includes a power or grounded light as well as a protected light. These lights indicate whether your device includes a surge feature, as well as if it is operational. Surge protectors with built-in power conditioners add another layer of protection to your device.
In the event of a massive power outage, your surge protector may not be able to fully handle the enormity of the power surge that occurs. A surge protector with a power conditioner, however, sheds excess voltage by grounding it instead.
For the lower end surge protectors, this is likely just a gimmick. And, in fact, not all electronics need power conditioning. If you are just providing power to low-end speakers or a DVD player, investing in a more expensive surge protector with power conditioning might not be necessary.
These lower-end surge protectors with power conditioners are often destroyed internally, making it hard to determine whether they are still functioning as a surge protector or power conditioner. If you place tremendous value in design, the Austere VII Series surge protector is the most attractive device in this category. Those cost from a little to much more. While V or above might seem high compared to the V nominally delivered in the U. Surge protectors of the category we tested use metal oxide varistors MOVs , a kind of circuitry that absorbs voltages above the clamping level and effectively burn away over time.
In an area with erratic voltage, your surge protector might wear out in months or a few years; on other electrical systems, it might last indefinitely. It costs about ten times as much and it effectively never burns out. But electrical strikes miles away can induce smaller surges that protectors will absorb.
Joules measure how much energy is expended; the more joules, the more energy. So in an exactly equal situation in the same house with routine surges, a unit rated for joules should last half as long as one rated at joules. In practice, this is very, very hard to determine. Certification from Underwriters Laboratories UL provides assurance that the product has been independently tested.
But when the MOVs burn out, what happens next? If you have a surge protector already in place somewhere in your house or office, go take a quick glance at it and come back. The class of surge protectors reviewed here rely on MOVs metal oxide varistors to absorb excess voltage. Older surge protectors were typically designed around the concern that computers had spinning hard disk drives HDDs inside, and that it was better to lose surge protection and keep providing power than to drop AC power when protection had failed.
On surge protectors like that, the only indication of whether protection remains active is a protection light. Now go back and look at those protectors again: which ones are burned out?
Those are the ones you want to replace post haste. I confess that I only learned this in ; I checked mine, and had to replace one a few months later when that light suddenly disappeared. But there are three variants when protection fails:. All power stops flowing, which will immediately remove electricity to all connected devices.
Better to lose power than to let a surge through. Some power stops flowing. There are three different paths for electricity with AC power, and one is more important to protect against surges than the other two. See below for more detail. You have to look at the protection light to know the state of protection. Power always flows, but the light turns off. In this scenario, you must stay alert, particularly during a storm and right afterwards, or whenever your lights flicker. With a three-wire outlet, which is required for surge protectors, those are line, neutral, and ground.
A proper ground wire in an outlet connects back to a grounding rod for an entire home or building that drains voltage literally to the earth. A long cord is essential, since your equipment might be far from the nearest outlet. Consider 8 feet to be a minimum.
If you have questions about whole-home surge protectors or point-of-use surge protectors, we can help. Just contact us. Our team of reliable electricians is ready to help protect your home and expensive electronics from dangerous electrical surges. September 13, Get monthly specials and home comfort tips Fill out my online form.
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