When Should I Use a Surge Protector?

Surge protectors are so common these days that the term is almost synonymous with “power strip.” A power strip is simply an extension of the outlet on your wall. It is (usually) a short extension cord with multiple outlets built in, allowing us to expand our power outlets. A basic power strip offers no protection against power surges or spikes.

In part one of our blog post on surge protectors, we discussed how these units are a power strip with built in protection against electrical spikes and surges. They allow us to expand our power outlet availability and protect our electronic devices from getting fried.

“When should I use a power strip” is a matter of personal opinion. The better question to ask would be: “What devices do I own that I’d like to protect from power spikes and surges?” Perhaps the only reason to opt for a simple power strip over a surge protector, is money. A simple 6 outlet power strip is usually under $10, whereas a surge protector is generally somewhere between $10 and $20. Also, even one strong power surge, and your surge protector is likely not much protection anymore, which means you’re going to need a new one—hence the importance of buying a quality surge protector.

You probably don’t need to plug your lamp into a surge protector because the worst thing that’s likely to happen to your lamp due to a voltage increase, is a burnt out bulb. There are even those who contend their coffee maker is worth protecting, but to be honest, you may want to think twice about having that many outlets available on the counter next to a 10 or 12 cup pot of water.

Electronics you should have a surge protector for include:

Computers

Your computers and their peripherals (i.e. monitor, speakers, keyboards, web cams, etc.) are filled with electric-sensitive components. Electrical surges are commonplace in the computer world and can cause a host of problems, many of which are difficult to diagnose leading to lost time and money.

Consider what would happen if your computer (or any other components) were damaged by a power surge. Computers are expensive to replace of course, but many times they are also filled with irreplaceable information, pictures, documents, etc. The cost to protect your computer devices is a necessary must-do.

TVs and Other Home Entertainment Components

Most of these devices are equipped to handle small spikes, but with added protection, they will last longer. These electrical devices, like your computers, are not cheap to replace.

With every new design home entertainment products become more accurate and produce higher definition, so the internal components become more and more sensitive to electricity. This is why power surges cause damage far more often now than they did years ago.

Cell Phones & Similar Hand-Held Electronics

Again, these items are costly to replace and sometimes contain irreplaceable data.

Another consideration is that power can be pushed over more than one power cable. Power spikes can be caused by lightning hitting phone cables or cable TV lines, so when choosing a surge protector consider one that has jacks for these cables as well.

CZ Labs offers a large inventory of quality surge protectors at wholesale, bulk pricing to help you protect all of your electronic devices.

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If you have questions about surge protectors or any of the other items we sell, please feel free to contact us at 800-423-2322 or visit our website and take advantage of our live chat support.

How Do Surge Protectors Work - Part One

The power that runs through our homes and offices largely goes unnoticed. We plug things in all the time and hardly ever give a thought to the energy that delivers the power we need.

Power is essential at the workplace and in our homes and as time goes by and we obtain even more electrical devices, we find ourselves plugging things in more often and in greater volume. Eventually, we run out of plugs, and find we need more outlets. The easiest way to get the power we need is with a power strip—a simple row of outlets on one strip that is plugged into one electrical outlet.

We all endure power outages and when power goes out and we’re unable to use our beloved devices, it can be aggravating but most of us have come to view it as something that just happens.

However, what happens if power goes in the other direction—power overload? If there is too much power forced through the lines, as in a power spike, what can we do to protect our already plugged-in devices?

The common level of voltage in a home or office space is 120V. Problems start to happen when the voltage rises above 120. When it rises for two nanoseconds or less, the event is called a power spike. Just three nanoseconds or more is called a power surge.

The best analogy for understanding this problem is to think of your electrical wire as a garden hose. To force water out of the nozzle, you turn up the pressure on the other end. This is similar to increasing electrical voltage on one end of a wire. The energy is essentially pushed through the wire just like water is pushed through a hose.

Increasing the water pressure too much will eventually cause the hose to burst. Likewise, if the electrical voltage is increased higher than it should be—electrical components will heat up too much and without proper protection, excessive power bursts cause our devices to fail and can even cause irreparable damage.

Enter the Surge Protector

Power surges and spikes are the most common cause of electronic device failures. This frustrates the end user, especially because the situation could have easily been prevented by a surge protector.

Within the surge protector, is a component called the MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor). This is a piece of metal oxide joined on either end by semiconductors; one end to the hot wire or power feed and the other to the ground. Under normal circumstances, the MOV offers too much resistance for electricity to bother with so our devices continue to function properly.

When the voltage increases beyond its proper levels such as in a power surge or spike, the MOV changes how it operates. The MOV will channel the excess voltage back out of the power strip through the ground wire sparing our electronics. Surge protectors also give us the time we need to turn off devices if severe power bursts are reported.

In the simplest terms, this is how surge protectors work and it’s that MOV that protects our devices. Still, many of us are unsure of when to use surge protectors and on what devices.

CZ Labs hopes you’ll bookmark our blog because in part two of our post, we’ll explain when and how to use surge protectors—so check back on tomorrow, Wednesday, July 3, 2013 to learn more!

We sell many surge protectors at bulk and wholesale pricing for all your home and office needs. 

We also hope you’ll like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles as we continue to bring you informative posts on cables, connectors—and surge protectors.