Everyone knows what surge protectors are… but are they really necessary?
The simple answer to this question is “Yes, absolutely.”
Power spikes are quick, short duration overvoltages of electricity and are typically caused by lightning strikes, power outages, tripped circuit breakers, short circuits, and malfunctions caused by the power company. These overvoltages do not occur often but they can occur and you should protect your electronic investments with a surge protector.
Surge protectors range in price and quality. How “good” of a surge protector do you need?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as simple.
The main factor to consider when purchasing a surge protector is to look at what will be plugged into it. For example, when protecting your computer, big screen TV, or home theatre equipment, you wouldn’t want to spend five dollars on a basic surge protector. Conversely, you also wouldn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a battery backup unit for your alarm clock. (Some people may argue differently on that one but I think you get the picture)
A basic surge protector, or power strip, offers minimal protection to sensitive electronic equipment and typically provides an easy way to plug in multiple devices into a power outlet. This is not recommended to be used for sensitive electronic equipment. (Ie. computers, TVs, or home theatre equipment)
The next step up resembles a basic surge protector, or power strip, but is intended for sensitive electronic equipment. You can easily find a quality APC brand surge protector in the mid twenty dollar range at a local Best Buy.
Another jump up in protection is called a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), also known as a battery backup, which provides emergency power to your electronic device (Ie. computer and monitor) in cases where there is power interruption. Typically, there is enough emergency power available to save any unsaved documents as well as safely shutdown the computer. A quality APC brand UPS can be found in the sub one hundred dollar range at a local Best Buy.
