Surge Protect Your Tech: how do you buy a surge protector for your computer equipment? Why not a power strip?
Power strip vs Surge Protector
Power strips just split your outlet up for you. They do not protect your equipment from surges. Surge protectors are designed to protect your equipment up to so many joules. Be sure to get a surge protector.
Older buildings particularly in Vancouver are prone to wonky electricity surges. One power surge might not kill your printer or monitor or computer but surges over time shorten the life of the equipment. And it can cause erratic behaviour of the equipment such as screen freezes, partial print jobs, intermittent internet connections.
Joules Anyone?
When you’re buying, the more joules the better. 3000 joules and up will protect TVs, computers, monitors, etc. There’s a technical description of joules here.
Outlets
Always buy more outlets on a surge protector than you need. We just keep buying tech that needs more outlets. Some of the newer surge protectors also offer USB ports and even wireless phone charging which helps reduce the outlets you need.
Replacement Time
Surge protectors do get tired out. They’ll still work as a power strip but with no surge protection Newer models now have a light indicating when they need to be replaced. Depending on useage, you should replace them every 3 to 5 years.
I had to replace two old and tired surge protectors recently. One was for mainly entertainment electronics and the other for computer tech. For the entertainment electronics surge protector I went with an APC P11VNT3 with 11 outlets and surge protection for phone and coaxial cables (yes, power can surge along those cables too).
I wanted something different for the computer tech. I have three devices constantly plugged in and also need a lot of easily accessible outlets for device testing and smaller device charging (phone, watch, tablet). I went with a 14 port Jackyled tower model with 4 usb ports and a retractable power cable.
The Jackyled surge line also has smaller models designed for the desktop or boardroom table. You can find all the models here.
Surge protect your tech.
