While shopping around for electronics and electronic accessories, you’ve probably seen the benefit “surge protection” touted. Generally, this has to do with power strips or wall outlet addendum, and it’s a feature that many people just assume is standard on most things. Unfortunately, this assumption is wrong and assuming you’re protected from surges can be a costly assumption to make!
What is a surge?
First things first: what is a surge? Simply put, it’s an influx of electricity in electrical wiring in Comal County, TX that’s higher than the allotted load level. Surges can happen for a number of reasons, however the effects are going to be the same: a surge will damage your wiring and whatever is plugged into your outlet if it’s not dealt with accordingly!
How do you stop a surge?
Surge protection is a very simple, very effective concept: detect and divert excess electricity away from the outlet and into a ground, where it can be dispersed accordingly. This is where the unique “surge protection” feature in electronics comes through—they’re designed to divert excess load to the ground wire of the outlet. Because excess power is being diverted instead of internalized, the damage that would have otherwise been done to electrical wiring in Comal County, TX is instead resolved!
Does X item have surge protection built in?
One of the most common questions that people have when it comes to surge protection is “how do I know if it’s really protected against a surge?” This is a legitimate question and one that can quickly be answered by looking for a few unique features:
- Is there a ground plug for the outlet? If your regular two-pronged plug also has a third grounding plug, it’s a good sign that it’s set up to protect against a surge.
- Is there a surge indicator? Many power strips will have a light that indicates when excess load has been detected and diverted. Having a signal feature means your item is properly grounded and surge protected.
- Look for a UL rating. UL ratings signify the safety of electronic devices and those that have surge protection tend to be rated much higher than similar products that don’t.
Keeping on the lookout for features like those listed above is going to ensure you make an investment in a product that’s ready to stand up to surges if and when they occur.
What items need surge protection?
In theory, anything that draws power from your home’s outlets should be protected against a surge! But, it’s not always possible or practical to make sure you have surge protectors lined up at every outlet. Instead, its best to make sure you’re plugging high value, intricate electronics into surge protected outlets:
- Computers absolutely need surge protection. Even a minor surge can disrupt microprocessors and other electronic components, leaving you with permanent damage.
- Phone chargers need to be surge protected for much the same reason as computers—a small surge can scramble your phone quite easily.
- Televisions and gaming systems are generally surge protected already, but if they’re not, make sure they are when you plug them in to a wall socket!
Even if you think your electronics are protected or you’ve never had a problem with surges in the past, it’s important not to take chances and to make sure that you’re protecting everything you can against surges and the damages to electrical wiring in Comal County, TX that can come with them.