Choosing the right surge protector for your home or business

By: Craig Elliott Click author's name for more of his/her articles

When putting together a computer system for your home or business, one piece of equipment you'll surely need is a surge protector. Surge protectors allow you to both plug multiple power cords into one main power outlet and protect your electrical equipment from destructive power surges. A power surge is an increase in voltage, above the allotted voltage for most homes, of 120 volts. If the voltage from an electrical outlet surges or spikes above the acceptable level, the surge protector diverts the extra electricity into the outlets ground wire.

Shopping for a surge protector can be tricky for homeowners and businesses alike. Researching a particular model is a sure fire way to get what you need, but there are also several other ways to determine a model's performance quality.

The first factor to be considered is price. Don't expect to get good results from any surge protector costing less than ten dollars. These cheaper models are often cheaply made and have fairly limited capacities and won't do an ample job of protecting your electronics from bigger surges or spikes in voltage. Of course more expensive does not always mean better. If you are looking for a quality surge protector, you should check out the products Underwriters Laboratories (UL) ratings. UL is a not for profit company that focuses in rating the safety of electrical products. If a product does not carry a UL rating than it should be considered substandard and not suitable for purchase. Make sure your surge protector is listed as a transient voltage surge suppressor meaning it has met the UL's minimum performance standards for surge protectors. If you are looking to protect your electronics then it wouldn't be wise to purchase a protector that is not rated as acceptable for that purpose.

There is a wide range of available protectors on the market today with acceptable UL ratings. Depending on the consumers needs, they will be able to find multiple options in both size and capacity. Surge protectors are divided into three basic groups and deciding which one is right for your home or business will give you the best protection and undoubtedly save you money. Basic power strips are basically extension cords with five or six electrical outlets. These units rarely have acceptable UL ratings and offer the lowest level of protection, if any at all. Better power strips usually range between fifteen and twenty-five dollars and typically include better features as well as a better protection rating from the UL. Surge stations are much larger and usually fit under the computer or on the floor. Used primarily by businesses, surge stations offer superior protection, often are designed with an outlet for a phone line to protect the owner's modem from power spikes, and frequently come with built-in circuit breakers. These units range in price from thirty dollars for a basic unit to more than one hundred for a more advanced model with the special features.

Businesses looking to protect their crucial computer files on a never-ending basis may look toward purchasing an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). These more costly units offer surge protection along with a continuous UPS. Basically, the UPS converts AC power to DC power and store the power on the unit's battery. In a power outage the unit will convert the power from DC power bock to AC power which will allow your computer systems to continue running. This will allow the owner, either personal or business related, to quickly save their files and work before shutting down the computer. These units offer far better protection to your electronics and are priced accordingly with most models retailing for nearly two hundred dollars.

When hunting for a surge protector for your home or business, you must also take into consideration the number of stages the product uses when handling surges in power. The more stages a unit has, the more components that a product has to assist in suppressing the power surge and protecting your electronics or computer. You should also look for the products Clamping Response Time. This is the time it takes the protector to assess that there has been a spike and react by diverting the excess power to the outlets ground wire. Although it may not seem like a big difference but it could mean the difference in saving your valuable equipment. The fastest clamping time is called a Picosecond with a Nanosecond being the second-best response time.

After finding a surge protector that fill all of your needs and these requirements you should finally check the product for any kind of warranty. The longer the warranty the better-because most people don't often think about their surge protector until it is too late. If you have followed this advice prior to purchasing your surge protector, you can feel safe that your home or business is protected from power surges or spikes.

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About The Author: About Author:
Craig Elliott is a writer for powercomplete.com. Powercomplete.com is a leading provider of Kipor Generators | Winco Generators | McCulloch Generators