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[S1170]Surge Protector For Home Theater

by Craig Elliott Elliott, Cra

A surge protector is a plug-in that you use for your home electronics that protects those electronic devices from power surges and spikes in voltage. A surge protector regulates the voltage that is supplied to your electronics by blocking or shorting to ground the voltage that comes through above the safe amount.

Surge protectors provide a valuable service to your home electronics. Today, most computer chips are denser than they were even only a couple of years ago and are even more sensitive to electricity surges than ever before. People are using more and more home electronics than before as well and each time you turn an electrical device on, you could be creating a transient voltage (power surge). Microprocessors are showing up in every type of electrical device you can think of and they are highly sensitive to power surges. Some examples of home electronics that contain microprocessors include VCRs, DVDs, stereos, televisions, computers, refrigerators, dryers, washers, microwaves, dishwashers and more.

When your home electronics experience a power surge, without a surge protector, the spike in voltage can cause the component's electrical circuits to heat up - a large surge can blow the circuit up on the spot while smaller surges can cause damage that over time will cause the circuit to fail.

There are many causes for power surges and the most commonly thought one is lightning striking a power line. Yes, lightning can cause a power surge however there are more common causes for power surges that you should be aware of. These sources of power spikes often come from large appliances in your home such as refrigerators, air conditioners and furnaces, however smaller appliances such as vacuums and even hair dryers can cause a power spike to occur throughout your home's electrical system. Also, power transformers that are on electrical poles can also cause power surges and spikes in voltage, especially when they are being taxed and a lot of electricity is being used that is fed off of the transformer.

A surge protector will protect your home electronics from these surges, regardless of how powerful they may be. While the big surge is a big deal, the little surges can also create havoc and cause major damages to your electronic devices.

When you are purchasing a surge protector, it's important to at least understand a little of what you are looking for and what you need. See a sale on a $10 power strip surge protector? Will that do the job? Not really. It's better than nothing but only by slightly. These inexpensive surge protectors are really quite unreliable and you never know when they stop protecting your equipment - after one significant power surge, they are useless, yet you'd have no way of knowing, especially if you weren't home when it happened.

When you are shopping for a surge protector for your home electronics, you should look for:

A surge protector that has a phone line pass through for your computer. Phone lines can deliver a surge to your computer and cause damage.
Price of a decent surge protector is between $20 and $100.
Look for the UL listing on the package.
An indicator light to tell you when the surge protection functions are no longer working.
A connected equipment warranty - this warranty provides protection for the equipment that you hook up to the surge protector. If the surge protector doesn't offer that, keep looking. There are surge protectors that offer $15,000 worth of warranty for connected equipment - this is a very good product, because the company is willing to place $15,000 on the line to replace your equipment if their surge protector doesn't work.

Most people have thousands and thousands of dollars in home electronics - protecting that investment is key and for the sake of $20-100, you can rest assured knowing that your investments in home electronics are safe. One power surge can easily wipe out an entire houseful of home electronics - thousands of dollars of home electronics lost in one big surge that happens in a flash and often without warning. A surge protector for your home electronics is not only a smart thing to have but it is also necessary to protect yourself and your home electronics from catastrophic and complete damage.

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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Craig Elliott Elliott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Security, Education and Landscaping. Grant Eckert is a freelance writer who writes about products used with home electronics such as . Craig Elliott Elliott's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.

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