Very few manufacturers are willing to risk money to meet their sales promises. TrippLite is one exception. They offer lifetime exchange warranty on many of their products, as well as an insurance coverage for most of their surge suppressors. Insurance amounts vary according to the model.

We love a good extension tower, especially when it's very affordable, and this one from Tessan is definitely a shoo-in. It offers 1,700 joules of protection, which is pretty high and will keep your pricey laptop or computer from frying. And it has light indicators to indicate that the surge and ground protection are working, giving you that extra peace of mind. As for the ports, there's a lot of them. 12 AC outlets and six USB Type-A ports mean that you'll never run out of a place to plug in again. There's just no USB-C port, unfortunately, but that can be easily remedied. Secondary surge arresters fixed to the line side of the service panel to protect against current surges from lightning or switching events. Most people don't need a kitted-out power strip with surge protection, and if you're one of them, you're better off choosing something that's affordable like this one from Anker that offers 2,100 joules of protection. That's more than enough for your basic devices like smartphones, laptops, and printers, which is what most people have in their offices. Belkin is a trusted name in electronics, and this power strip surge extension doesn't fall far from the tree. It has eight AC outlets, which is enough for most people, and two USB Type-A ports, which makes it an excellent and affordable option for the office. That's especially with that 6.6-foot cord, allowing it to be more versatile in terms of placement.For the technically inclined who want to know: it’s small electronic components called Metal Oxide Varistors, or MOVs for short, which are more often used for this filtering of surges. Other types of filters are gas discharge arrestors which are often seen in antenna protectors, but most of the time, MOVs are used, often in combination with other components like capacitors.

Hands-On Expertise & Collective Knowledge: Our team boasts extensive DIY experience and in-depth knowledge. While this ExtraStar lead surge protector doesn't say exactly how much protection it offers, this is a great option for budgeting households that doesn't have very demanding plugging needs. This is a cheap yet realiable extension cord perfect for smaller bedrooms and kitchen, especially with that 3.3ft cord - it just means you don't have a lot of cord length to put away when you're working with a tighter space.An electrical surge is a brief spike in voltage. They can be generated outside your premises or within it, depending on what equipment is malfunctioning (mainly electric motors, such as water pumps, building elevators, etc.). These surges can cause damage to electronic equipment within your home or office. Independent: We will tell you exactly what we think of a product and we would never recommend anything we wouldn't use ourselves.

Compared to larger surge protectors, the 3-Outlet falls short. It doesn’t have nearly as high a Joule rating at only 918, nor does it offer the same amount of equipment protection. But it does have more surge protection than other barebones power strips. The Monoprice 12 also has lights that indicate if surge protection is working, and if protection fails following a major surge, the light will shut off. The device will auto-shut to prevent damage to electronics. It’s also UL Listed. Surge protection devices help to protect devices and equipment against changes in the electrical current running through the system. Current spikes or transients can cause significant damage to equipment and is also a safety hazard. You can learn more in our guide to industrial surge protection. What are surge protection devices used for? Unlike most surge protectors that use Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) to divert surge current, the Furman PST-8 uses Series Multi-Stage Protection Plus (SMP+) that provides great surge filtering alongside an automatic shutdown circuit that cuts off the power when a surge is detected. This setup protects both your appliances and the surge protector, allowing it to last longer in theory than MOV-based options.Metal Oxide Varistors are the most important electronic components inside Surge Protectors that perform the “magic” filtering of excess voltage. They have a limited lifespan. (Image credit: Tripp Lite) How do surge protectors protect your devices? Convenient auxiliary ports: We preferred models with coaxial connectors, which are commonly used in AV devices, as well as telephone ports for a landline phone or dial-up internet connection. USB ports are handy for charging a phone or other small device without a wall charger, but since most won’t charge a phone at top speed, we don’t think they add much value.

The Belkin BE112230 shares the flat design of the switched Belkin F7C01008q, just without the switch. It has six wide-spaced outlets, a claimed 3,940 joules of protection and a connected equipment warranty. It also has a surge protection of 1,050 joules - enough to protection your more expensive devices like a PC or a laptop. RoHS and FCC certified, it also has overload, short-circuit, over-current and over-voltage, and overheating protection. And it comes with a 6.5-foot pure copper cold.

Finally, some surge protectors are equipped with fail-to-safe conditions, also known as automatic shutdown technology and "fail to shutdown". When the surge protector experiences a surge and the arrestors reach their end of life, the device stops sending power to your devices, telling you in no uncertain terms that it's time to replace it. How to choose the best surge protector for you Though the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a big difference between power strips and surge protectors. A power strip is essentially just a wired, multioutlet extension of a power outlet. A surge protector adds in circuitry, which is designed to prevent damaging power spikes from making their way to your TV, soundbaror really anything that's plugged in. There are eight outlets included, two on each side, plus three USB ports on top right below the power button. You do have the choice of either three USB Type-A or two USB Type-A and one USB-C port, which is nice, and it has four non-slip feet for a secure base. Plus you can choose the length of cable: two, three, five and 10 meters. How well a surge protector shields connected devices depends on many factors, chief among them being the design. Most options on the market use efficient and cost-effective Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) which receive and divert excess voltage from your equipment. But this causes them to take the brunt of the surge, making them degrade over time---they're essentially sacrificial components.