Surge Protectors vs Power Strips: You Need to Know the Difference

Summary: There are crucial differences between a power strip and a surge protector. Having the correct one could save your computer from disasters caused by electrical power surges.

Our remote-access work model has radically changed the ways that people and companies do business. Working from home has a lot of advantages. However, many remote users have no in-house IT support and must make most of their computer-related decisions on their own. Furthermore, most users don’t have any help with their home office setups, so they might not have the correct hardware and software protection they need from the start. One of the most common omissions is surge protection. Many users are unsure what a surge protector does for their computers and office devices and are unsure if they need one.

What is a Surge Protective Device?

Surge protection is a safeguard for electronic devices against sudden power spikes. We power so many high-voltage devices through our home electrical outlets, and the potential for damage from a power surge is possible for those not protected with a surge protective device. Power strips only provide additional outlets to plug in devices. They do not provide protection from power surges. Power surges from your utility company or electrical storms can send more current into a device than it requires or can handle, thereby running the risk of burning or shorting out circuits. Today, many power strips have built-in surge protectors. The most popular device used in surge protectors is a metal oxide varistor or MOV. MOVs in a surge protector absorb any excess electricity and redirect it into the ground. In simple terms, the surge protective device takes the hit instead of allowing it to reach your computer’s motherboard circuitry.

Beyond keeping your computer from getting fried, there are several other benefits to surge protection:

• Keeps Peripheral Components Safe from electrical damage caused by fluctuations of power. In addition to your computer, printers, scanners, monitors and electronic devices will be protected.
• Protects Against Electrical Fires caused by overheated devices being fed more voltage than they are designed to handle. Circuits heat up when they are overloaded with more power than they are intended to use. Surge protection helps divert the overload, avoid electrical shorts and prevent fires.
• Allows Safe Use of Multiple Outlets not afforded by simple power strips. Classic power strips have no protection against power surges.
• Stabilizes System Performance because your computer and its devices will not be overheated or overworked by excess current. When computers run hot, processes and programs can slow down and may not function correctly. Surge protective devices keep excess current away from your computer’s circuits, making them less likely to overheat.

Case Study: What Does a Surge Protector Do?

During a thunderstorm, an independent accountant was working from her home office in Queens, NY. The lights in her house flickered a few times, but they stabilized for several minutes as the accountant kept working, grateful not to be sitting in a complete blackout. As the storm got closer, the flashes of lightning and thunder were distracting. The accountant decided to log out of everything she was working on and shut her computer down for the night. In the middle of saving her work, a bright flash and a loud crack of thunder left her in complete darkness for a few seconds. Concerned about her unsaved work, she tried to reboot the computer as soon as the lights came back on. But it would not start after several tries.

She made an appointment with a computer repair company for a house call to fix her computer. After inspecting the inside of her desktop, the IT technician informed her that the storm had done severe damage to her computer: several circuits had shorted out, some wires had melted and the hard drive might be seriously damaged. He also thought that her 3-in-1 printer could be damaged beyond repair, but was unable to fully test it without the computer. The accountant showed the tech her surge protectors and did not understand why they didn’t work the way they were supposed to. The technician told her she had no surge protective devices but only had power strips.

Making matters worse, the accountant did not have a recent backup and was not sure if she automatically saved data to the cloud. She was terrified that years of private client data would be gone forever and, unfortunately, learned another hard lesson about the importance of data backup and file recovery. An inexpensive cloud backup system would have automatically backed up her files to the cloud each time she saved changes.

Surge Protectors Safeguard Your Technology Investment

Purchasing a high-quality surge protector is worth the peace of mind you get knowing you are helping protect your home from computer electrical fires, corrupted hard drives and ruined computer hardware. Power strips might be less expensive than surge protectors, but that is because they do not provide protection from power anomalies. They are merely short, multiple-outlet extension cords. Replace existing power strips in your home and office (and dorm rooms) with surge protective device or combination devices.

Users spend time and money buying computers and installing software and connected devices. However, without surge protective devices, that technology investment could be at risk.