Surge Protectors vs Power Strips: You Need To Know The Difference

Summary: This article explains the crucial differences between a power strip and a surge protector. Having the correct one could save your computer from disasters. For further assistance and other IT concerns, contact GEEK-AID Computer and Network Support, https://www.geekaid.com/, an IT consulting service, to help you make the right decisions for your computer system.

Our recently expanded 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 all the hardware and software protection they need from the start. One of the most common omissions is surge protection. Alas, many users don’t know the answer to the question, “What does a surge protector do?”

What is a Surge Protective Device?

Surge protection is a safeguard for electronic devices against sudden power spikes. As we now power so many high-voltage devices through our home outlets, the potential for damage from a power surge has never been more real. 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 become “buggy.” Surge protective devices keep excess current away from your computer’s circuits , thereby, making them less likely to overheat.

Case Study

During a fierce 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. However, the storm got closer, and the flashes of lightning and thunder were very distracting. So, the accountant decided to log out of everything she was working on and shut her computer system down for the night. Just as she was saving her work, a bright flash, followed by a loud crack of thunder, left her in complete darkness for a few seconds. Concerned about her unsaved work, she started to reboot her computer as soon as the lights came back on. But it would not start. She clicked the power switch on and off and checked the plug, to no avail.

The following day, she called a computer repair company to make a house call to fix her computer. After only a few minutes, the IT technician informed her that the storm had done severe damage to her computer. He told her 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. The accountant told the tech that she had surge protectors and didn’t 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 didn’t have a recent backup and wasn’t 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.

You Shouldn’t Have To Worry About Electrical Safety

Purchasing a high-quality surge protector is worth the peace of mind and not having to worry about electrical fires in your home, corrupted hard drives and ruined computer hardware. Power strips might be less expensive than surge protectors, but that’s because they do not provide protection from power anomalies. They are merely short, multiple-outlet extension cords.

Users spend time and money buying and installing computers. However, without surge protectors, all that investment could be at risk.