Choosing Surge Protection for Your Home

Surge protection enables appliances, electronics, and other electrical equipment to continue operating during a high voltage surge.

Power surges can occur from a number of sources, such as lightning strikes, or due to problems with the power lines in your area. They can cause damage to devices or appliances, all at once or over time.


Surge protectors use internal components called metal oxide varistors (MOV) that absorb excess voltage and divert it to the house's grounding wire. The MOV works like a pressure-sensitive valve, which is able to sense high voltage and lower resistance to direct excess voltage away from the device.


Choosing the Right Product
There are many factors to consider when selecting surge protectors for your home, such as how much electrical power you need. This will help you narrow down your selection and choose the right device for your needs.

Ideally, your surge protector should have outlets for small plugs, such as laptop chargers and mobile phone adapters. It should also have outlets for wall warts, which are little boxes with electrical prongs on them that convert AC power into DC power.

A good surge protector will have a quick response time, so that it can identify and re-route excess energy before serious damage occurs. Look for a response time of 1 nanosecond or faster.

Another factor to consider when shopping for surge protection is how often you will be using it. If you have a lot of sensitive gear that you'll be using on a regular basis, it might be worth investing in an extra surge protector, so that you can rest assured it's always protected.