You might be using some kind of power strip to supply all your electronic device in your house. Today, there are many high-quality power strips come with surge protection, multiple outlets, and energy saving features that prevent accidents or destruction to your house devices. Not every power strip is the same; however, if you think that a bargain store power strip can offer you the same protection as a heavy-duty power strip, you should really reconsider the difference between these power strips.
Many of us might have seen overextending outlets power strip in your house or at your workplace. Power strips are a great product for having more plugs for more devices. What can be scary about the use of traditional power strips will not provide proper protection when power surge occurs which may cause lead to some serious concerns.
According to the data from the ESFI, over 3300 house fires come from extension cords and power strips every year. There are over 50 house fire incidents that caused by power surge takes away people’s life, and more than 270 people injured from this kind of incidents.
When investigating these disasters, reports often show that the cause is the use of multiple power strips or cheap power strips. Few of the biggest things you can do to protect yourself from those events is to use high quality power surge protected power strip and understanding the usage limitation of the power strip.
Any heavy-duty power strips have its own usage limit. It can only be used safe without overload. If you improperly use the heavy-duty power strips or overload it with another power strips, it is likely to cause power strip and create fire sparkles. It is extremely unsafe to do that so don’t do it!
Any manufacturer will evaluate the maximum power usage and quality of their power strip products. Most of the basic power strips can handle 790 joules of work and it represents as AC 15a 125V 60 Hz and 1875W. The number of Watts is the main aspect of a power strip safety rating. If you see that your power strip can not handle more than 1875 W, then you will likely run into overload if you plug many high voltage devices into the strip or extending it with extension cords. When a heavy-duty power strip gets overloaded, it usually melts the plastic and cause fire. To be safe, it is important to understand your devices’ voltage and consider upgrade your traditional power strip to a heavy-duty power strip. Heavy-duty power strips can handle a high voltage facility for workshops, home entertainment facilities, and other electronic devices.
Determining the voltage usage of each device can be important since many people will not pay attention to the work limit of the outlet. While it is true that phone chargers, laptops, radios, and some other daily used products are not even close to make the strip reach its maximum capacity, plug in one single high voltage device can overload the entire heavy duty power strip. Common high voltage products at home includes dehumidifiers, heaters, vacuums, gaming desktop and air conditioning units. If you are plugging these heavy-duty electronics into a cheap power strip, the power strip would easily run beyond its power limitation. Device such as air conditioner which constantly using large amount of electricity will also cause problem to the power strip.
If you are running a device that need constant and stable electricity input, you should lower your power strip power limitation by 20 precents. This means if you have an air conditioner plugged into your power strip, your 1875 watts limitation should come down to 1400 watts in order to provide continuous and stable electricity. Before you plug any device into a power strip, do some research on the power limitation to avoid the safety problem from connecting power strips or extension cords with surge protection. Surge protection can only ensure its plugged device. It does not guarantee the safety of the connected power strip or extension cords.
Only one surge protector or heavy-duty power strip should be plugged into a wall outlet. If you plug in tow or more, you might run into extra energy usage problem or power strip protection issues. If you can spread out the high-voltage devices across several outlets in your home and use several surge protectors or heavy-duty power strips, it will always be safer choice for you and your devices.
Other important cautions to keep in mind: never staple your heavy-duty surge protected strip wire, and never expose the power strip to a humid area or next to air conditioner. Leave some space between the power strip and other stuff so that you can unplug the strip easily when you need to.
Always look for the UL mark or ETL approval on any heavy-duty power strip that you buy. By using the power strip without authentic verification, you are risking yourself.
If you would like to learn more about heavy-duty power strips, please feel free to contact us and we will have customer service ready for help.