Surge Protectors vs. Power Strips: What Every Massachusetts Home Needs

There are two primary solutions for surge protection in your home. Whole-home surge protection offers a comprehensive defense against large electrical surges, while power strips with surge protection provide localized, additional protection for your valuable devices. A combination of both can offer peace of mind and safeguard your electronics from various types of electrical events.

Power Strips

One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make when it comes to surge protection is assuming that all power strips provide surge protection. However, this assumption is a mistake. Cheaper power strips usually do not have reliable surge protection features, even if they claim they do on the packaging.

While these basic power strips are fine for low-power devices with minimal value, such as holiday lights, using quality power strips with surge protection for high-value electronics is essential. Items like televisions, audio systems, and computers are especially vulnerable to power surges, and surge protection power strips can help protect them. Many modern surge-protecting strips even feature protected USB charging ports for your portable devices, offering added convenience.

All surge protection systems, including both power strips and whole-home solutions, have a voltage protection rating (VPR). The VPR indicates the voltage level at which the surge protector will activate to clamp the incoming power, protecting your devices. For power strips, VPRs are typically rated at 330, 400, or 500 volts. Lower VPRs are better because they indicate that the surge protector will respond to smaller surges, offering better protection for your devices.

Shortcomings of Surge Protection Strips

The most obvious limitation of surge protection strips is that they only offer protection to devices plugged into them. In fact, certain appliances should never be connected to a power strip, even one with a high VPR rating. Major appliances like refrigerators, dryers, and microwaves typically have specialized plugs that won’t fit into standard outlets or power strips. These devices require a dedicated circuit with a compatible, high-power outlet. Using an adapter to plug a high-voltage appliance into a power strip could overload the circuit, potentially creating a fire hazard.

Another often overlooked issue with surge protection strips is that their surge protection capacity diminishes over time. Small surges, power fluctuations, and even regular use can degrade the internal components of a surge protector without causing it to fail outright. As a result, the protection offered by a surge strip gradually decreases, often without any visible sign of wear or failure.

We recommend using surge protection strips as a secondary defense rather than your primary means of protection. These strips are best suited for devices that contain sensitive microprocessors, such as computers, televisions, phones, and tablets. A surge strip can be fine for low-power devices like lamps, but it should never be considered a top-tier solution for high-value or essential items.

To ensure continued protection, it’s important to replace surge protection strips every three to five years. Additionally, if your home experiences a major power surge, like the kind caused by lightning strikes, it is usually a good idea to replace your power strips.

Grounding and Power Strips

Make sure your home has a grounding system that’s in good shape. Even the best surge protection strip can only transfer the excess load to your home’s grounding system. If the system has degraded, a surge protection strip won’t be able to serve its intended purpose. For instance, changes in soil conditions can also reduce the effectiveness of your home’s grounding rod. Our electricians can test your home’s grounding system and confirm that it is working as it should.

Whole-House Surge Protection

We strongly recommend installing whole-house surge protection for comprehensive coverage. This system safeguards your entire home from external surges and protects every device inside. When it comes to protecting high-value items like your HVAC system and refrigerator, nothing compares to the security offered by a reliable whole-house surge protection system.

How Whole-House Surge Protectors Work

We usually install a whole-house surge protector between your electric panel and the power meter. The primary function of a whole-house surge protection system is to monitor electrical surges and divert them away from your home’s power system before they can cause damage.

Whole-house surge protectors are designed to handle large surges, such as those caused by lightning strikes, which can send tens of thousands of volts through your electrical system. Smaller surges, in the hundreds or low thousands of volts, can also occur during events like power company repairs and when your power is restored after an outage.

In addition to protecting your home’s electrical system, a whole-house surge protector safeguards wiring and devices connected to your home’s power supply. Surge protection strips can’t protect your electrical panel or the internal wiring in your home. Even if the panel survives a surge, circuit breakers or fuses might still be compromised.

Whole-house surge protection also provides an additional layer of defense for hardwired devices, such as lighting fixtures, range hoods, and exhaust fans. It’s worth the added cost to protect your electrical installation investments with the proper safety equipment.

Whole-house surge protectors generally have a higher Voltage Protection Rating (VPR) compared to power strips. A VPR of 600 volts or lower is considered aggressive, with many models offering VPR ratings of 800 volts or higher. This is why the best approach is to use a whole-house surge protector alongside individual surge protection strips. The whole-house system will handle large surges, such as those caused by lightning, while the strips provide additional protection for smaller surges.

Handling High-Amperage Surges

A common misconception is confusing voltage with power. While voltage represents the potential for electrical power, it’s the current, measured in amperage, that does the actual work. Amperage is the part of the electrical flow responsible for delivering the “kick” you feel when you’re shocked.

Understanding amperage is crucial when dealing with major surges. Large surges, like those caused by lightning, can introduce tens of thousands of amps into your electrical system. A well-designed whole-house surge protection system typically has a baseline capacity to handle at least 40,000 amps.

This ensures that it can absorb and redirect significant surges. Surge protection strips are designed to handle smaller, localized surges and have much lower amperage ratings. These strips are not equipped to handle the high-amperage surges from major events like lightning strikes.

Electrical Code Requirements

Recent updates to the National Electrical Code (NEC) now mandate whole-house surge protection for all new or upgraded service panels. Most local jurisdictions adopt the latest NEC revisions, so it’s safe to assume these requirements apply in your area. While older homes are typically grandfathered under previous codes, upgrading your home’s electrical system to comply with the most current NEC standards is essential to keep your home safe. It will also prevent issues during inspections if you decide to sell your home.

Contact Your Local Electricians

At Tingley Home Services, we have served the residents of Milford, MA, with expert electrical services and more since 2003. We can help you choose a whole-home surge protection system that meets your needs and budget. You can also count on us for all your other electrical needs, including repairs and installation of modern necessities like an EV charging station.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced electricians.