Power Surge Protectors – Safeguarding Your Computer against Electric Spikes

Computers are undoubtedly a costly investment, and the skyrocketing prices of the hardware have added to the woes. Therefore, it becomes essential to take all necessary steps to protect the computer from potential damage. The best way to accomplish this is to use power surge protectors.

If you own a computer, you probably recognize the need to protect it from any damage that can commonly result from lightning strikes or a power surges. A sudden surge can damage the computer to a serious extent, resulting in the loss of all the important data stored in it.

To protect the computer against such harm, the best thing to use is a power surge protector. This electronic device is capable of maintaining a safe voltage level, thus minimizing the risk of damage. Almost all the surge protectors available these days feature multiple outlets. This feature makes the surge protectors ideal for computer systems which require multiple connectors for CPU, monitor, printer, speakers and other hardware.

There are different types of surge protectors available. They are:

Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV)

This is a common type of surge protector where a metal oxide part is connected to the ground-line through a semiconductor. This semiconductor serves as a variable resistor by creating high resistance when the supply is below standard level, and reduces the resistance when the voltage is high.

Gas Discharge Arrestor (GDA)

This type of surge protector uses a Gas Discharge Tube (GDT) which works similar to the MOV. It uses an inert gas to control the electricity level. This gas acts as a conductor during a power surge. Excess power ionizes the gas making it a good conductor, thus, the gas passes the extra power to the ground-line until the supply is normalized.

To offer more security, surge protectors are often equipped with a fuse. When the voltage is above standard level the fuse acts as a resistor and burns out to cut the supply to the device.

Benefits of Surge Protectors

Whether used at home or office, a surge protector is always beneficial. The reasons are:

It protects electrical appliance from getting damaged from power surge.
It regulates and maintains a steady supply of electricity to all the devices.
You don't need to unplug your device when you don't need them (these devices have buttons that can be switched off to disconnect the device from the power strip).
Since surge protectors act as regulators, they help in keeping the electricity bills low.

Choosing the Best Surge Protector

Keeping in mind the importance of using surge protectors, you should select the best one. You should keep the following things in mind before buying the best surge protector.

* Look for the surge protector which has sufficient outlets to accommodate all the devices.>
* Choose the device which has a built-in fuse, as it will provide better protection.
* Use a surge protector which protects all the three lines.
* Ask the vendor whether the protector has a circuit breaker to stop the flow of electricity in case of overloading.
* A surge protector that includes an on/off switch for every outlet is considered best for buying.
* Check whether the device has LED to show whether it is working or not.
* Check the UL rating of the device. Buy the protector having a low UL rating.
* Buy the device that has a high joules rating.
* Response time is also important. This indicates how quickly the protector will react to the surge. Therefore, you should choose the surge which has the fast response time.

To find the best computer surge protectors, you can run a quick search online where you can find several reliable and reputed vendors selling such devices at affordable prices.

The author of this article is currently associated with Computer Network Accessories, Inc., a leading dealer of computer parts Online, you can check the catalog to find the prices of all the equipment they deal in.