Not All Power Is Created Equal

Nearly everybody knows that you need a surge protector for your home entertainment system and home office. However, you may not know that power products are not all created equal.

Is the $20 power strip sold at the "Deal Store" any good?

What do you get when you pay more for a power product?

The answers to those questions can get complicated as some surge protector power strips offer a lot more than just protection from power spikes and lightning hits (i.e. Isolated Noise Filtration, Flameless MOVs, 45 Watt Power Delivery, etc.). However, a good place to start is with the joule rating.

A joule rating tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb and thus safely protect the equipment plugged into it. The higher the joule rating, the more robust the surge protector, and the longer it will likely protect. Joule ratings are one of the first features you'll see noted on the product box. If you don't see it, that should be a red flag; that means you're either buying a power strip that has no surge protection, or the rating is so low that the manufacturer chose to not call it out. Anyone serious about protecting their device from surge - and their homes from a potential fire - should stay away from any power product that does not have a solid joule rating.

Joule Trivia

"Joule" comes from James Prescott Joule, a brewer from London in the 1850's. Jimmy Joule was one of the first industrialists to begin using electric engines and he came up with a way of measuring the output of electricity. In addition to being a genius brewmaster, he was also a prankster who would electrify the doorknobs in his house. Shocking!

Okay, so more joules are better, but how many do I need?

An infinite number of joules would be best, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. At the heart of your joule rating is something called a Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV). An MOV is what absorbs the excess voltage that can damage your equipment. Unfortunately, these don't last forever. The average household in the US has more than 150 little spikes in voltage all day long, and these little spikes wear out the MOV over time. It's like stretching a rubber band over and over. Eventually the rubber band will snap. It's the same principle with an MOV - they have finite lives and will eventually die.

A joule rating is like a bank account: Each little surge makes a withdrawal out of your joule account until eventually your account is empty and you are left with no protection. The "Deal Store" surge protector may have 500 to 1000 joules that will likely only last for one or two years. Once the MOVs are worn out, your "bank account" is closed and you'll be left completely unprotected. Even worse, unless your power supply also has an indicator that it has run out of joules, you will not even know that you are at risk.

That's right - you will not know it.

Even while unprotected, your surge protector will continue to deliver power. This will give you a false sense of security while you really have nothing stopping any surge, nothing preventing a possible fire, and nothing shielding you from any of the consequences of an unprotected power supply.

Some brands choose to do better with their power and protect products, and Austere is proud to be one of them. Austere surge protectors offer joule accounts in the thousands, which is significantly more than bargain surge protectors offer. In fact, Austere power should provide protection for up to five times longer than a bargain surge protector. You could end up buying and replacing all bargain surge protectors in your house year after year, for about the same cost - and a significantly higher carbon footprint - as a single Austere surge protector. Austere also guarantees protection will last for five years, and all Austere power products have a blue LED indicator that lets you know your MOVs are intact and working. There's no guesswork involved. That's peace of mind you just can't get from a sub-par power strip.