Surge Suppressor OR Battery Backups

Computers, phones and other electronic equipment can be seriously damaged when a sudden change in electricity demand sends a surge of excess voltage through your building’s electrical utility lines and phone lines. Surge protectors (also called surge suppressors) connect to your equipment and your wall outlet. They save your devices by keeping most of the excess voltage from reaching the devices. The damaging surges and spikes (even for a second) can happen when an air conditioner or other motor-driven equipment switches on or off. Surges and spikes can also be triggered by lightning storms and when your utility company switches power from one area of the power grid to another.

Although the terms surge suppressor and surge protector are often used interchangeably to refer to the same type of product, true surge protectors usually lose their surge-protection ability after they’re hit by a single electrical surge.  To make sure you’re getting the protection you need, check the product’s capabilities before you buy. Remember, you get what you pay for.

A surge suppressor, or protector, defends computers and electrical equipment from voltage spikes. It does this by regulating the voltage a device is fed. If the voltage spikes to an unsafe level, surge suppressors will short or break the connection to the electronic device. This prevents damage to essential devices like computer and network systems, communications equipment and other important electronic devices. Larger models can often protect entire networks and devices that use huge amounts of power.

Battery backups will take control of the electric current of connected devices and give you time to shut down your computer system preventing loss of data and lessens the chance of corrupting the operating system files. If you look closely at the unit, you will see that most have two different sides of protection. One side offers battery protection, while the other is just a surge suppressor. Do not plug in anything other than the computer and monitor on the battery side. All other devices plug in the surge side. This gives you more time to shut down the system. Also, the battery time on the box is with this set-up in mind.

Look for these important surge protector and surge suppressor features:

1. A high joule rating. The joule rating tells you how much energy it can absorb. When your suppressor reaches its capacity, it can’t protect your equipment. The higher the rating, the longer the suppressor will last.
2. A low clamping voltage rating. That tells you how much voltage the suppressor will send to your devices before diverting the voltage to the ground.
3. An alarm or light that alerts you when your surge suppressor has stopped working and needs to be replaced.
4. The amount of insurance the company pays if the unit fails.
5. See if loss of data is covered by the insurance. Some devices cover loss of data, other not.

All-in-one surge protectors and surge suppressors

Save space and money by safeguarding several devices with a single, multiple-outlet surge suppressor. You can also buy a surge protector power strip, but make sure it offers sufficient protection. For the most versatile protection, install surge suppressors that protect your equipment from power surges that shoot through your phone, cable and data lines as well as your electrical lines.

 For maximum protection, look for power surge protectors that are equipped with power shut-down protection. This feature ensures that your equipment is protected even after your surge suppressors reach their capacity.

It’s not just devices such as computers, copiers and phones that need surge protection. Be sure to safeguard equipment like security systems and barcode scanners.

Surge suppressors won’t save equipment from major lightning strikes that hit close to your building. During a heavy thunderstorm, you’re better off unplugging your computers and other equipment.

THE BIG QUESTION: SHOULD I LEAVE MY SYSTEM ON ALL THE TIME?

Keeping all this information in mind will hopefully assist you. Oh, and one other thought … no matter what, always back-up your data. If you do not, you run the risk of losing important files, pictures, etc. should you be the victim of a surge that renders your hard drive unresponsive!