A Residential Electrician in Louisville KY can provide advice on whether a home needs any surge protection equipment for various devices. A surge protector can be useful for computer and entertainment equipment, but electricians discourage using a surge protector as a power strip. They usually are cautious about power strips in general, simply because people tend to use these devices to overload outlets.
Power Strips and Surge Protectors
Unlike a regular power strip, a surge protector stops unusual bursts of electricity from reaching the equipment plugged into it. One common situation is after the power goes out during an electrical storm; a surge can occur when the electric company gets the service up and running again.
In addition, a Residential Electrician in Louisville KY knows that many people living outside of municipalities in the area experience inconsistencies in their power. That tends to be more common in rural areas, and the fluctuations in electricity can be hard on equipment.
Demand Load
Power strips as well as surge protectors offer convenience to people who can plug numerous electrical items into the device and shut off electricity to all of them at once. They are also convenient because they allow for more extensive use of an outlet, but that can put too much demand on wiring in one place.
An outlet typically is intended to accommodate two plugs, not five or six. An electrician from a company such as Bates Electric can add more outlets for safer usage. Visit the Site to learn more about this particular organization.
Continuous vs. Sporadic Usage
This isn’t too much of an issue if electricity for each item is used rather sparingly. A phone charger is only in use for a relatively short time, for example, and the same is true for a toaster and a can opener. And most people aren’t using all of the electrical items at once.
The problem develops when five or six items are plugged into a power strip or surge protector and are continuously used at the same time. Someone might be running a laptop computer with a separate monitor along with a printer, a lamp and a boombox. That puts quite a load on one outlet.
