Electrical force is measured in voltage, and most of our appliances are designed to take in only a specific amount of voltage.
More often than not, the main problem is that the voltage isn’t really too consistent. Sometimes there are higher voltage levels that come through to your home’s electrical circuit system.
When the voltage gets too high, you end up straining and blowing the electronic components that are embedded in all your electrical appliances.
Major power surges, such as the tidal waves of voltage resulting from a near-miss lightning strike or downed power lines, are fortunately rare.
But minor surges occur with distressing frequency, and they can occur up to a dozen times each day. These surges can cause accumulative damage, and eventually you still end up with ruined appliances.
Some electronic devices even come with super-sensitive electronic components (for example, communication equipment, TVs and computers), and even a minor power surge can do a lot of damage.
That’s where surge protection comes in.
The regular surge protector is basically an extension cord. It’s a power strip with an electrical cord along with several outlets for your electrical devices. The power strip diverts the power surge from getting through to the electrical appliances.
But surge protective receptacles are a bit different. They replace your standard wall outlets instead. Once they’re mounted on the wall, they act as point-of-use surge protection for your electronics.
One of the biggest advantages is that these surge protective receptacles are inherently out of the way. They’re mounted into the wall, just like a regular wall socket.
That lessens the chances of someone tripping over the electrical cords, like with the regular surge protector.
Surge Protector for Receptacles That Do Not Have Ground Wires
At present, ungrounded outlets are actually rare. In fact, electrical safety standards have required the use of grounded outlets since the mid-1960s.
If you happen to buy a home made before that time, then you’d have to replace the ungrounded outlets.
That’s because the excess voltage from a power surge may be redirected to unsafe directions, such as towards other materials and even people.
The rule of the thumb is – It has to be diverted to the ground.
Grounding is actually a critical component of surge protection. Surge protectors do not work with ungrounded outlets at all. If there are no ground wires, then it’s not happening.
Surge Protector Strip with CEE7 Schuko Receptacles
This setup can work. The CEE7 Schuko refers to the CEE 7/3 socket and CEE 7/4 Type F plugs widely used in Germany and other countries in Europe and Asia.
It’s a type of German socket with 2 symmetrical round holes, along with 2 earthing clips.
It’s regarded as an extremely safe design, and they’re the best option for Schuko plugs.
It’s a grounded outlet that doesn’t really have extra surge protection, but the surge protector strip can provide that.
Surge Protector Open Ground Receptacles
An “open ground” situation is when the ground wire shows discontinuity between itself and the ground, which acts as a sink for excess voltage.
As mentioned before, surge protection only works with proper grounding.
An open ground denotes that the receptacle is ungrounded, and this must be fixed beforehand.
As long as the surge protector display says “open ground”, you have a problem.
FAQs
Are surge protector receptacles any good?
That really depends on the surge protector receptacles you get and install. In most cases, they’re good. You have surge protection at the point of use, plus you don’t have the extra electrical cord to trip over.
On the other hand, you’re limited to 2 sockets on average. Surge protector strips can feature 8 sockets or even more.
Some surge protector receptacles come with LED indicators to confirm that you have the ground wiring and surge protection actually working. Other models have audio alarms to tell you if the surge protection has expired.
There are also models that allow for snap-in replacement modules, so you can restore the surge protection without rewiring or interrupting the power flow.
Why Do Two of The Receptacles on My Surge Protector Have Adapter on Them?
Usually, the adapter’s function is to accommodate different types of plug designs. They can accept the rounded or the rectangular prongs, so you won’t need to buy separate adapters for each of your electrical appliances.
But on surge protector receptacles, the adapters may also give extra sockets, so you still enjoy the multiple sockets found on standard power strip surge protectors.
You just have to be careful that you plug in the electrical cords properly.
Also, you need to make sure you don’t overload the wall socket by counting the wattage required by each appliance. Add the total wattage to make sure it doesn’t exceed the wall socket limit.
Are there receptacles with built in surge protector?
Well, yes. The question actually describes what a surge protective receptacle is. It’s a receptacle with a built-in surge protector. You don’t need to plug in a power strip surge protector to protect from power surges.
You can buy these receptacles with the built-in surge protector and replace all your wall sockets, to make sure that your appliances are protected from the frequent minor surges that a home electrical system goes through each day.
Conclusion
It’s true that you should install a whole house surge protector for major power surges, such as those caused by lightning strikes and downed lines. Some bit of excess voltage will still leak through, but that can be handled by your surge protective receptacles.
Keep in mind that about 80% of surges actually originate from inside a home or building. The surge protector receptacles offer effective branch circuit surge protection, which is great for certain sensitive electronic systems.
These are very affordable, and easy enough to install throughout the house. Better yet, make sure it’s done right by getting a professional electrician to do it for you. You can, of course, watch how it’s done, so the next time you can always do it yourself!