Surge Protectors??

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kenstogie

kenstogie

Feeling the Heat
Oct 2, 2012
463
Albany (ish)
I currently have a Belkin style surge protector. I seems pretty nice to me and think I pulled it off my old Surround Sound system.....


......Yet I have seen people recommend the below one. My question is what's the difference in surge protectors?? Especially as it pertains to my pellet stove??




[Hearth.com] Surge Protectors??
 
use the 'search' and you'll find every surge protector ever made recommended by someone. :p
For strictly surges, the more joules it can handle, the better. That's NOT what gets you if you have frequent outages, though. Then it's more like brown outs as the power is about to die and high voltages when the power comes back on.
 
It's not just brand, but model that matters. You want one with a low "let through voltage" - that is, maximum voltage before cutoff. The best-known brand is APC. Some of the Belkins and Trip Lites are okay. Some of the off brand stuff, you're lucky if they do anything at all.
 
I am just as confused now though at least I know I am confused. Which makes me self aware confused i guess.:confused:
 
Fact- if your house gets hit by a direct strike, nothing will save your stuff. Get insurance.

For the brownouts and surges, that's why I like the ups with the AVR. if the incoming voltage gets too far out of spec, the unit turns to using battery power.
 
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kenstogie said:
I currently have a Belkin style surge protector. I seems pretty nice to me and think I pulled it off my old Surround Sound system.....


......Yet I have seen people recommend the below one. My question is what's the difference in surge protectors?? Especially as it pertains to my pellet stove??




[Hearth.com] Surge Protectors??
Click to expand...

I use this one on my stove. Tripp Lite's are built very well and have power filtering built in to give you cleaner power. Some others do as well, but typical surge protectors don't. From what I understand they will send you a free replacement if it ever stops working and they cover $10,000 worth of your equipment if it gets damaged when connected to the ISOBLOK (according to their website, I've never had a problem so I can't say from firsthand experience).
Some of the UPS models have good surge protection and power filtering also, so they are a good choice also. Just know that most of them won't run your stove for long if the power does go out. You need a very large on for that and they get so expensive that there are simply better options for our purposes.
The voltage regulator would be a good idea if you live somewhere that power fluctuates significantly. Mine is very consistent and clean (luckily) so for me that isn't an issue.
 
I look at it as a 95% case. most power outages here last 5-45 min. My UPS runs my stove about 50-55 min on medium.

If it's going to last longer than that, no ups will be much good in the long run. But it saves for smoke in the house when the power goes out (assuming i'm home). It gives me time to make a choice-- shut it down, or start a generator, or whatever. Time is important in emergencies.
 
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Im really not looking to spend the money on a ups.Should i get the trip light surge protector or spend a little more and get the apc voltage regulator.
 
briansol said:
I look at it as a 95% case. most power outages here last 5-45 min. My UPS runs my stove about 50-55 min on medium.

If it's going to last longer than that, no ups will be much good in the long run. But it saves for smoke in the house when the power goes out (assuming i'm home). It gives me time to make a choice-- shut it down, or start a generator, or whatever. Time is important in emergencies.
Click to expand...

We almost never lose power and most likely if I spend money on a backup, I'll never use it...but there have been instances where power was out for a few days due to an ice storm. I like the idea of instant switchover to avoid start up which is a big power drain compared to regular operation, not to mention if we lose power in the middle of the night, I may not even know. So I was looking for a UPS that would run it for at least 8 hrs and I discovered that would cost me way too much. So there are other options like the Tripp Lite PowerVerter APS700HF - DC to AC power inverter + battery charger - 700 Watt that provide all the benefits of a UPS but you can buy your own battery that will run much longer, or even connect several for a few days of power. The APS700HF I've found for $256 and a good deep cycle battery is around $200-250 so for under $500 you can have a setup that will automatically switch over and give me heat for a long time. The batteries are the weak link of most UPS so this avoids that altogether.

Your setup of UPS and generator is a good option also, I personally just don't have to worry about it if I'm sleeping or not home.
 
dlehneman said:
We almost never lose power and most likely if I spend money on a backup, I'll never use it...but there have been instances where power was out for a few days due to an ice storm. I like the idea of instant switchover to avoid start up which is a big power drain compared to regular operation, not to mention if we lose power in the middle of the night, I may not even know. So I was looking for a UPS that would run it for at least 8 hrs and I discovered that would cost me way too much. So there are other options like the Tripp Lite PowerVerter APS700HF - DC to AC power inverter + battery charger - 700 Watt that provide all the benefits of a UPS but you can buy your own battery that will run much longer, or even connect several for a few days of power. The APS700HF I've found for $256 and a good deep cycle battery is around $200-250 so for under $500 you can have a setup that will automatically switch over and give me heat for a long time. The batteries are the weak link of most UPS so this avoids that altogether.

Your setup of UPS and generator is a good option also, I personally just don't have to worry about it if I'm sleeping or not home.
Click to expand...

There is a thread on UPS's, deep cycle batteries, and generators running right now. I've picked out my backup power system, in part due to people's recommendations.

Look for my thread "UPS or Generator". Good info from a lot of people in there.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/ups-or-generator.115997/
 
Last edited:
briansol said:
I look at it as a 95% case. most power outages here last 5-45 min. My UPS runs my stove about 50-55 min on medium.

If it's going to last longer than that, no ups will be much good in the long run. But it saves for smoke in the house when the power goes out (assuming i'm home). It gives me time to make a choice-- shut it down, or start a generator, or whatever. Time is important in emergencies.
Click to expand...
briansol i have a winslow ps40 and would like to know what size ups you are using.
Curt
 
Another vote for Tripp-Lite. I've built and serviced six-figure video and audio editing suites, and would not use anything else. The 'connected equipment coverage' sells it every time. Yes you'll pay ninety bucks, but what you have connected is worth far, far more.

One quick story, from when I used to service and repair broadcast video and audio equipment. Had a customer calling and asking me about why his gear would suddenly periodically reset, or have erratic operation, causing him to have to restart the editing system computer and restart his sessions. Problem got worse and worse, so I did a service call. Saw a cheap (brand name omitted) on the gear, removed the "surge protector" and the gear ran flawlessly. Then I unplugged it and told the customer to get a Tripp-Lite and not to plug it back in until the Tripp-Lite arrived in the FedEx.
 
UPS and you kill two birds with one stone. Just my opinion :)
 
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