Good surge protector?How many joules. Is a question a lot of people ask before buying a surge protector. I have listed recommended number of joules for various home appliances below.
What is a surge protector? it is a small electronic gadget that protects electrical home appliances from voltage spikes in a home. A surge protector can not protect your home appliances from lightning. You need a lightning arrestor to protect your home from lightning.
How many joules is a good surge protector? To answer this question, I will first state other specifications of a surge protector. There are three specifications that you must consider for a good surge protector. These are?
The number of joules: This is the maximum number of energy that a surge protector can absorb without being damaged.
Clamp voltage: The voltage at which the surge protector will be actuated to protect your appliance.
Response time. This is the time it takes the surge protector to respond. That is from the time it detects the spike in the voltage. It is measured in nanoseconds.
The higher the joules rating of a surge protector, the better the protection. A 2000 joules surge protector is better than a 1000 joules surge protector. A 1000 joules surge protector, will only protect your appliances from a voltage surge of 1000 joules and below.
All in all a better surge protector is one that is rated at 3000 joules,330V clamp voltage, and a response time of one nanoseconds or less.
How many joules surge protector for PC.
A PC falls in the category of gaming console. Therefore a good surge protector for a PC is one that its joules rating range is from 2000 to 3000 joules.
However, for laptops, you will need a surge protector with a joules rating stated as 1000 to 2000 joules.
How many joules do I need to protect my TV?
A Television set is one of the most used home appliances for home entertainment.
Therefore, you don’t want your TV to stop working due to an expected voltage spike. You do well to get a 1500 to 2500 joules surge protector for your TV.
Conclusion of how many joules you need for surge protector.
The best number of joules for a surge protector is dependant on the home appliance that you want to protect.
All in all it is not the number of joules only that you should consider when buying a surge protector.
You should also the clamp voltage and the response time. As stated before, clamp voltage is the voltage at which the surge protector is triggered to protect the home appliance.
The response time is the time it takes the surge protector to respond when a voltage spike is detected.
While the joules rating is important in a surge protector, when selecting a surge protector, you look at these three parameters. Namely
- Joules rating.
- Clamp voltage.
- Response time.
What is your experience using surge protectors? What is the best way to choose a surge protector? Leave your comment in the comments section below.
