Originally Posted by bobdoo
There's been a warehouse-sized pile of poo posted on this thread.
You should use surge protectors on expensive equipment.
You should read *all* of this review, which answers the BS posted here.
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/#how-we-tested
Whole-house protectors don't 'clamp' till around 500v. SP's clamp at less than half of that.
Good point, GOOD POST, also I have read all years of The Wirecutter Tests ... and maybe Consumer Reports a very long time ago.
I just re-read your link and everyone should read all of their 3 years of reviews. However I do not buy anything based on their personal ratings because they only recommend units that shut down once their life is over and I dont need or agree with that and its marketing to charge an extra $10 or more.
Also, it is true that the "let through" voltage of whole house protectors is a lot higher (not as good) it is why even IF I had a whole house I would still use what I do, it would be just an extra, extra measure of protection. Surge Suppression is cheap and I am guessing I have 20 suppressors or more in use in my home.
One point people miss, is most good suppressors will also have basic noise filtering built in.
I do look up the "let through" specs on the surge protectors I buy. And why to me, without question, one of the best values out there is the Belkin Commerical Surge Strips.
I paid just a year or so ago by searching around, less then $14 at the time, can still be bought on Amazon at $16.
Commercial means just, plain jane looking surge strip minus all the fancy lights and decals, (No marketing) However, Belkin is a good name, with a good Clamping Voltage of 330, Total Combined 2500 joules plus of course line noise filtering, it cant be beat for the money.
APC, Trip Light, also good names. I buy price and why right now I have the plain box, plain jane Belkin Commerical and of course the Tripplite, oops, a few Cyber Power too, along with a Cyber Power UPS for the Modem and Router ...
) and lets not forget those Ferrite Snap on Noise Filters on every wire for every electronic in the home, actually I use 2 on each line.
)
What I dont agree with in The WireCutter story is their ratings and lets me honest, they look to make money selling these things so there has to be a rating, nothing wrong with that though. Anyway, the only top rated surge suppressors are the expensive ones (they make more money) and those are the ones that automatically shut off at the end of their life.
Me personally, I would never buy one of those for my own reasons, I dont need my hand to be held and why I will never have a surge for more then 10 years. Also I do not need to come hope on day to find my electronics dead or my aquarium dead because a surge strip reached the end of its life.
So bottom line, Belkin and all brands did great, except they only rate the ones that kill themselves at the end of its life as good.
AS I stated in other posts, I use cheap but good quality wall based surge suppressors in the outlet, then plug a Belkin Commerical Strip into that. Of course, again, it doesnt have to be Belkin, not that I am in love with the company, not at all, I buy on quality and price. Mentally I prefer Trip Light and (APC to some degree WITHOUT any type of shut down once its life it finished, to me its stupid)
On my expensive Home Theater System. I use a Belkin Commerical Power Strip Plugged into a Tripp Lite Isoblok 2-0.
The Trip Light Isoblok2 has a clamping voltage of 140 !!! So that is the first line of defense for the home theater, THEN the Belkin Commerical Power Strip/Surge is the second line of defense with 330 clamping voltage, which is also fantastic.