The complete guide
Choosing a Surge Protector for a Home Office
A home office runs out of sockets before it runs out of desk. Computer, two screens, a router, a printer, a lamp and a phone charger is seven plugs, and most rooms give you two. This guide covers what to look for in a surge protected power board, and what this one does and does not do.
Count your plugs first
Walk around the desk and count every mains plug: computer, each monitor, laptop charger, router, modem, printer, lamp, speakers. Then count the things that charge from USB. Eight sockets and two USB ports covers most single-person home offices with room for one more thing later.
Look at the shape of the plugs as well as the number. Big plug packs can cover the socket next to them. On this board the sockets sit in two rows of four, so put the bulky packs at the end of each row and the slim plugs in the middle.
What the surge numbers mean
A surge is a short spike in the mains voltage. Storms cause them, and so do big appliances switching on and off in the same house. Surge protection soaks up the spike before it reaches what is plugged in.
The joule rating tells you how much it can soak up. This board is rated at 2750 joules, with a maximum surge current of 67,500 A. Many boards sold as surge protected do not give a figure at all, which makes them hard to compare. When you shop around, compare the joule rating first.
Two honest limits. First, no power board can stop a direct lightning strike. In a bad storm, unplugging the computer is still the safest option. Second, a surge protector uses up some of its protection each time it takes a hit. The Protected light on top shows it is still working. If that light goes out, replace the board.
Surge protection is not overload protection
They solve different problems. Surge protection deals with spikes coming in from the mains. Overload protection deals with you plugging in too much.
This board has a built-in circuit breaker that switches it off if the load goes over the limit. The limit is printed on the board: 10A and 2400W in total. That is the same as a standard Australian wall socket, so the board cannot give you more power than the wall has. It only gives you more places to plug in.
Desk equipment rarely gets close. A computer, two monitors, a router and a printer together usually sit well under the limit. A heater, kettle or hair dryer can use most of it alone, so keep those on their own wall socket.
Never chain power boards
Plug the board straight into a wall socket. Do not plug it into another power board or a double adaptor, and do not plug another board into it. Chaining boards is the usual way a socket ends up overloaded. If one board is not enough, it is time to talk to an electrician about another wall socket.
The USB ports
The two USB-A ports share 2.4A between them. That charges a phone, earbuds or a tablet without a separate plug pack. Both phones charging at once will each go a bit slower.
They are not USB-C and they are not a fast charger. A laptop needs its own charger in one of the mains sockets. If your phone came with a fast charger and you want the speed, keep using it in one of the eight sockets.
Where to put it
The board is flat, 276 x 130 x 32 mm, and the lead is about 2m. That is long enough to reach from a wall socket behind the desk to the floor under it, or to a shelf at the side.
Run the lead where a chair cannot roll over it and feet cannot catch it. Leave some slack so nothing pulls on the plug. Keep the board where you can reach the switch and see the two lights, and keep drinks well away from it.
Noise filtering
The board has EMI and RFI filtering, which reduces electrical noise on the line. It can help with a faint hum from speakers sharing a socket with other gear. It will not fix a faulty cable, a slow internet connection or a monitor that flickers for some other reason.
It is not a UPS
A surge protector keeps nothing running in a blackout. If your computer needs to stay on through a power cut, or shut down cleanly, you need a UPS with a battery. Many people use both: the UPS for the computer, and a board like this for everything else.
The short version
Eight sockets, two USB ports, a 2750 joule surge rating, an overload breaker and an RCM approval for Australia, in a flat black board with a 2m lead. Plug it straight into the wall, keep the total under 2400W, and replace it if the Protected light goes out.