If you have a power strip without any surge protection (or one that’s so old you can’t remember if it ever did), get rid of it. Otherwise, they’ll keep passing power to your devices long after their protective MOVs have worn out. Every three to five years, replace surge protectors that lack an auto-shutoff feature.And if you’re plugging in new gear, check each outlet for burn marks or any sign of damage. Always replace your surge protectors after any large event, such as a lightning strike down the block or multiple outages in rapid succession.A ground fault could fry your devices, electrocute someone, or start a fire. If there is a fault, call an electrician as soon as possible to determine whether you have a wiring problem. Most protectors have a single grounding light that indicates whether there’s a ground fault. When you first plug in a surge protector, make sure the status lights don’t report any problems.This decreases the risk of electric shock, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Use grounded (three-prong) or polarized (one blade thicker than the other) plugs whenever possible.

Bypassing the ground negates most of the benefits of using surge protectors, since typically two-thirds of their MOVs are tied to the ground leg.

Never use an adapter to plug a surge protector into an ungrounded outlet.

The worst-case scenario is that something starts melting-that’s the opening act for an electrical fire. The best-case scenario is that you trip a breaker or blow a fuse. This is an easy way to exceed the current ratings on the surge protector and even the wiring in your walls.

Never daisy-chain multiple surge protectors to add outlets, and never plug a surge protector into an extension cord.

Attractive, slim design was a plus, and we considered well-designed clamps, hooks, or holes for mounting the surge protector on a table or baseboard to be a bonus.

Sensible port layout and overall design: To keep oversize plugs from blocking nearby outlets, we looked for adequately spaced ports.

Long power cord: If a surge protector has a power cord, longer is better because it’ll be safer and more convenient to use.

However, a warranty covers only defects and won’t help you when the surge-absorbing components wear out as designed.

At least a one-year warranty: This is a bare-minimum requirement for something that you’re trusting to protect high-priced equipment and that you’ll be replacing every few years.

USB ports are handy for charging a phone or other small device without a wall charger, but since most won’t charge a phone at top speed, we don’t think they add much value.

Convenient auxiliary ports: We preferred models with coaxial connectors, which are commonly used in AV devices, as well as telephone ports for a landline phone or dial-up internet connection.But since this is just an estimate, we didn’t put a lot of stock in it. High joule rating: A joule rating tells you about how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails, so higher is better.Lower is better when it comes to let-through voltage, the measure of how much extra voltage reaches your electronics. A surge-protection rating of 400 volts or better: Although we verified each model’s abilities in our own electrical testing, we required that they be rated by one of the major product-safety corporations, UL or ETL, to bring a surge down to (at most) 400 volts.At least eight AC outlets: We required at least eight AC outlets for the main and top-of-the-line contenders, and at least three for our light-duty pick.Otherwise, at minimum, we required each model to have an indicator light that signals when its surge-protection capabilities have worn out. Automatic shutoff: We preferred this feature because it ensures you’ll never leave your equipment unprotected.

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