We get asked often about whether clients need to protect themselves from power overloads and/or power surges. So we thought we'd do a brief post on the subject to give you our view on it.
Firstly, let's separate out the two issues here and address them individually.
Overload protection
This is usually referring to the amount of current drawn on an electrical circuit. When your electrical board at home blows a fuse or flicks a switch it is because there is an overload on a circuit and it trips the fuse that relates to that circuit.
That is current (amps). If you buy a standard power strip then it has a circuit breaker (required by law). This means that if you load devices that draw more than 10 amps total then it will trip. You will then need to remove devices and reset the strip (normally a little red button).
Let's assume that you have 6 power points on a power strip - you would normally not get anywhere near 10 amps of current being drawn. Remember that many devices now have a sleep mode - so if they are not actively being used - they will not draw any current at all.
The Powercore desks all have a sleep mode. So it is only when you are changing desk position that it will draw any current ( use any power).
We supply our Listo cable trays with a 6 point power strip mounted and recommend that all devices on the desk are routed through the power strip. There are three main reasons for this:
You can manage all your desk power requirements through one point.
A desk going up and down shouldn't have too many cables going to the wall that can catch and pull items off the desktop.
A third reason is that it is simply tidier and leaves space under your desk for your legs.
Surge protection
Surge protection refers to spikes in voltage. This could be a major spike created by a lightning strike or the like or it can be minor fluctuations within the power network.
Some (not all) power strips are equipped with surge protection. Power spikes can damage devices such as PC's but they are relatively rare. Think of whether you have ever had a device fried by a power spike. Most people have never experienced it in a lifetime but having said that it is possible.
If you are in an office environment surge protection is best provided at the main board level. It is cheaper and easier than having a surge protector to every PC or device. Most offices choose to protect important "critical" devices such as network equipment or servers. For a home office you can use a simple surge protection board or a power strip with surge protection if you feel there is a risk. We don't supply surge protection with our desks because we feel the risk is absolutely minimal.
Conclusion
In short our conclusion is this. Look after the overload protection by routing your devices through a simple power strip sold in NZ hardware chains. The alternative is to buy our Listo cable tray which mounts the power strip on to a cable tray for you. This ensures that you power is going through a circuit breaker to the wall and any overload (over 10 amps) will trip the power strip.
As far as surge protection is concerned. Our conclusion is that unless it is a critical device (server, router etc) you don't need it. Certainly for the home you don't really need it but if you think you do you can simply upgrade your power strip to one with surge protection and you are away.
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