You Should Consider Replacing Your Old Surge Protection Devices
If you are using surge protectors in your home, you may want to consider replacing them, especially if you cannot remember when you bought the ones that are currently in use.
As it turned out, an ordinary surge protector is not good for eternity. Each has a kind of shelf life, after which it loses its protective properties and instead just functions like a standard extension cord. It’s okay if you’re just trying to hook up a bunch of stuff, but if you really want this overvoltage protection, you can eat to consider replacing your old overvoltage protection devices with newer models.
A few years ago, How to Geek wrote an article on the topic that spawned a Reddit thread this week .
How to Geek suggests that when your surge protector prevents a surge in your devices, all that extra energy is trapped inside the surge protector, where it destroys the metal oxide varistor (MOV) that normally stops the surge.
The Reddit thread questions this logic. Several electricians have stepped in to say that repeated surges and surges can cause this part to deteriorate, but they are unsure about the statement that the extra energy remains inside your surge protector.
However, everyone agrees that you should change these surge protectors periodically. In general, the average service life of a surge protector is 3-5 years.
If you have a bunch of old ones in your house right now, it might be a good time to start replacing them. Doing something like this by the start of the year is always a great idea in terms of remembering to do it.
For example, if you’re starting 2020 with new surge protection devices around your home, you can set yourself up to remind yourself to do the same when 2023 rolls around.
The beginning of the year, at least for me, is always easiest to remember about changing filters and other periodic maintenance items in the house without having to remember which month I did something last time.