From smart outlet, smart plug, to the smart power strip. The advancement of electronic technology sure has come a long way.
With the electronic devices that can’t be separated from our daily life whether we use it for work, entertainment and communication, a risk of power surges is also one concerning thing to consider.
A power surge can cause significant damage to our electronic devices, and one effective way to protect your electronics is by using smart power strips.
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But, what are those? Is that the same as traditional surge protectors? Well, to get to know the answer, let’s dive deeper into this article!
Table of Contents
What is a Smart Power Strip?
Smart power strip is an advanced version of a traditional surge protector. It functions mainly identical with its traditional counterpart with some other additional features that aim at optimizing energy use and enhancing convenience.
With that being said, the difference between traditional power strip and the smart power trip lies in the smart power strip’s ability to offer extra protection and smart functionality other than providing extra outlets for multiple devices.
And in addition to that, smart power strips are equipped with technology that is able to monitor and control energy usage.
To put it simply, smart power strips are able to identify when a device is not in use and automatically cut off power to preserve energy.
The said features also prevents phantom energy drain, which is the energy that’s wasted around your home when devices are plugged in and using power, but you’re not actively using them.
Some smart power strips even take it a little bit higher by incorporating wireless connectivity which makes it able to connect to your home Wi-Fi connection thus able to be controlled remotely through a smartphone app, so you can turn devices on or off from basically anywhere.
Ultimately, anything that’s plugged into a smart power strip will become part of your smart home system and automate tasks like turning off unused devices.
How Does a Smart Power Strip Work?
1. Surge Protection
Like the only traditional surge protectors, smart power strips are also equipped with surge suppression technology.
A power surge AKA voltage spike itself is a condition when there is a sudden and significant increase in voltage within an electrical circuit.
This condition is particularly dangerous to your electrical devices because it can overload your devices with electricity which in turn cause short circuits, data loss or even worse, permanent damage to your electrical device’s sensitive components.
With that being said, smart power strips can divert the excess voltage away from connected devices during power source, thus protecting your devices from damage.
2. Energy Management
Smart power strips use sensors to detect when a device enters standby mode or isn’t in use.
When they detect it, they can automatically cut off the power to that particular device, this can prevent phantom energy drain. Your electricity bills will thank you for that.
3. Remote Control
By connecting your smart power strips to your home Wi-Fi connection, you can control it from anywhere just via your smartphone apps.
This not only gives you an unparalleled convenience to turn the devices on or off remotely, but also allows you to track power usage.
In addition, some of them are even equipped with smart scheduling features so you can turn off the least important devices during specific hours.
4. Master-Control Outlets
There are some of the smart power strips that are equipped with a “master” outlet feature which makes it able to turn off the other outlets automatically when the master is turned off.
For example, if you have your computer plugged into the master outlets and other peripherals like printers and monitors in the secondary outlets, when you turn off your computer the power strip will automatically turn off the peripherals thus saving you energy.
There you have it! The explanation about what a smart power strip is along with how it works!
