Power Strip Buyers Guide: 4 Important Things to Know

Have you ever wished that you could plug more devices into your outlet? Or that the outlet was closer to your remote work desk? A power strip just might be the solution!

But where do you start? How do you choose the right one? In this post, I’ll walk you through the four most important things to know when deciding on a power strip for your remote work office!

#1 Outlets

You can buy power strips with anywhere from 2 to 12 or more outlets, so figuring out how many devices you’ll need to plug in is a good first step.

I always recommend buying one that has a few more outlets than you think you need right now, because you almost always end up having more devices to plug in than you initially planned for. You might plug in your computer and monitor, but six months later buy a microphone and speaker, and those need to be plugged in too. It’s super important to make sure to have enough outlets!

This Anker Power Strip has twelve outlets, three USB ports, and a 6ft cord.

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#2 Cord Length

Look around at your office space and decide how long of a cord you’ll need for the power strip. While you don’t want to end up with a super long cord that you don’t need, you also want to have enough, because it’s not recommended to plug an extension cord into a power strip. Simplify your remote work setup by choosing one with a cord length that fits your workspace.

There are even some power strips that don’t have a cord, they just plug into the outlet. If your desk is right next to an outlet, an adapter that can plug into the outlet and give you six or eight spaces to charge devices may be the best option for you!

The POWRUI Power Strip plugs directly into an outlet and is a great option for charging up to 8 devices in your remote work office. It has 6 outlets and 2 USB ports.

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#3 USB Ports

Most new devices are charged via USB ports, and a lot of power strips come equipped with USB chargers. Many of them also have spaces for both USB-C and USB-A charging ports.

It’s important to figure out how many of those you’ll need. Like with outlets, I recommend getting a few more USB charging ports than you think you need right now, so you have room for more devices in the future.

Another thing to consider is that, depending on where you plug in the power strip, you may not need USB ports at all, so just make sure to think about what devices you plan on plugging in ahead of time.

The Spruce Charger is a great option for charging devices at your desk. It’s equipped with 3 USB-C ports and 1 USB-A port, along with a wireless charger for your phone. It’s not a traditional power strip, but it’s great if you’re looking for something to charge your phone and just a few other devices at your remote work desk.

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#4 Surge Protection

Surge protection capabilities protect your devices that are plugged into the power strip in case a surge of electricity would come through the outlets in your house. A few different things can cause this to happen, like overloaded circuits, damaged wires, power outages, or even lightning. If you have a surge of electricity, it’s great to have a surge protector on your power strip to protect your devices.

This Anker Power Strip that I mentioned earlier has one of the biggest values of surge protection I’ve seen. It offers up to 4000 Joules, which is the highest surge protection for I’ve seen for personal power strips.

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Those are the 4 most important things to know when buying a power strip. Thanks for reading! For more tips on setting up your remote work office, check out Best Paper Shredder – Buyer’s Guide next!