Review: APC Power Saving SurgeArrest

A few months ago when the local utility guilted me into conserving more energy, I bought an APC 4 Outlet Power-Saving Timer SurgeArrest and a APC 6 Outlet Power-Saving Timer SurgeArrest to shut off components of my media center at night. The surge protectors are your basic surge protectors, but have a built in timer that allows me to set times for the strip to turn on and turn off. I set up one timer to basically turn off from 11:30 pm to 5:30 am and the other to turn off from 10:30 pm to 6:30 am. Setup is extremely simple and I have already seen a reduction on my electricity bill. Some of the media center components sucked a bunch of juice and by turning things off for 1/3 of the day, it’s no wonder I’ve already seen a slight reduction in my electricity!

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the power strips. If you can arrange your components to turn off for long periods, they can pay for themselves pretty quickly and then some.

Pros

• Easy to setup.
• Pays for itself quickly.

Cons

• More expensive than regular surge protectors.
• Battery life for timer is unknown.
• Timer LCD is not easy to read.

Summary

If you’re looking for a way to save some money and reduce electricity, the APC SurgeArrest devices are a great addition to any media center or computer workstation. Once you setup the timers, you can forget about them and start saving money. There is no downside to getting this surge protectors.