Can someone settle a "difference of opinion"?

[gatitosmommy]

(I figured this forum would be a good place to ask this, as everyone works online from home)

A neighbor told me my approach is unnecessary and a little ridiculous: whenever a thunderstorm starts, I unplug everything in my apartment (except refrigerator, of course).
When they're ongoing, as they expect to be for awhile, this means losing a lot of work time.
Neighbor said since I have a power bar for my computer, modem, etc., there's no risk of my electronics blowing out.
Am I just taking sensible precautions, or is he right?

[christent04]

It depends.

Do you have a power strip or a surge suppressor/protector? Either way, you still risk blowing something, but a surge protector helps. Personally, I live in south Florida and I just leave everything plugged in to each surge protector throughout the house. It storms down here too often for me to constantly unplug everything.

[danasurvey]

I will unplug my computer if it is a really horrible storm with close lightning strikes. Other than that, I don't but I have a good surge protector.

[Kiernansmom]

Yeah, I think unplugging everything is unnecessary if you have a surge protector. I have worked right through storms before. I would definitely lose a lot of work time if I unplugged everything during monsoon season!

[beanandpumpkin]

I live in Southwest Florida and we get thunderstorms every day in the summer. I don't unplug anything, but it's all in power strips. My laptop is not plugged into a power strip, but it's only plugged in when it's charging. I honestly don't know if it's plugged in during thunderstorms... I'm sure it has been, which I will be more aware of thanks to your post! But surge protectors should be enough.

[christent04]

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

I live in Southwest Florida and we get thunderstorms every day in the summer. I don't unplug anything, but it's all in power strips. My laptop is not plugged into a power strip, but it's only plugged in when it's charging. I honestly don't know if it's plugged in during thunderstorms... I'm sure it has been, which I will be more aware of thanks to your post! But surge protectors should be enough.

I always forget that you're on the opposite side of me.. I'm in Southeast Florida..

[JCTorpey]

And both is even better.

I used to do the same - unplug everything - because I once blew a (admittedly old) computer while not using any backups or surge protectors. Then I found surge protectors and, more recently, battery backups.

Power strips or surge protectors can fail. They can short out, or not work for a variety of reasons. However, they are the first line of defense against blowing electronics and usually - about 98 percent of the time - work well. Usually, it's old power strips with outdated electronics inside that blow or short out.

I now use a mid sized battery backup and a couple of surge protectors.

A battery backup is like a generator - depending on the size, you can keep your entire office running for hours, or just your computer - even if the power goes out. Then you have the option to shut down manually if there is a blackout or other problem without losing anything.

I coupled a backup on my computer (and another on my router set up, which is in another room) with a few surge protectors (power strips) on everything else and I've not lost a single piece of writing work, or another computer since. I also don't have to lose work time because of weather issues any longer.

I got my backups at Microcenter, but TigerDirect is also a good place for them. If you're not sure what size you need, Microcenter is good at telling you what you need without overselling. Microcenter has brick and mortar stores in addition to selling online, but TigerDirect is online only.

If you don't want to (or can't) shell out the money for the backups, plugging everything into a surge protector will be enough, unless of course it fails.

However, something I only recently found out - these days, most surge protectors come with warranties that if equipment gets damaged while using it, the company will replace the equipment. If you have an older protector, I would suggest getting a new one with the warranty, especially if you're extra concerned about losing anything.

Until I got my backup, I used two surge protectors. One specifically for my computer, and one for everything else. After losing one computer, I didn't want to take any chances.

Originally Posted by gatitosmommy

(I figured this forum would be a good place to ask this, as everyone works online from home)

A neighbor told me my approach is unnecessary and a little ridiculous: whenever a thunderstorm starts, I unplug everything in my apartment (except refrigerator, of course).
When they're ongoing, as they expect to be for awhile, this means losing a lot of work time.
Neighbor said since I have a power bar for my computer, modem, etc., there's no risk of my electronics blowing out.
Am I just taking sensible precautions, or is he right?

[Michael Levanduski]

I leave everything plugged in and turned on during electrical storms and never run into issues. I have a surge protector. If you're worried, you can look for the 'higher end' surge protectors (still less than $40) and they come with 'insurance' that will pay for replacing any equipment that gets blown if it was plugged into their protector.

Michael

[theophilus balogun]

if you have a good surge protector unplugging your computer is unnecessary cuz you mite loose a lot of work time,so to be on the safe side get one.

[charmed]

I didn't used to do that but I do now after I lost everything. I don't however, unless it's super bad, unplug my internet since that is insured through house insurance and company. I instead work on my laptop until the battery runs out. But, no I really don't think you're over reacting if there is a lot of lightning.

Originally Posted by gatitosmommy

(I figured this forum would be a good place to ask this, as everyone works online from home)

A neighbor told me my approach is unnecessary and a little ridiculous: whenever a thunderstorm starts, I unplug everything in my apartment (except refrigerator, of course).
When they're ongoing, as they expect to be for awhile, this means losing a lot of work time.
Neighbor said since I have a power bar for my computer, modem, etc., there's no risk of my electronics blowing out.
Am I just taking sensible precautions, or is he right?