Get the most out of your power strip with this simple upgrade

There is nothing more frustrating than running out of space on a power strip long before you run out of available power. Here’s how to avoid buying a larger power strip or UPS unit while safely adding more devices.

Power strips can be so frustrating

Maybe once upon a time, a simple 8-port power strip was good enough. If it’s 1995 and you have a PC, a monitor, some speakers, a printer, and a desk lamp, that’s just 5 ports with 3 left over for activities.

But today, there are so many things to plug in, and so many devices with big, chunky power adapters that take up too much space on a power strip.

Sure, you could upgrade your power strip. You could even replace the old strip from the hardware store with a proper surge protector with widely spaced outlets like the Tripp Lite model seen above.

What if you already have a good surge protector or a quality UPS unit that you want to connect a few more things to? You don’t need to upgrade your surge protector or UPS; you need a simple little update.

Split and expand your power strips

What kind of update do you need? You need outlet splitters and extenders. Before I recommend some to you, let’s talk about electrical and fire safety.

We are in no way suggesting that you overload a power strip. This tip is not to help you turn a 20-year-old non-fused hardware power strip into a toaster and burn down his house as a result. Overloading extension cords and power strips is one of the leading causes of home fires, and it’s simply never worth risking a fire because you wore out a quality power strip and/or overloaded it.

That being said, the biggest problem with modern electronics is that there are so many plugs and so few points on a power strip. Also, very few devices are high voltage. My problem, and I’m sure yours as well, is not that I need 5000 watts of power in my home media center or my computer workstation.

My problem is that I have a gazillion peripherals that need to be connected, but each individually draws very little power: a smart speaker here, a streaming media player there, a printer that hardly turns on anymore, etc.

And that’s exactly where a power divider comes in handy. When you want to plug in four low-voltage devices but only have one outlet left, you plug the splitter into the remaining outlet on the power strip and split the power.

Or, if you have a power strip with closely spaced plugs and you have a bunch of thick warts on your wall that won’t all fit on the power strip at once, you can use a pack of short extension cords.

They are only 8 inches long, but that is enough to get the wart plug out of the wall of the strip so you can use each exit opening.

Both of these products are very much the kind of thing that once you know they’re available and start using them, you can’t imagine life without them. I use the splitters and extenders on UPS units and power strips throughout my house, so I can fit more items on them without having to change outlets or buy a larger power strip.

Just remember, stay safe. The total wattage of all items you have added to the power strip with a splitter or extender must not exceed the wattage rating of the power strip or the wattage rating of the electrical circuit into which you have plugged the power strip. The divider is not an excuse to overload the strip; It is a useful tool to help you connect more low voltage items.