Are power line conditioners really worth it?
Question: How much money do I need to spend to protect the components in my home theater system?
Answers: I'm not sure about this one, as it has pros and cons. Check out the website below and maybe it will help you decide. Good luck!
You can protect your components from power surges and voltage changes with a battery back-up power supply that includes overvoltage and surge protection. This is not the same as a power line conditioner, and costs much less (depending on the power requirements of your equipment, you should be able to get one for less than $100). A power line conditioner does more (and costs more): it provides voltage regulation, preventing variations in line voltage, and it cleans up the power line voltage which may carry noise signals from other appliances connected to the line. Some people believe that this dirty power reduces the quality of the audio and video of components using it, even though the noise from the power line is not directly noticeable. My personal belief is that if you don't see or hear any power line interference in your system, a conditioner is not necessary.
If your home theater system costs less than US$1000, you may no longer need a line conditioner. Afterall, line conditioners that are priced below this amount can hardly protect your system. And normally, systems that are worth that much have sufficient protective circuits to handle minor line problems.
Short answer: YES!
Cleaner power will help all your electronics last longer. Today, that includes most appliances as well as audio and video gear and computers. For under $300 you can protect it all.
There are 2 sources of power fluctuations and spikes: from the outside power line and from within your home. To clean up power coming into your home, you can get a unit that fits right in your main circuit breaker box. Cost is about $60 to $150 depending on capacity and shopping around. You'll need to figure the cost of a basic service call from an electrician to install it, which takes 15-20 minutes.
We're on rural electric, which has a lot of power irregularities. The control board in our dishwasher had fried 3 times in about 5 years. TVs were lasting only 4-5 years. Since we got the line conditioner (over 5 years) no problems.
In your home, startup surges from refrigerators, clothes dryers, air conditioner compressors, and even older laser printers can cause voltage dips or spikes. My old HP used to dim the lights in my study whenever it fired up. For that reason, a decent surge suppressor helps a lot - prices start around $30-$50. Regular cheap power strips don't do any good for this. Battery backup for computers is nice as it lets you shut down gracefully, but it's expensive,bulky, and replacement batteries (every 2-3 years) are expensive and can be hard to find for older units.
One hint - Surge protection units wear out. I get a new surge protector for my newest computer every 2 years and move the old unit to the second computer, that old unit then moves to the audio sytem & tv, then the unit from there goes to the other tv and stereo. The oldest unit then gets thrown out or used as just a power strip. .
Unless you are in a third-world country or a rural area, I'd have to say no. Power Conditioners are huge money makers for the home theater stores. You should use a surge protector of course, but those are $20. There is no need to get a $250 power conditioner whatsoever.
Yes they are! I have 4- connected to each of My Home Theaters and price depends on how important and how expense Your System is. I have a Monster Cable 5100 Unit for My main Home Theater that Has the Projector, 2- pr of Definitive Tech. BP3000 for the mains and the rear Surrounds and a CLR3000 Center. All these Speakers have built-in Powered Subwoofers, My Lexicon Processor, ATI 7- Channel Amp and Denon 9000 DVD Player and all are connected to My Conditioner. Why?? Because 1) the Conditioner is just that...it take the incoming power and conditions it to 120v constant which means no Spiking or Pulses that harm the Transformers and Power Supplies. The smoother the incoming current the better and longer Your Equipment will last. 2) Because the Conditioner is also a Surge Protector that regulates how many Joules of Electrical Current to past through at a Max. time, the Condition will Blow the Protective Circuit before and Spiking from Electrical Storms or Construction and Line Work gets to any of Your equipment and if any of Your equipment is damaged while plugged into the Conditioner, most have a Insurance Policy that will repair or replace the damaged Units. So...Yes, it's wise to have Conditioners on all Your Components, Computer and some Power Tools.
Answers: I'm not sure about this one, as it has pros and cons. Check out the website below and maybe it will help you decide. Good luck!
You can protect your components from power surges and voltage changes with a battery back-up power supply that includes overvoltage and surge protection. This is not the same as a power line conditioner, and costs much less (depending on the power requirements of your equipment, you should be able to get one for less than $100). A power line conditioner does more (and costs more): it provides voltage regulation, preventing variations in line voltage, and it cleans up the power line voltage which may carry noise signals from other appliances connected to the line. Some people believe that this dirty power reduces the quality of the audio and video of components using it, even though the noise from the power line is not directly noticeable. My personal belief is that if you don't see or hear any power line interference in your system, a conditioner is not necessary.
If your home theater system costs less than US$1000, you may no longer need a line conditioner. Afterall, line conditioners that are priced below this amount can hardly protect your system. And normally, systems that are worth that much have sufficient protective circuits to handle minor line problems.
Short answer: YES!
Cleaner power will help all your electronics last longer. Today, that includes most appliances as well as audio and video gear and computers. For under $300 you can protect it all.
There are 2 sources of power fluctuations and spikes: from the outside power line and from within your home. To clean up power coming into your home, you can get a unit that fits right in your main circuit breaker box. Cost is about $60 to $150 depending on capacity and shopping around. You'll need to figure the cost of a basic service call from an electrician to install it, which takes 15-20 minutes.
We're on rural electric, which has a lot of power irregularities. The control board in our dishwasher had fried 3 times in about 5 years. TVs were lasting only 4-5 years. Since we got the line conditioner (over 5 years) no problems.
In your home, startup surges from refrigerators, clothes dryers, air conditioner compressors, and even older laser printers can cause voltage dips or spikes. My old HP used to dim the lights in my study whenever it fired up. For that reason, a decent surge suppressor helps a lot - prices start around $30-$50. Regular cheap power strips don't do any good for this. Battery backup for computers is nice as it lets you shut down gracefully, but it's expensive,bulky, and replacement batteries (every 2-3 years) are expensive and can be hard to find for older units.
One hint - Surge protection units wear out. I get a new surge protector for my newest computer every 2 years and move the old unit to the second computer, that old unit then moves to the audio sytem & tv, then the unit from there goes to the other tv and stereo. The oldest unit then gets thrown out or used as just a power strip. .
Unless you are in a third-world country or a rural area, I'd have to say no. Power Conditioners are huge money makers for the home theater stores. You should use a surge protector of course, but those are $20. There is no need to get a $250 power conditioner whatsoever.
Yes they are! I have 4- connected to each of My Home Theaters and price depends on how important and how expense Your System is. I have a Monster Cable 5100 Unit for My main Home Theater that Has the Projector, 2- pr of Definitive Tech. BP3000 for the mains and the rear Surrounds and a CLR3000 Center. All these Speakers have built-in Powered Subwoofers, My Lexicon Processor, ATI 7- Channel Amp and Denon 9000 DVD Player and all are connected to My Conditioner. Why?? Because 1) the Conditioner is just that...it take the incoming power and conditions it to 120v constant which means no Spiking or Pulses that harm the Transformers and Power Supplies. The smoother the incoming current the better and longer Your Equipment will last. 2) Because the Conditioner is also a Surge Protector that regulates how many Joules of Electrical Current to past through at a Max. time, the Condition will Blow the Protective Circuit before and Spiking from Electrical Storms or Construction and Line Work gets to any of Your equipment and if any of Your equipment is damaged while plugged into the Conditioner, most have a Insurance Policy that will repair or replace the damaged Units. So...Yes, it's wise to have Conditioners on all Your Components, Computer and some Power Tools.
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