Journal
Power strips are humble little things making our world go round. They’re unassuming and often overlooked parts of our daily life. But we rely on power strips in our homes and offices every single day. Look around and you’ll notice that power strips are silently and obediently powering everything – from your phone to your desktop, from your TV to your PlayStation (yeah, your shiny new PS5 too).
Because we take power strips for granted, we often forget that with great power (pun intended) comes great responsibility. If we don’t pay attention to our power strips or ensure they’re taken care of correctly, there can be some pretty dramatic consequences.
Read on for 7 Things You Should NEVER Do With Power Strips!
Image sourced from Pexels
1. Make a Daisy Chain…Or Flower Crown or Something
What comes to mind when you hear the words daisy chain? Hipsters in flower crowns? Warm spring air? A beautiful little necklace, perhaps? Not in this case.
It’s the term for plugging one power strip into another. Yes, there’s an actual term for it and it does sound like an accessory for your 5-year-old niece. Daisy chaining, however, is actually dangerous and breaks more fire and safety codes than you can count.
According to the ESFI, over 3,300 home fires are started from inaccurate use of extension cords and power strips each year.
Don’t risk it. Save your house from unfortunate circumstances and invest in power strips that you can showcase and use wherever you need them. One example of a great looking power strip that protects your stuff and looks great doing it is our JouleBAR. Check it out here!
2. Sweeping Sh*t Under the Rug
Yeah, don’t do that. Don’t sweep sh*t under the rug…ever. You shouldn’t do this with anything really, but especially not with power strips. If heat can’t escape the power strip, that’s a serious fire hazard. We know why you might want to hide your typical power strip. They’re sometimes just plain ugly. You gotta hide them. That’s why you usually see power strips in the following (quite dangerous spots):
- Behind large, overheating systems you know they really shouldn’t be behind (yeah, we’re calling out the back of your TV set up).
- Taped up underneath a desk, ready to collapse and let go at the moment you least expect it, potentially shattering your kneecaps. Yikes!
- In the middle of the floor, grounded wires constantly causing you to trip over and wonder why the hell you put it there in the first place.
- In a dusty corner somewhere it’s been in for longer than you care to remember, covered in spider webs. Ew, gross.
Not with Joule. This is the reason why we designed a power strip to challenge the perception of all power strips. Designed to be seen and not hidden, this is not the power strip you hide. The best spot for your JouleBAR? Anywhere you f*cking feel like it. We recommend placing it proudly front and centre.
3. Fry food, not power strips
Ever seen a power strip with one of the plugs blown out, thought eh what the heck and plugged something into the other socket anyways because it still works?
DO NOT (and we cannot stress this enough) do this. If one socket is burned, there is probably severe internal damage that could, yes, again, cause you to electrocute yourself or start a fire.
A recurring theme here, isn’t it? Save the frying for the kitchen. Just buy a new power bar.
4. Electricity and Water Don’t Mix
If this wasn’t an obvious one, your power strip isn’t made to go for a quick dip in the pool on a hot summer’s day. Make sure your power strip isn’t close to anything that could get it wet – like kitchen sinks or the bathtub – and you’re good to go!
Be extra cautious by not storing a power strip in any damp environments either – like the bathroom or laundry room as the humidity can have a similar effect as direct water exposure (can’t your hair relate?!)
5. Turn up the heat
Plugging in multiple devices that demand a lot of power can cause them to overheat, overload and short circuit. A few examples of things you shouldn’t plug in at the same time into a power strip:
- Refrigerators and freezers
- Hair appliances like hair dryers
- Kitchen appliances like microwaves and toaster ovens
- Washing machines
- Heaters or fans
Plugging these devices into power strips more than one at a time can be dangerous and damage your home appliances, costing you thousands in repairs! Make sure these devices are plugged into an actual electrical outlet on their own and if you do have to plug one into a power strip, make sure that’s the only item powered on.
6. Power bars ≠ energy bars
Kids will do anything you tell them not to do. Don’t let them near power strips because you know they are going to attempt to charge themselves up by putting their fingers or any sort of pointed item in the socket for some energy.
SPOILER ALERT: It doesn’t work. Big shock there. Pun intended.
What does happen? Well, the effect can go anywhere from a simple electric shock to long-term muscular pain and discomfort, severe burns, problems with peripheral nerve conduction and sensation, inadequate coordination and…well, I think you get the idea. It’s a no-no. Just stick to sugar (did we really just recommend that?). When it comes to nutrition, sugar is absolutely better than power strips. The JouleBAR actually has a third power setting which gives power to the USB ports only, while turning off power to the electrical outlets. Yes, we have kids too and this is simple, if not significant quick fix for unforseen kid interaction. More on this below...
Image sourced from Pexels
7. Feed Vampire Devices
Energy Vampires. We know them. We don’t want them. They can cost a wild 20% of your electricity bill. Plus, they’ve been spewing carbon emissions equivalent to 15 million cars annually. The wasted standby power from the U.S. alone could have powered all of Cuba.
Give a shout out to mother nature and turn that sh*t off.
You don’t need ALL your electronic devices running constantly while they’re on standby mode. We made it easy by putting an eco-mode on our JouleBAR that turns electrical sockets and internal lights off, while leaving USB outlets & ports on. Sometimes you need juice, sometimes you don’t need juice. We get that, so just flip the switch and help us save the world.
Keep you and your house safe by following these key tips on properly using your power strips. JouleBARs are made to avoid all of these problems, keeping your safety AND your vibe top of mind. Get your Joule now and finally own a power strip you can love.