
Day or night, your electronic devices are vulnerable to the silent threat of power surges and without proper protection from a surge protector, they can succumb to damage and faults.
The amount of protection that an extension lead, tower or plug can provide is measured in Joules. In short, a higher Joules rating results in a higher level of protection. However, if the connected device doesn’t consume too much power, you won’t need to spend a fortune for a surge-protected device that provides thousands of Joules of protection.
To assist you in selecting the right surge protector for all your electronic devices, our handpicked selection lists top-performing models, chosen based on our first-hand experience using multiple different types. Our testing and up-to-date research further ensure the quality of our recommendations.
Our Top Picks At A Glance:
How The DIY Works Team Tests & Rates The Surge Protectors
Even though we don’t use surge protectors for basic electronic equipment, we certainly do with any expensive or sensitive devices. These devices include our gaming PC (as well as other computers in the house or office), games console, TV and refrigerator.
Although many people may take the risk of surges in voltage, the fact that these electronic devices cost thousands, we feel that it’s a worthwhile investment that provides us with complete peace of mind.

As you’ve seen in our roundup, surge protectors are available as leads, towers, plugs and many other types. Therefore, we’ve been testing each type under “real world” conditions to base our recommendations on.
To keep up our commitment to reviewing and testing the latest surge protectors (for this article), we are continually testing the latest offerings from reputable brands in the UK. As shown in the photos below, we recently put our best-rated surge protector (the Belkin BSV804) to the test and it offered everything we needed from an extension lead. Not only did it provide an indication of the devices being surge protected but the selection of outlets and USB ports was a great bonus.


As well as our experience of using and testing a range of surge protectors, we also based our recommendations upon the latest research and several factors. Some of the factors we considered included the level of protection, number of outlets and USB ports, additional safety features, construction quality, warranty and value for money.