Do you unplug your TV, Gaming Consoles, etc?

[A.Goldberg]

I only unplug stuff unless there is a thunderstorm.

Contrary to popular belief, while a surge protector/ups will help protect from minor power surges from the electrical grid, but not in the case of lightening striking your house or nearby electrical lines. In that case you probably have much bigger issues than your TV getting fried.
[doublepost=1470871077][/doublepost]

Here on the east coast of Florida, with hurricanes/tropical storms, lots of folks have generators - us included, but where we have the roll it out, start it, run some extension style (I mean, it's pretty stout, but not integrated), a few folks have natural gas setups, fully integrated into their power distribution system, with auto start/switchover, it's pretty amazing how seamless it switches over.

A guy down the street has one of those setups, it also does scheduled starts for diagnostics, and is connected to his internet so it sends him monthly reports of gas levels, start issues, etc.!

My parents have a standby generator, it definitely comes in handy. A few years back CT had a freak Halloween blizzard and my parents didn't have power for 10 days or something crazy. It's diesel, so it's a little noisy. It also does a test cycle once a week (stupidly scheduled at like 7AM) which is annoying.

Wow, that report feature is pretty fancy! I guess it's good to have, especially if you never use the generator. Cause it it will never work when you need it

 

[D.T.]

Great thing about Catskills is pretty much open the windows for A/C. Remember to shut them before it drops off to 45 overnight by end of August... (of course we pay for that dearly in those -25ºF trudges to the mailbox in winter sometimes). As long as we don't have electrical heat it's not too bad. Even blower motor for forced air doesn't run up the elec too much. Things to stay away from: elec heaters and clothes dryers.

I've been spending a decent amount of time in SF, and the weather is just amazing, 50s in the morning, 70s in the evening. I opened the windows in the evening and it was so nice vs. "processed" air.

Cause it it will never work when you need it

Wow, I should really fire ours up, it's probably been a few years, and like you said, we get those storms later in the year and when I need it ...

A few years ago, there was a big storm, and we lost power - fired up the generator, had a fan, some cool air (we have a small portable AC unit), internet and some music/movies, it was pretty swell (we fired up the grill and started eating everything in the freezer )

 

[westom]

Contrary to popular belief, while a surge protector/ups will help protect from minor power surges from the electrical grid, but not in the case of lightening striking your house or nearby electrical lines.

Something completely different, also called a surge protector, is designed to protect from all surges including direct lightning strikes. It costs about $1 per protected appliance. Its spec numbers say so. Is necessary to protect an expensive plug-in surge protector or UPS. Many only learn from advertising. So a $3 power strip with ten cent protector parts can sell for an obscenely profitable for $25 or $80.

Protection from direct strikes has been routine even long before Macs existed. In every case, no protector does protection. A protector either connects low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to what does the protection. Or that protector is a profit center that, in rare cases, can make appliance damage easier or create fire.

Numbers make it obvious. How does its hundreds or thousand joules absorb a surge that is hundreds of thousands of joules? It does not. It will not even discuss these numbers. Many who ignore numbers would recommend a near zero protector only because advertising and hearsay recommend it. And then just as foolishly hope unplugging will always protect everything.

Well proven protection was routinely found in facilities that cannot have damage even over 100 years ago. This proven and tens of times less expensive solution comes from other companies known for integrity. Why is this well proven reality noted so many times - and not one person even asks to learn? That is the power of advertising, hearsay, wild speculation, and subjective reasoning (also called myths).

Protection of everything from surges - including direct lightning strikes - is routine. Damage from a direct lightning strike is directly traceable to a human's mistake.

OP asked about constant unplugging. At greatest risk is a wall receptacle that is not designed for so many disconnections.