Power Boards
4Cabling is Australia’s leading manufacturer, wholesaler and direct-to-consumer retailer of cabling, server racks and IT management accessories. We specialise in power boards that will power all of your devices easily and safely in almost any situation. You can find the full selection of power boards, along with surge protectors, power cables and conduit online. Read on to discover for yourself why power boards are a vital piece of electrical equipment in any dwelling.
Power Boards: Why you need one
Nowadays most homes and offices are powering an array of different electrical devices from appliances like coffee machines, fridges, and TVs to radios, gaming consoles, and computers, not to mention the USB charging hubs that power phones and laptops. It’s hard to imagine any home, especially older ones, having nearly enough powerpoints to accommodate the vast number of devices needing an electrical connection these days.
Enter the power board, the answer to the problem of musical chairs at the power socket. It can quickly and easily multiply the number of powerpoint connections available in any room across a house, office, or other dwellings. Technically speaking, power boards are portable, multi-plug boards that provide multiple electrical sockets mounted into a single holder that enables several devices to be powered while connected to a single electric socket outlet on the wall.
Power boards come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, designed to suit different purposes and all sorts of different spaces. Starting at simple plug-in four-point power boards and going all the way to rack-mounted, twenty-point power boards, there really is a power board for every situation and every device. Powerboards can also come with many different features like separate switch types, there are those with surge protection, some with added USB charging slots, and even power filtering.
Why are power boards important?
Powerboards are important for both practical and safety reasons – they solve the headache of not having enough power sockets, and they also provide critical safety protections for devices and even the dwellings they’re housed in. There’s a lot more to powering and protecting sensitive, expensive electrical devices than simply just plugging them into a wall socket and turning them on. A power board helps by enabling multiple devices to be connected through one wall socket and offering different options for powering individual connections, various lead lengths when the distance to the powerpoint is an issue, added USB connections to power multiple portable devices at one place, and heavy-duty features for industrial or workplace settings.
Every dwelling needs a switchboard with a circuit breaker, but this will only cut in to protect the fuses if there’s too much electrical current being distributed to the house if suddenly there are too many appliances being powered all at once. A power board provides a set of in-home protections above and beyond the safety switch of the circuit breaker. Powerboards with surge protection will protect electrical devices from surges or spikes in power by preventing overloading that damages the devices. If this is particularly important, see the full range of surge protectors online.
What should you look for in a power board?
When it comes to choosing a power board there’s more to it than just the number of added power sockets it will provide. Nowadays, power boards have come a long way from simply doing away with double-adaptors and effectively multiplying powerpoints.
So before you reach for a powerboard thinking that it’s just a matter of adding some much-needed connections, consider how the devices might need to be powered, where the devices will be charged and what range of devices you need to power.
Technically, the specifications of the power board will need to match your devices, and all the 4Cables powerboards are built to the Australian requirements. As a minimum, power boards will have a 10A (Amps) current rating on a single-phase, have a power rating of 2400 Watts to suit a supply voltage of 240VAC.
How will your devices connect to a power board?
Ultra High Speed HDMI is the official name for cables that meet and support the new HDMI 2.1 standard, as defined by the HDMI Forum. While older Premium High Speed HDMI cables have supported a maximum bandwidth of 18Gbps and 4K resolution up to 60Hz, the new Ultra High Speed HDMI cables support a maximum bandwidth of 48Gbps and uncompressed 8K resolution at up to 60hz. They also feature incredibly low EMI, or electro-magnetic interference, which means less disturbance to nearby wireless devices.
Ultra High Speed HDMI cables must be tested and certified as meeting strict specifications that ensure they can support HDMI 2.1 features including 4Kp50/60/100/120 and 8Kp50/60 video, HDR, VRR and eARC.
What does this all mean for your video, audio and gaming? Whether you’re looking to get the most out of your 4K system or want to unlock the full graphic qualities of 8K devices, you can expect faster, smoother playback and the fastest refresh rates possible with a good quality Ultra High Speed HDMI cable.
Where do your devices need a power board?
Powerboards typically have a one-metre lead as standard but if this isn’t sufficient look for a powerboard with an extension lead that will cover a longer distance between the main wall socket and the location of your connected devices.
Some powerboards will also have the option to be wall- or shelf-mounted, and there are also square and rounded powerboards that can sit on top of desks or benches. Rack-mounted powerboards cater to industry-specific settings, particularly for AV and networking equipment, and may have added features like surge protection, warning lights, and noise reduction.
powerboards are typically a rectangular shape providing in-line connections and if this doesn’t suit, look for a different form factor, and also look at whether it’s a straight or right-hand mains connector.
What devices need a power board?
If it’s a mixture of mains power and USB charging that’s needed, a combination power board with USB will fit the bill. In work sites like construction or engineering opt for a rugged heavy-duty power board that is housed in a metal casing and has features like surge and overload protection, spaced socket for bulky power connections, and is brightly coloured for visibility.
There are also powerboards designed for protecting devices from standard home appliances to high-end audio-visual and home theatre equipment and even workplace networking equipment. If it’s computing, TVs, Hi-Fi, and internet devices that need to be powered, powerboards with smart filter features will filter, or clean, electrical frequency noise from impacting performance or from device noise contaminating power.