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I'm planning to use an 80A power supply (or two 40A ones) for multiple addressable LED strips. Each strip is max 90W, 20A. I want to use a single surge protected power bar for them, however they are all power bars I have seen are rated in joules.

So my question is, would an 800J power bar work without shutting off? I know 1W is equal to 1J per second, so a collective load of 3 LED strips amounting to 270W potentially would be more than sufficiently under this joule capacity of the power bar?

I'm not an electrical engineer, so hopefully this question makes sense.

Thanks

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  • \$\begingroup\$ No, it does not make much sense. Can you please describe what do you mean by power bar (a power strip maybe, which one, make/model/link?) and which power supply you mean, make/model/link? If you want to use a mains power strip with surge protection for power supplies, the overvoltage energy handling has nothing to do with the nominal rated current delivered to power supply. \$\endgroup\$
    – Justme
    Commented Oct 6, 2021 at 20:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ Looks like an XY problem where distribution of 80A and choice of cable and PSU is more critical than the power bar. \$\endgroup\$
    – D.A.S.
    Commented Oct 6, 2021 at 21:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Justme what I meant by power bar would be these amzn.to/3FkkLQ1 I am just looking generally but I would like to make a smart purchase that could handle the load. The power supply would be something like this amzn.to/2YmzlW0. I'm not sure what you mean by the overvoltage energy handling...do you mean that I am confusing wattage and amperage as being irrelevant to joules? \$\endgroup\$
    – lakerice
    Commented Oct 6, 2021 at 22:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ the rating in joules is for the surge not for the load. You need to estimate on your location the expected surge. There are tables for that \$\endgroup\$
    – Lorenzo Marcantonio
    Commented Oct 22, 2021 at 8:10

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The Joule rating for the power strip only tells you how much energy the protective element inside can absorb in an over-voltage situation and is mostly a marketing gimmick in my opinion. Most power strips will have a hard limit at 15A/1800W since that's the limit of the NEMA 5-15P plug. Occasionally, you can find one with a 5-20P plug on the end (neutral prong turned 90 degrees) and therefore rated for 20A, but your 270W will be fine on either.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Ah I see! OK that actually cleared it up for me. I know in North America most outlets are rated for 15A, so it makes sense that most power bars would have a limit at that. \$\endgroup\$
    – lakerice
    Commented Oct 6, 2021 at 22:07

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