The best extension cords you can buy

http://ift.tt/2gNWIz0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you’ll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The Insider Pick:

From temporary uses like hanging lights during the holidays or powering tools for a home repair project to more permanent applications like connecting a floor lamp to that outlet hidden behind the couch, extension cords are a must-have for modern life. The Coleman 16 Gauge Extension Cord is our top choice because it’s durable, flexible, and suitable for just about every application in and around the home.

Extension cords aren’t glamorous. They aren’t interesting or exciting, and you probably don’t spend much time thinking about them in the course of any given day. But when you need an extension cord — whether to power a leaf blower or saw, to light up the trees and roofline of your property with thousands of festive lights, or to connect the television to an outlet across the room — having the right extension cord is the difference between a quick and easy solution and serious bout of frustration.

Care to hear a quick personal anecdote? (Just say yes, I won’t know if you skipped right to the product reviews below, anyway.) Last winter, having moved back to the east coast after 12 years in lovely Los Angeles, I found myself in need of an outdoor extension cord suitable for powering a snow blower. Unaccustomed to the effect frigid temperatures and about a foot of snow could have on an extension cord, I opted for the lowest-cost cord that offered the length I needed.

Big mistake! Within a few minutes of being used outside in the wintry weather, the cord was so stiff and rigid that it was essentially useless, severely curtailing my ability to move around the driveway and sidewalk. I ended up spending the winter shoveling instead of using the snow blower, which was just as well, really, because that too proved a pretty disappointing piece of hardware. Sigh.

So listen, I get it: Buying an extension cord is kind of boring. But if you’re willing to spend a few minutes on research (which evidently you are — well done!) and you’re willing to spend a few extra dollars to get a quality option, you’re going to thank yourself later. The good news is that most well-made extension cords will last for years and years, so you don’t have to devote time and cash to their purchase all that often.

When considering which is the best extension cord for your needs, think about where you will use it (inside at home, inside at work, outside in a static placement, or outside moving around during use), when you will use it (for winter holiday lights, fall leaf blowing, or summer weed trimming, e.g.) and of course what devices will be connected to the cord (how many amps does that skill saw need for ideal performance, again?). Read on to see which of our extension cord picks is best for your needs.

Although the Coleman 16 Gauge Extension Cord is our top pick, for the reasons laid out in the slides below you should also consider the AmazonBasics Vinyl Outdoor Extension Cord, the HOLSEM Power Strip Extension Cord, the Watt’s Wire 14 Gauge Extension Cord, and the Aurum Cables Extension Cord.

The best extension cord overall

Coleman

Why you’ll love it: The Coleman 16 Gauge Extension Cord is affordable, reliable, and quite long, too. It delivers 1,250 watts of power 100 feet away from the outlet.

If you’re only going to buy one extension cord to help out with everything from running a vacuum inside to running a saw outside to connecting outdoor decorations or speaker equipment to serving as a semi-permanent lighting solution in a garage or workshop, you won’t go wrong with this 100-foot cord from Coleman Cable.

This extension cord features water-resistant blades, a moisture, sunlight, and abrasion resistant exterior, and it comes in the classic high-visibility orange, so it’s a great choice for outdoor use even in inclement weather conditions. Thanks to the cord’s flexibility, it can also be used inside, run along or underneath furniture with the excess length coiled out of the way. Its PVC jacket is non-marking, so it won’t leave scuffs on walls, flooring, or furniture.

For the record, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a decent 100-foot extension cord for a better price.

Even after more than 2,000 people have left reviews of this cord, it still has a glowing 4.5-star rating on Amazon. A satisfied buyer named Gerald called it a "great extension cord for operating power tools," while another customer noted that it worked "well during the winter months when using the cord with the snow blower."

A writer with Lawn Dethatcher Guide called the Coleman Cable Basic Power 16 Gauge Extension Cord "made for durability and flexibility." In its review, TopProducts.com said the cord "works well outdoors" and noted its rather light 5.3-pound weight.

Pros: Great price for long cord, water and weather resistant, flexible at most temperatures

Cons: Not suitable for larger power tools, heats up with heavy use

Buy the Coleman Cable Basic Power 16 Gauge Extension Cord on Amazon for $27

The best low-cost extension cord

AmazonBasics

Why you’ll love it: It’s bright orange, it’s 50 feet long, and it’s rated for 13 amps. But most importantly it’s just 17 bucks. It’s the AmazonBasics Vinyl Outdoor Extension Cord.

The AmazonBasics Vinyl Outdoor Extension Cord is a best seller primarily for one obvious reason: It’s cheap. But I say that not in a pejorative sense, for this cord is cheap in price only. It’s actually reasonably well made. Its low cost is due to the juggernaut power that is Jeff Bezos’s Amazon.

This 50-foot AmazonBasics extension cord features 16-gauge all-copper three-wire components and it can handle an impressive 13-amp, 1625-watt power load. (Quick primer: amps are like the volume of electricity, volts are like the pressure under which the energy is transmitted, and watts are essentially the actual power output; greatly simplified, you can think of it like AMPS x VOLTS = WATTS. But some professional electricians and engineers will probably choke on their coffee when they read that.)

The cord is durable enough for long-term outdoor use in all weather conditions and coils up small enough for easy storage when you don’t need it.

More than a thousand people have chimed in with their thoughts on this cord, and by in large, the reviews are glowing. It has a 4.5-star average rating, with the most common sentiments perfectly summed up by an owner named Cole who says: "Amazon has done it again and produced something that will last for years and allowed me to save some money."

The pros over at HVACTraining101.com call the AmazonBasics Vinyl Outdoor Extension cord "lightweight" and "durable" and appreciate its "bright orange jacket" that is "highly visible on the job site."

Pros: Great low price, good power load capacity, high visibility orange

Cons: Thin insulation, tends to tangle easily

Buy the AmazonBasics Vinyl Outdoor Extension Cord on Amazon for $16.99

The best extension cord for offices

Holsem

Why you’ll love it: The HOLSEM 12 Outlet 3 USB Power Strip Extension Cord can accommodate more plugs than you’ll need.

The HOLSEM 12 Outlet 3 USB Power Strip Extension Cord is a purpose-built piece of hardware. Whereas most extension cords are designed to be used in the yard, in the home, in the shop, and so forth, this unit was designed for use in the office or the computer lab where computers, printers, and other such technology is critical for daily operations.

The heavy-duty UL listed extension cord is six feet long, an ideal length to stretch from a wall outlet to beneath a table or at the intersection of a bank of desks, cubicles, or other workstations. And from there, you can connect devices aplenty.

The true genius of this extension cord/power strip isn’t its plethora of outlets, but their placement. It features a row of six outlets perfect for standard two- or three-pronged plugs. But it also has six outlets that are spaced well apart from one another. The outlets can accommodate large, bulky plugs with built-in surge protectors or irregular plugs, such as those with a right angle orientation to the prongs and cord. Thanks to the three USB slots at the base of the unit, the total number of devices that be connected to this plucky power strip is fifteen.

For the record, if you try to operate 12 table saws using this extension cord/power strip, you’re going to have a bad time. But 12 computers? No problems there.

There is an undeniable surge of enthusiasm around this HOLSEM power strip. It has a stunning 4.8-star rating on Amazon. One owner calls it the "best surge protector" power strip he has ever used, while another says it’s capable of handling "more watts than the average person will be demanding from it on a daily basis."

In a review from BestSeekers.com, the tester called the HOLSEM reasonably priced and noted its reliable "surge protection [for] your devices. An AmaPerfect.com write up focused on the impressive number of devices that could be connected at one time.

Pros: Impressive number of outlets, excellent surge protection, also features USB ports

Cons: Extension cord too short for some applications

Buy the HOLSEM 12 Outlet 3 USB Power Strip Extension Cord on Amazon for about $30 (originally $65.99)

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

business

via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB