How To Take Care Of Your Electronics

In today’s world, it’s a common sight to see electronic devices and accessories around your house. Many of us have a wide range of electronics, ranging from smartphones to gaming consoles. Have we ever taken a step back and calculated how much all of these devices cost? Surely, you don’t want all of your money spent on them to go to waste by treating them carelessly.

Electronic devices nowadays are sturdy enough to withstand many elements, but they are still not free from physical damage and water spillages. Other than losing the device you’ve spent money on, they can be even more costly to repair. These costs can set you back quite a sum, on top of your utility bill. That’s why you should also keep track of the best sp power electricity rate.

It is thus wise to take care of your electronics properly. If you need tips on how to keep and clean them, then this is for you.

Treat them carefully

Electronics can be fragile and easily broken with just a single drop, especially for smartphones. Knowing how to protect them is thus a basic if you want to own them.

Use a screen protector

Whether it’s a smartphone or a tablet, it’s probably a given that you should use a screen protector. There are shatter-resistant screen protectors that are even more resilient than the usual ones, as the name suggests. Cases are also another basic item you need to protect your electronic devices since you’ll be carrying them out and about. These cases can range from a more sturdy and bulky case to a sleeker and thinner case.

Place your cords in a safe place

Unlike tablets and phones, you don’t have to worry as much about physically damaging your electronics at home. However, the cords attached to these electronics can be dangerous if not placed properly. People might easily trip over them, causing the appliances attached to them to fall and break. You should ensure that the cords are kept in a safe place such as places where people don’t walk around it. You could also tie the ends loosely so that they don’t unplug. Keep away unused cords in boxes so that they are not left lying around. You could separate the cords using toilet paper tubes, or color-code them using tape so that they don’t get mixed up as well. For cables that are regularly used, you could slide the connectors through the levers before securing them.

Preventing power surges

Power surges can occur quite often, because of bad weather like storms or malfunctions in the electricity in your house. You probably already know to use surge protectors so that your electronics do not get damaged from power surges. However, they can damage much more, such as lights and major appliances. Places where electronic devices are concentrated, such as your living room or home office, tend to be more prone to such damage.

When power surges happen, they can damage your electronics immediately. Smaller power surges can also damage your electronic devices, and these can happen a lot. Although your devices still work, they can start to malfunction over time from all the damages it sustained, However, it is easy to prevent such surges from happening.

Unplug your electronic devices when you are not using them

This is can be tedious but it is a good habit to develop. This definitely ensures that if a power surge does happen, your electronic devices are safe since they are unplugged. You don’t have to practice this for every device that you have, but do make sure you do this for devices that you usually do not use often.

Surge protection strips

High-quality surge protection strips have an indicator light to show when it is protecting your surge protectors, as they can wear over time. When surges happen, your surge protectors deteriorate and are not as good anymore. Other than using surge protection strips, you should also replace them when they stop working.

Whole-home surge protection

This is the easiest choice of all because the installation of whole-home surge protection will protect every single outlet in your house. That way, you don’t have to worry about each individual appliance. However, whole-home surge protection should be installed by a professional electrician and not by yourself.

Clean your devices properly

Electronics can be prone to water damage, or even the chemicals found in cleaning liquids. Each device has a recommended way to clean it so that you don’t accidentally damage them when you’re cleaning them. However, these general tips can help you be on the safe side for most electronic devices at home.

Use a duster

Dusters are cheap and can be small enough to clean even the tightest of crevices, such as on your laptop or gaming consoles. Dusting your electronic devices is also easy and fast and does not require much effort on your part, but is important so that there is no accumulation of dust. If your appliances turn dusty, then could clog vents and therefore become overheated. They can be done once a week or so since they do not require much effort. However, more heavy-duty cleaning using compressed air should be carried out once a few months as well. Compressed air is used to blow out dust more thoroughly.

Cleaning screens

Use a slightly damp microfiber cloth to clean your LCD screens by wiping them gently. You can wet your cloth with water, or diluted white vinegar if you’re trying to remove more stubborn stains. It is crucial to remain gentle and not scrub them or use rough materials like paper towels as they could scratch your screens instead.

As for smartphones and the like, you can use the same method, but apply more pressure since they’re not as prone to scratches as LCD screens. However, you should not use cleaning liquids as they could damage your devices. Certain phones have specific instructions to clean them as they may require more care.

Rubbing alcohol is also another common option to clean screens and other devices like keyboards from stains.

Being energy efficient

Electronic devices nowadays are pretty energy efficient, but they still have functions that can deplete a lot of energy. This is especially so for gaming devices and consoles, where they have a standby mode so that they are not actually turned off. These functions are common and popular because one can always resume the consumption of such devices with just a voice control or a click, instead of having a long waiting time for it to start up. These can use a lot of energy even when you’re not using them.

High screen brightness can also use up a lot of energy, whether it’s your television or your game console. It doesn’t hurt to lower the brightness to save energy.

Conclusion

Electronic devices definitely are a treasure in many of our lives, and we certainly can’t live without them. So it is important that you keep them safe and maintain them such that they last a long time.