The all-time extension cords

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AB extension cord

AmazonBasics
  • From temporary uses like hanging holiday lights or powering tools for a home repair project, to more permanent applications similar connecting a floor lamp to that outlet subconscious backside the couch, extension cords are a must-have for modern life.
  • The Coleman 14 Gauge Extension Cord is our meridian choice because it's durable, flexible, and suitable for just about every application in and around the home.

Extension cords aren't glamorous. But when you demand an extension cord — whether to power a leaf blower or saw, to light upwards the trees and roofline of your property with thousands of festive lights, or to connect the tv set to an outlet beyond the room — having the right ane is the difference between a quick and like shooting fish in a barrel solution and a serious tour of frustration.

The good news is that most well-made extension cords volition concluding for years and years. When considering which is the best extension cord for your needs, think nearly where you will use it (inside at dwelling, inside at piece of work, outside in a static placement, or outside moving effectually during use), when y'all volition utilise it (for winter vacation lights, fall foliage blowing, or summer weed trimming, e.yard.) and what devices will be continued to the cord (how many amps does that skill saw need for ideal performance, again?). Read on to read more about the all-time extension cords.

Here are the best extension cords:

  • Best overall: Coleman 14 Gauge 100 Ft. Extension Cord
  • All-time with a power strip: Anker Ability Strip Extension Cord
  • Best heavy-duty extension cord: Watt'due south Wire 14-Gauge Extension String
  • Best indoor extension cord: Iron Forge Cable Extension Cord

Prices and links are current as of ix/11/20. Nosotros removed our previous budget choice, the AmazonBasics Vinyl Outdoor Extension String, due to recent reports of AmazonBasics electronics catching fire or melting. While the rest of our picks have had no such reports, we propose that you discard any punctured, fraying, or damaged cords. Practise non overload them with more ability than they are rated to handle.

The best overall

Coleman

The Coleman fourteen Estimate Extension Cord is affordable, reliable, and quite long, too. It delivers 13 amps of power 100 feet abroad from the outlet.

If you're only going to purchase one extension cord to aid out with everything from running a vacuum within 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 archetype high-visibility red, so it'due south a not bad choice for outdoor utilize fifty-fifty in inclement weather weather condition. Thanks to the cord's flexibility, information technology tin also be used inside, run along or underneath piece of furniture with the excess length coiled out of the style. Its PVC jacket is not-marking, and so it won't exit scuffs on walls, flooring, or furniture.

For the tape, you lot'll be hard-pressed to notice a decent 100-foot extension cord for a improve price.

Pros: Bully price for long string, water and weather resistant, flexible at nearly temperatures

Cons: Non suitable for larger power tools, heats up with heavy use

The all-time with a power strip

Holsem

The Anker Power Strip Extension Cord can adjust up to twelve plugs, plus three UBS-powered devices.

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

The heavy-duty extension cord is six anxiety long, an ideal length to stretch from a wall outlet to beneath a tabular array 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 information technology as well has half dozen outlets that are spaced well apart from 1 some other. The outlets tin can accommodate large, bulky plugs with built-in surge protectors or irregular plugs, such every bit those with a correct 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 xv.

For the record, if you effort to operate 12 table saws using this extension cord/power strip, you're going to take a bad time. Only 12 computers? No issues there.

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

Cons: Extension cord also brusque for some applications

The best heavy-duty extension string

Watt's Wire

If you demand to deliver power to some serious hardware in trying conditions, then you tin can count on the rugged reliability of the Watt'south Wire 14 Gauge Three-Outlet Extension String.

The Watt'southward Wire extension string is fabricated using fourteen-estimate wire wrapped in SJTW thermoplastic coating. Information technology'southward rated for apply in temperature conditions ranging from -twoscore° to 130° Fahrenheit. If you need a cord that tin can handle temperatures colder or hotter than that amazing 170-degree range, then y'all're in the market for some incredibly niche gear.

This professional person-course extension cord meets or exceeds all OSHA standard for indoor or outdoor use and can safely power as many equally iii large tools, lights, or other devices at the same time. Its triple "pigtail" multi-tap blueprint allows yous to connect fifty-fifty big, bulky plugs with surge protectors one right next to the other.

In case you are working exterior at dark or in low lighting conditions, the tap even glows cheers to a built-in bulb.

Just note that many power tools designed for landscaping use a guarded male stop plug and can't exist fastened to the multi-tap without a connector cord.

Pros: Heavy duty pick, multiple taps, lighted connectedness

Cons: Rather expensive, won't piece of work with some landscaping tools

The all-time indoor extension cord

Aurum

Different so many flimsy, short-lived indoor extension cords, the Iron Forge Cablevision Extension Cord really works well and lasts for years.

The Fe Forge Cable Extension Cord should last you lot for years and years of indoor use, even if subjected to the occasional snag, spill, vacuum encounter, or even the nippy pet. And even if it does fail, it's covered by a lifetime replacement warranty.

The extension cord'south flat plug blueprint allows information technology to connect to any standard wall socket without protruding way into the room, allowing furniture to rest all but affluent with the wall. The plug extends off the outlet only equally far as a piece of molding, having no appreciable consequence on the placement of that couch, desk, or dresser. It's also white, so it will hands blend with most home decor, unlike the garish vivid orangish of many outdoor extension cords.

With a tap capable of accepting three grounded plugs, this extension cord doesn't give just you an extra fifteen anxiety of reach abroad from a wall socket, but it triples the number of devices that tin be connected to one outlet. Sparse and flexible though the string may exist, it'southward still a 16-gauge wire that carries plenty of power, rated at 1,625 watts.

Pros: Flexible cord, flat plug shape hugs wall, smashing low price

Cons: Some units have sockets too loose to concur plug prongs, non rated for outdoor utilise

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