How much is too much?

I have a power question: I have a power strip rated for 1500 joules surge protection. Is it OK that I plug my 600 watt HID light, 8" can fan (~300-400 watts), and my 70-pint dehumidifier (~300-400 watts) into the same strip? I added up the wattage of each and it comes to about 1200-1400 watts on max power for everything. I just want to be sure this is OK. I dont have another grounded outlet in my room so I am limited to this one outlet. Ideally I would plug them into their own sockets, but my options are limited. I just want to be sure that if the humidifier, can, and light are pumping full throttle, I won't start a fire or have something terrible happen.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

It's pushing it for sure. The standard is 15%, that's a max of 1350 watts. If it doesn't trip the internal breaker you're probably okay. Better off buying a 1800 watt power strip for $15.

tuxedo said:

I have a power question: I have a power strip rated for 1500 joules surge protection. Is it OK that I plug my 600 watt HID light, 8" can fan (~300-400 watts), and my 70-pint dehumidifier (~300-400 watts) into the same strip?

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A completely different circuit - completely unrelated to your load - is measured in joules. Those 1500 joules are often related to why power strips cause a fire. And why safer power strips have zero joules.

All power strips must provide a full 15 amp rating that the wall receptacle must provide. Otherwise it would not have the always necessary UL label. But we never want a full 15 amps (1800 watts) coming from one receptacle. The load should not exceed 1560 watts. You should be alright. And much safer using a power strip without joules.

Better is to stagger a power on for all those devices. For example, a 600 watt bulb may initially draw over 4000 watts when it first starts. Those devices all starting at the same time create an initial and major load on one circuit. However if all power on at the same time, no circuit breakers should trip.