How do I sleep in the dark?

June 3, 2020 7:01 AM

I'm looking for recommendations for a snowflake surge protector that doesn't double as a laser light show at night.

I need to sleep in the dark dark. Not the sort-of-dark; not the mostly-dark. I need to sleep in the kind of dark that makes you wonder if your eyes are actually open; if the hand you are waving in front of them even exists. Womb-dark, belly-of-the-beast dark, miles-beneath-the-surface-of-the-planet dark. I've been mostly successful in dealing with windows and doors (black foamboard for light-blocking, additional weather strips for doors).

But in this one thing I am thwarted: every surge protector I find that meets my power needs has a bright blue or green blinky light at the end of it -- and often also shining out of the outlets themselves. Googling has not been helpful; I get either strips with no USB ports or strips with lights.

Right now my morning ritual consists of uncovering my bedroom windows and plugging in all the things I had to unplug in order to get some sleep; then my evening ritual is re-covering the windows and unplugging everything and feeding the cats. I can't get around the window part, and the cats gotta eat, I guess; but I want to stop all the plugging and unplugging.

My needs are simple. I need 4-5 three-prong outlets and a couple of USB outlets. I would vastly prefer to also have a USB-C ports, but I know that may complicate things, and I can do without it if I have to. I need the strip to reach at least 6 feet from my wall outlets. And I need it to be dark dark dark.

I can cover the lights at the end of the strip with black electrical tape, but I don't know what to do about the lights that come out of the outlets themselves. You would think plugging in USB cords would block those lights, but they seem to be specifically designed to shine out around the cords.

I have found that boxes designed to hold/hide surge protectors don't really work, because the holes the cords come out of also allow light to come out. To be really clear - I don't want an eerie glow of light coming out of the corner of my bedroom, no matter how dim it is. I want zero light.

I'd like to see any recommendations for a strip that meets these needs, or suggestions on how to completely darken the internal lights coming from the USB/USB-C outlets.

Thanks in advance! I'll try not to threadsit, but I'll answer questions if asked. :)

posted by invincible summer to Shopping (22 answers total)

I feel like I am misunderstanding your question, because I have never seen a USB outlet with a light.

I can vouch for this surge protector that I just bought. However, it also looks like this, this, and this match your needs, assuming you cover the power light.
posted by saeculorum at 7:13 AM on June 3, 2020

Best answer: Do you actually need surge protection? While surge protectors almost invariably have a status light, some plain old power strips like this one don't have any lights, but still protect your devices from a serious surge with a circuit breaker. Add a multi-USB charger without a light and you can sleep easy.
posted by eschatfische at 7:14 AM on June 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

I have this same problem and have dealt with it in a very low-tech way: I taped a small piece of cardboard over the light. It doesn't look pretty but it's very effective. If you don't find what you're looking for it's worth a try.
posted by epanalepsis at 7:22 AM on June 3, 2020

It is the WORST.

Is it possible to combine a few things - so the outlet box, the tape, and also having it under your bed? My current solution is that it is on the ledge between my mattress and my bed, and a pillow over it - enough airflow not to be a fire hazard because it is a ledge against a wall, but the pillow blocks light better than any other method. If I could have it under the bed I would.

O don't know if it's a new feature or only surge protectors, but all of the multiple outlet with USB port adaptors I've had have been glowy bastards except a single outlet and dual USB travel adaptor.
posted by geek anachronism at 7:28 AM on June 3, 2020

Response by poster: Eschatfische - I need two strips total, and for one of them surge protection would be ideal - I charge my laptop on it sometimes. That multi-usb charger looks awesome but it doesn't seem to specify whether there's a light? I've tried many of those and usually as soon as I plug it in, a light pops up out of the outlet.

saeculorum - I actually own that second power strip; it is the source of eerie-blue-glow-in-corner. You can cover the light that's supposed to be there but you can't cover the light-bleed into the outlets. Here is what happens when you plug that in (and also an example of light-from-usb-ports). I'll check the others out!
posted by invincible summer at 7:29 AM on June 3, 2020

I feel your pain, I've had problems with alarm clocks whose snooze buttons did the same thing. I used pieces of electrical tape to cover the light bleed.

Asking the obvious question though - do all of these surge protectors have to be in your bedroom specifically? Like, can they maybe be out in a hallway? (Hell, if the light is bright enough, and they're in the hallway, now you have the bonus of a night light if you have to go and pee in the middle of the night.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:32 AM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Know what you mean. Have a similar strip to what you picture. The items that plug in, for me, always sit on my night stand anyway, so the strip lives in a closed draw and items are either in the draw with it or on top of the night stand. ymmv. My own quest for what you seek was unsuccessful and the drawer thing is actually good in other ways (cats can't play with the cords!!!)
posted by Tandem Affinity at 7:34 AM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm watching this question with eagerness because I too am on the constant look-out for a surge protector that doesn't light up. At the moment I haven't found a great answer, but what I do use is a combination of Black-Out LED Light Stickers and USB protective covers to cap the open USB ports and minimize "sideways" light leakage from any light with a sticker over it.

I have tried full-on black duct tape and electrical tape in the past but found that the minor warmth the strip generated eventually caused the sticky part of the tape to lift away.
posted by DSime at 8:05 AM on June 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

Best answer: No idea about quality, but maybe one or two of these would work?
GE 5-Outlet Surge Protector Wall Tap with USB-A and USB C Ports

A more limited GE option, but you could plug a regular power strip into it:
GE UltraPro Surge Protector with Audible Alarm

One without USB outlets:
Belkin 7-Outlet SurgeMaster Home Series Power Strip Surge Protector with 5-Foot Power Cord, 785 Joules (F9H700-05)

I used "no indicator light" as a search term - these were the first few options.
posted by trig at 8:19 AM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

What if you put the strips that were otherwise good into a cable management box (randomly picked example) - I would think that would block basically all light and you could stuff some fabric around the ends if you needed even more blockage
posted by brainmouse at 8:35 AM on June 3, 2020

(also in avoiding the question, a good eye mask has been life changing for my sleeping, and doesn't require quite as many room gymnastics)
posted by brainmouse at 8:37 AM on June 3, 2020

Instead of unplugging all the things can you just unplug the surge protectors as a stop-gap solution?
posted by mareli at 8:42 AM on June 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

How about painting over the lights with a few coats of black nail polish? (That, of course, won't fix the light bleed through the USB ports).
posted by ShooBoo at 9:10 AM on June 3, 2020

This is probably more technical than you’re willing to get, but open up an otherwise requirements-meeting power strip and de-solder the actual LED emitter from the board.
posted by mollymayhem at 9:32 AM on June 3, 2020 [3 favorites]

I will report that I am like you and have had good success with black electrical tape on everything but have recently ordered some of the commercial LED light blocking stickers.
posted by TwoStride at 9:35 AM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

My gf has this issue. When she stays over, she uses a sleep mask. Blocks the light at the eyes. Much easier that the routine you go through and much easier that tape, etc.
posted by AugustWest at 11:19 AM on June 3, 2020

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I've now got some blackout stickers, the per-sun usb plug and the Belkin strip with no light on order. I'll report back if this is successful!

To answer a couple of questions -

I've got an eye mask, and use it when I have to, but my nose is too small and my cheekbones too flat - every mask I've ever tried both slips down and leaks light up from the bottom. And I'm not a fan of the way masks interact with my ears, which are also on the small side - the strap feels wrong under my eartips and refuses to stay over my eartips, soooooo. Bleah. In lieu of an eye mask, what I use now is a hat/beanie/thingie that I wear to bed and just pull down over my eyes once it starts getting light out. It's not an ideal solution, but it's worked for the most part. Only now it's getting warmish and I don't want to be sleeping in a hat anymore.

The surge protector is what I unplug and re-plug, rather than taking all the things out of the surge protector. I just want to stop having to do any unplugging or re-plugging at all.

Sadly I'm not able to get the electronics out of my bedroom - but I do like the idea of shoving the power strips under things or in drawers, and I'm going to try that.

I'm also not against the idea of opening one up and seeing if I can get the light disconnected! Totally going to try that, too.

Again, thanks!!
posted by invincible summer at 11:23 AM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Y’all. This problem is solved so quickly, in fact by an old adage from Car Talk. “What’s the fix to a check engine light? Electrical tape”

Literally, put a piece of electrical tape over it. Done.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:30 PM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Re: eye mask, I have the same issue with strap/ears and I use one that has two thin straps, so I can put one above my ears and one below.
posted by mekily at 12:55 PM on June 3, 2020

My eyemask has a large single band that goes around my head. It's the perfect softness and feels like I'm wearing nothing. It also fits the best of any mask I've ever worn. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M9BC1M8/
posted by Ahniya at 2:08 PM on June 3, 2020

I am sitting here looking at my cheap surge protector from which no light emerges whatsoever. I can't actually tell it if it's on or not unless I test it. I can't find the exact model, but it's a Belkin, and this model appears to be similar. No USB ports though.
posted by Crystal Fox at 2:17 PM on June 3, 2020

Most surge protectors have a light of some sort because they need to indicate when the MOVs have been damaged past effectiveness.

Power strips on the other hand don't need to indicate anything. Some have lit power switches but many do not.

So this compact unit or this long strip would provide easily switchable outlets. Add a plug in USB block for those requirements.

This Stanley unit has a built in timer so you wouldn't even have to switch it twice a day if you have a regular schedule.

Here's a small power strip with built in USB-A ports.

I don't know if this will help you out but you can get receptacles with 15W USB C ports and they don't have any lights. It would mean replacing a receptacle though.
posted by Mitheral at 5:54 PM on June 3, 2020