I am careful to always unplug whatever I am not using...except major appliances. And I would unplug all of those too except the refrigerator if it wasn't so hard to get behind them to plug in and out. We lost a dryer once due to a bad thunderstorm storm. I definitely would not want to lose my sewing machine due to a power surge or storm..and am very cautious about unplugging irons, computers, toasters, etc when not using, and also unplug surge protectors. Can't be too careful!