thank you. i'm convinced. it sounds like the thing to do is to plug my two machines and their lights into one s.p.. the blindstitcher and lamp into a different s.p. and the la and lams in another. my iron gets unplugged each time i'm done because i broke the 'off' dial. that leaves hanging ceiling fixtures, but i guess that's another story. so, i guess 3 s.p. will do it? our circuit box will pop the circuit if there's an overload elsewhere. if dh wants to protect anything else, we'll have to decide what needs it. oh, of course the computer and the entertainment center. 2 more. there's a business i should go into, right? anywhere else?