Yes Virginia, Being UL Listed Does Really Matter

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While I edit many posts behind the scenes, I haven’t flexed my writing chops here in a while. The introduction of the Power2U™ AC/USB wall outlet yesterday provided the impetus for me to return in a very visible way. And the time of season certainly provides the theme for a post headline. ;-)

You see, I’ve been a part of the development of this product for the past two years so I’m feeling like a proud papa. Heck, I even christened it…it offers two different ways to power/charge & has two USB ports. Get it?

The reason it took this ship take so long to sail is we realized beyond all the product’s functionality, convenience, and downright coolness, there was one key element that could not be comprised: your safety.

So we set out to obtain official UL Listing status…which does take some time when you’re developing a patented integrated AC to DC power transformer design.

Like many others, I kinda take that UL circle logo for granted. You’ve seen it before, so what’s the big deal?

Well, let’s just create one example that should make it very clear why being UL Listed really matters. Let’s say you have a home fire, and a forensics investigator for your insurance company determines that a non-approved product contributed to the loss event. A financially catastrophic outcome would be a claim denial for both your home and possessions loss.

Yes, that little logo does make a huge peace-of-mind difference. And speaking of such, you can buy and install a Power2U with even more confidence as several OWC team members, myself included, are using one or more in our homes with 100% success and satisfaction. We quietly added this product to our site a few weeks ago while we were finalizing our lifestyle setting images for it, and have shipped thousands of them already with much praise.

And like many of our Newer Technology and OWC brand products, we include a free installation video to guide you through this basic ‘DIY’ install.

4 Comments

James says:

December 21, 2011 at 3:16 am

Hi
Any plans to make a UK/EU version ?
- OWC Grant says:
  
  December 21, 2011 at 11:58 am
  
  Hi James…always a possibility…but no immediate plans. Our present focus is expanding this product in several functional/style/application ways in the US.
Kevin Lepard says:

December 16, 2011 at 6:03 pm

The specs are unclear on some things. How much power can each USB port provide? Is it 2 amps each max, or 2 amps divided among them?
- OWC Grant says:
  
  December 19, 2011 at 3:15 pm
  
  Hi Kevin and thanks for stopping by.
  
  The total output of the USB ports is 2000mA…which is 2Amps.
  
  The specs and capabilities are noted on the product page…maybe you just missed them:
  
  * To maintain factory-stated charging duration when charging two iPads or a combination of iPad and iPhone simultaneously, we recommend charging the iPad via the factory wall adapter.
  
  DC power specs: 5.2 volt, 2000mA** (10W) Duplex USB charging receptacle with integrated on/off safety switch for USB power
  
  ** equivalent to the output of one Apple iPad wall adapter
  
  So, with the increased (and well documented) charging needs of the iPad, you can charge one in the same time on the Power2U via USB as you could with the factory power adapter. IF you have two iPads or a combination of iPad and iPhone (as noted above on the product page), the use of the wall adapter for is recommended.