In the matter of protecting your RV when hooking up to shore power, you have three options:

1. Check the power manually with a multimeter
2. Monitor the power automatically using an advanced surge protector
3. Believe that all people and wiring are basically good at heart.

Which Is Better for RV Power Protection: A Multimeter or a Surge Protector?

Between the first two options, you might assume, given that I am a recovering penny-pincher AND a bit of a data freak, that I would award the blue ribbon to the multimeter. For a $50 outlay, you can measure just about any electrical quantity you might want to learn about: voltage, resistance, current, capacitance, frequency, etc. Plus, you’ll get specific numbers. A surge protector, on the other hand, hides most of its thinking, and it only communicates with blinking LEDs and error codes.

But truthfully, first place on the podium goes to an advanced surge protector. Every time. It’s for a simple reason: A multimeter informs; a surge protector protects. A surge protector can make its own decisions to kill power; a multimeter is read-only. A surge protector monitors your power hookup continuously, whereas a multimeter can only sense data in real time.