Power conditioners / Surge protectors

[warlok]

I am a bedroom player and am not spending a mint on more equipment but still want to do what I can to protect my gear. Also, my house is only 5 years old and don't know of any wiring issues. I've never had a rack setup and never used one so I'm curious about these. Are the $50-$150 power conditioners (Juice Goose, Monster, Furman) basically just expensive surge protecting power strips? They all say they have 15A breakers, all have 6-8 plugs, and most say they have "noise reduction" or some sort of RFI interference reduction. Plugging in my head and pedals, do I really need anything more than my 6 plug 15A power strip? Do these really do any noise reduction?

[Dreamland_Rebel]

a power conditioner is different than a surge protector.

SP - physically is connected to outlets but has a metal piece that acts like a fuse if there is a power surge. If you shake a SP and hear a rattle it is no longer a surge protector and is just a power strip.

PC - is physically disconnected from from the outlets but has an electric field inside that powers the outlets. therefore a power surge is kept in that field and doesn't have a chance to make contact with your hardware that is plugged into it.

electronic noise is usually associated with dirty power or bad wiring. a PC can help with that.
but other things cause noise as well. Computer monitors, TV's, and fluorescent lights. a PC will not help with those.