In many situations, there are not enough power sockets installed in a given space to operate all the devices needed. Power strips are often used to compensate for this. If these power strips are poor in quality, they can present a major fire hazard.

In many cases, several power strips are chained together to provide sockets for all the devices in use. Connecting power strips in series poses an overload risk that can result in an incomplete short circuit (and a major fire hazard, as well).