Backup Battery Power - What You Need to Know - Comments Page 1

I used a UPS when I was running a desktop PC. Now that I run a laptop, plugged in most of the time through a surge protector power strip, why would I need a UPS

Even when you have a laptop, you can still get surges and should have something to protect a laptop from that. Otherwise yes, you do have the builtin battery portion.

Do you need to consider the life of MOV's in UPS's like you do with surge protectors? I've always read that the higher the Joules the better for surge protectors. Eg, https://www.techhive.com/article/3172540/best-surge-protector.html

My two desktop PCs each have their own UPS. Modem, router, and phone share these two UPSs. I have a third UPS where my TV, SAT, and stereo go. I experience multiple glitches in power where I live. It is a pain to reprogram the stereo or wait for the SAT to re-scan. UPS solved that.

If you want to keep your internet connection up and running during a power failure, then you will need to also plug your modem and router into the battery backup. As Bob noted, shed all unnecessary loads from your battery backup. Most UPS units have separate outlets for "Battery Backup" and "Surge Protection Only". Plug your powered speakers, printers, extra monitors, USB hubs etc into the Surge Protection Only side so as to conserve power for the Battery Backup. There probably won't be enough outlets on the UPS for all your equipment so it is OK to use a GOOD QUALITY outlet strip for this purpose. Never use a cheapie outlet strip from the grocery or 99cent store (always look for the UL label at a minimum).

Also remember that if your power is out, then your ISP may also be down depending on how their local distribution network is set up.

We have a whole-house surge protector installed on the main electric panel. We also have a UPS for the satellite and PVR so we don't have to reprogram them, which is a pain. Otherwise, we have two laptops which don't need a UPS. Our landline is powered by the phone company. What we need now is a UPS for the modem and router.

I have a $3,500 TV. You better believe I have it protected with a $200 APC UPS.

your example of 100W for power use is way under par for most desktop units and displays. A good plan is to get a power monitor device to see how much you are actually using, and plan from that. Also, NEVER EVER plug a laser printer into a UPS. If it cycles from standby to ready, it will eat your UPS battery's lunch! Most UPS units would not be successful in powering a Laser printer through one cycle...

A few years ago I bought a pricey Honda generator to prevent outages. It has worked well; the longest outage was only three hours, which I toughed out.

I have a CyberPower 1000VAC model. I put my laptop into the battery side when charging in case power goes out while I'm using it while charging just in case power goes out with a low battery. Have not had any issues with it. I will have to find a battery for it when it dies.

Bob, Thanks for an informative article. I have used APC back-up batteries for years and can vouch for their effectiveness.
I agree with Dave that the modem/router also need to be plugged into the back-up as well as the computer itself.

I can not help thinking you should have made some mention of sinewave vs. stepped wave output. Some devices choke on stepped wave power.

I have surge protection through The solar system for our whole house. It even has a very large LG battery and when the power does go out (rarely) it powers my office (desktop,laser printer,TV,etc) and essential appliances. We haven't been on the grid for 8 months now.

It is hard to imagine someone, even you, working on a document during a hurricane. Surprised a document is the only thing you lost.

It is even harder to consider that someone would spend $3500.00 just to watch TV.

Hello,

Sure, a UPS is a great idea, but-
I have had APC and Eaton units. Both became defective in a very short time.

If you look at the Amazon comments for all of these units and brands, seems like lots and lots of folks have had lots of problems with all
the name brands. Also, several fires and smoking units.
Real scary.

The impression one gets is that nobody knows how to make a reliable, under $200 or so, unit.

B.

Several years back, had all the computers at the company I worked for, connected to APC battery backups. As well as at my home.
We would lose power at least once a month for a few minutes (sometimes longer), it would give us enough time to save our work (.dwg, .pdf, .doc, etc) that was still open. I scheduled an automatic save of every 5-mins for the Acad.dwg's. But much work can be accomplished in 5-mins.
The worst thing about the APC back-up battery was when it was dead, could not buy a new replacement battery at that time.
Now I use two heavy (3000+ Joules) duty surge protectors in tandem for my home PC & & two for each of my two TV sets. That is 6-surge protectors. All peripheral items are also plugged in. Playing it safe. And now saving acad dwgs every 1-min.
I feel that a battery is not required as a surge protector by itself alone, only a strong surge protector does the job. I do not have ant intention to continue working or watching for the usual few mins that the power is out. If it is out for a day or longer, then I find other ways.

I live in NJ also, and most of my neighbors have giant 50-KW generators permanently installed on the side of their homes. THey cost about $8,000. Being a do-it-yourselfer, I bought a $575 8 KW portable gerator, and installed a 50A power inlet jack on the side of my house that connects to the generator with a $40 extension cord. I have only used it a couple of times, but it's nice to know that when the UPS starts running low, I can fire up the generator and keep the lights, tv, fridge, and furnace running through the outage. I can tell when the power comes back on because I can hear all my neighbors' generators shut off.

Follow up to my last post: If you want to do what I did, you also need a lockout kit for your breaker panel. It makes it so you cannot run the generator without disconnecting from the utility. This is very important for safety. Make sure you Follow the instructions with the lockout kit to protect yourself and the utility workers.

I suppose we in the UK are more fortunate in that the majority of our local power system run underground, and our supply lies are effectively a version of the internet with multiple connections across the grid, so we are far less vulnerable to weather-related - and many other causes - power failures. We do get the occasional dropout, usually for no longer than a few minutes, and only very rarely does it extend into hours. My stepson is the only one who really suffers as there's no real backup for his online gaming on his PlayStation - and the cable box takes a few minutes to reboot. As almost all my critical computer work is done on a laptop, I have plenty of time in reserve. A UPS is not only overkill, but an expensive way to cope with a once in a century event.