Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS): Why Do You Need One?

Having an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) can be a savior when the power goes out or there’s a change in electrical currents. Not only can it protect your electronics from damage and failure, but it can also prevent data loss from unexpected blackouts. Power outages, lighting storms, and the likes are just a fact of life that we can’t avoid. During these events, the unsteady electrical current to your PCs and other electronics could result in dire consequences. Many of the mysteries of equipment failure, downtime, software and data corruption, are the result of problematic supply of power, and that’s why many people rely on a UPS to safeguard their equipment.

An Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) offers guaranteed power protection for connected electronics. When power is interrupted, or fluctuates outside safe levels, a UPS will instantly provide clean battery backup power for plugged-in, sensitive equipment.

Common Power Issues

There are a number of power issues that could result in damage to your equipment, corruption, or data loss. Here are just three of the most common power issues you're likely to experience. To read more about the types of power interruptions, check out APC's whitepaper on 'The Seven Types of Power Problems',

Blackout: A blackout is a total loss of electric power in an area that can last just minutes, hours, or even weeks depending on the severity. Fortunately, they don’t tend to be very damaging on equipment (though the spike in voltage when the power comes back on can be damaging so make sure you unplug them at the wall) but they can last for a while. The issue with blackouts is less about damage and more about potential data loss. Say you’re working on an important document that you haven’t saved and suddenly the power goes out. You’ve just lost your work. If your computer is plugged to a UPS however, this will kick in allowing you time to save your work and even continue working during the blackout.

Brownout: A brownout is an unintentional reduction in or restriction on the availability of electrical power that lasts more than a minute. Brownouts are very common and can sometimes be detected by flickering or dimming lights, due to an overload of an electrical circuit or severe weather. This can be very damaging to your equipment because the power continues to flow to your equipment at lower levels than they are rated to handle. The voltage sag can cause issues with the circuity of the electronics’ power supply, and while this isn’t fatal straight away, it can lead to issues with the device later on and early failure of the power supply.

Power Spikes / Surges: A power spike is a very fast, sudden increase in voltage – these are particularly common after power restoration following a power outage (blackout). Since they occur for such a short duration, they don’t always cause equipment failure, but they may lead to issues later down the line. A power surge is similar to a power spike but lasts much longer. Power surges can be very damaging to electronics as they will burn up the wire of the device. Even if the wire doesn’t get burned in a single power surge, it can get damaged, and multiple occurrences of this can result in an electronic that eventually burns out.

Why do you need a UPS?

Home: The electronic devices you rely on every day for communication, security, and entertainment are at risk of damage and failure due to unexpected blackouts, voltage fluctuations or other power disruptions. A UPS provides battery backup power and protection for electronic devices including:

• Wireless networking equipment (routers, modems)
• Computers
• Televisions
• Security Systems
• Gaming Consoles
• Mobile Devices

Get peace of mind with a UPS for your home network and smart devices, ensuring your family stays connected to the outside world during a power outage. Plus, backup power for your telephone and other home communication devices means you’ll stay connected and never miss alerts or other warnings, even during severe weather and power disruptions.

Business: Downtime caused by power outages is frustrating for anyone, but can be financially crippling for a business or organisation. Every year, billions of dollars are lost due to downtime caused by power disruptions that could have been prevented by a UPS. For Fortune 1000 companies:

• Average annual cost of unplanned downtime, $1.25—$2.5 billion
• Average hourly cost of infrastructure failure: $100,000
• Average hourly cost of critical application failure: $500,000—$1 million

Small to medium-sized businesses may be at most financial risk due to a limited ability to generate revenue during downtime.

What UPS should you get?